Give a Life, Grow a Generation

In 1968 I was an unwanted developing baby. My young mother made the decision to give me life.

My adoptive parents tried to have a baby for almost 10 years. My mother’s only aspiration in life was to be a wife and a mother and after being told she had to have a hysterectomy she felt her life was over. They made the decision to adopt and soon after they met me. It took them 3 months and $50 to adopt me. (The least amount they ever spent on me). Today it takes over 3 years and around 50K to adopt a baby.

I am proud that Arkansas is the #1 pro-life state in the county. I want to make sure, in our efforts to save the life of a growing baby just like me, we don’t forget about the scared mother who has found herself in a difficult and unplanned situation.

My father told me the luckiest day in their life was the day they met me. My dad was in the USAF and was stationed in Georgia. A social worker brought me to the motel room they had rented in Atlanta where I was born. According to my parents (I have no way of verifying this of course) I cried at the top of my lungs all night. The next day the social worker returned and asked my parents how things went. My dad’s response was “You can’t have her back.”

Fast forward 53 years and my mom and dad live with me, after my dad had a massive stroke. I remodeled my home and they sold their house and we have lived together for almost 3 years.

They are the best parents anyone could ever want. Walter McKee and June Looney McKee, I am so glad that you decided to adopt me 53 years ago. I know finding out that you couldn’t have your own children was a great disappointment and made you extremely sad. I suppose it’s like the Pastor said Sunday, sometimes God’s path is different than the path we want. God meant for you to raise me. Also, like the Pastor said, sometimes our barriers become our pathway. I am so lucky that you had to adopt. I am so lucky to have been born when I was. I am so lucky daddy was stationed in Georgia and I am so lucky somehow, we were paired together!! I love you both so much!

Adoption changes LIVES!!! The life of a couple and a child. The choice my biological mother made was a brave and selfless choice. She, with ONE DECISION, gave me a life and ALSO my adoptive parents a life and a home with a baby my mother had always wanted. My parents always told me that I was chosen by them.

I want to introduce legislation that makes adoption easier and more affordable. I want to work with a company that can create an app where pregnant woman can connect directly with a vetted couple wanting a baby.

I want to celebrate adoption and life. I want to show a pregnant woman how her choice to have a baby and give it up for adoption can change lives for decades to come.

My mom says I’ve always been lucky. I agree! The two luckiest days of my life were the day my biological mother CHOSE LIFE and my adoptive parents CHOSE ME. Here is my vision for an app that brings the ease of learning about adoption right inside the comfortable space of a women in trouble. Making it easy to talk to a mother like my mom. Can you image the conversation my adoptive mother could have had with my biological mother about the child growing inside her?