Readers Share: Domestic Adoption ShowersWhen their adoption date was uncertain, our readers took the opportunity to celebrate with their children in tow. Here, they share their experiences.
"When we adopted our son, his birthmother's aunt gave me a baby shower. It turned out to be a great show of love for our little boy. There were wonderful gifts and some keepsakes from his birth family that I will take pride in giving my son someday."
—Stephanie Case
"I had nothing when I came home with Matthew except a diaper bag, a couple of sleepers, and bottles. He slept in a car seat for a few days. My friends and coworkers threw a shower that week. It was quite a welcoming for Matthew!
—Renee Czaplicki
"We ended up having an adoption party rather than a traditional shower. In the invitation, I listed the dates each of the kids arrived in our family, and the dates their adoptions were finalized. Since they were our second and third children, and already toddlers, we didn't receive typical shower presents. Rather, the kids received many lovely keepsakes."
—Lori Jacobson
"It was the most wonderful thing to celebrate after the adoption. It turned out to be better than we could have ever imagined. Once everyone met our son, they were more excited and eager to shower him. It just made so much more sense."
—Marita Collins
"Many people within our circles of family and friends wanted to give us baby showers before our daughter was born. But we didn't feel comfortable having them before the actual birth and signing of papers. Things worked out beautifully when our daughter came home—and was the guest of honor at many "Welcome Home" parties. We could celebrate her birth and adoption, even as we introduced her to so many who had prayed and waited anxiously for her arrival."
—Maureen Seidel
"Friends and coworkers arranged a shower for us when our son was about 3 weeks old. We saved our family celebration for after our finalization date, which didn't occur until four months later."
—Andrea Brainard
"For all three of our domestic adoptions, I asked the friends who hosted the shower to wait until after we came home. The most recent one was held at a local restaurant, and it also honored the family of my daughter's classmate and the toddler they had just adopted from Guatemala. Coincidentally, she shares our baby's ‘Gotcha Day.' The shower was a wonderful time to celebrate adoption and to educate our friends about both domestic and international adoption."
—Kerry Yancy Dolan Back To Home Page ©2013 Adoptive Families. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited. | 
Comments
I hosted a shower for my friend who was adopting a sibling group. I asked all the shower participants to donate a few dollars to go toward a gift certificate for a new family portrait at a local studio. My friend loved it!
Posted by: Christy Lipscomb at 10:09am Mar 26
Our two youngest children were adopted after being in our home 2 1/2 years as our foster children. We had already been blessed with gifts over the years and had everything we needed, so did not feel comfortable receiving "adoption" or "shower" gifts. But we still wanted to celebrate the actual adoption and baptism with our friends and family. We decided to have a luncheon celebration after the baptism at church. We requested in the invitations that in lieu of gifts,a donation be made in the children's names to the county's department of human services, to be used for other foster children. While we do not know what all was done with the money we donated, we do know that some of it went to pay for a hotel room so a mother and all her children (who were in multiple homes)could spend some time together over the holidays. Hearing this truly added to the memory and celebration of our childrens' adoption story!
Posted by: Brenda Schultz at 10:25am Mar 26
Our friends and my sister hosted a baby shower for myself, my husband Matt and our one month old son in our home, once everyone knew our adoption would be finalized. Samuel's birth-mother, birth-father and birth-grandmother sent presents to the three of us, all of which will be given to Samuel when he is old enough to understand the concept of adoption (he is currently 2 1/2). My husband's friends were even invited to the shower, as we had waited eleven years for a child of our own, and we felt Samuel's birth was a celebration for the three of us, not just me. At one point, to our surprise, one of my friends asked if she could let everyone gently hold Samuel as they sat in a circle. He was then passed around to each person as he quietly slept, our friends saying their own thoughtful blessings for Samuel, for his life, and for our new family. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. What a WONDERFUL day! Samuel will someday be able to look at the photographs of his babyshower and see all of the people who love him and welcomed him into our family, and see that he was wanted and loved by so many people close to us! :-)
Posted by: Christine Paluska at 12:43pm Mar 26
When our first child was born we were given two showers after we brought him home. It was really special and everyone got to meet him and hold him. It was a dream that I had as a little girl when I went to baby showers with my Mom and my sister. I could not wait to have one of my own and wanted them to be really traditional. When our twins came to us they were four and so was our first child by that time. Our friends threw us a surprise party and we were able to celebrate after the finalization and were given so many thoughtful gifts like gift certificates to Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Blockbuster Video, Chuckee Cheese,gasoline gift cards and local movie theater passes. I was even given a gift certificate to a one hour spa treatment. It was a very creative shower in contrast to the traditional first one we were given, but equally as special.
Posted by: Holly Blankenbaker at 5:54pm Mar 26
Our friends had planned a shower for a week after our son was due to be born. As it turned out, he was late. He was born on Friday morning. His birthmother signed the placement papers on Sunday morning. We signed the placement papers at the hospital and took him straight to the shower that afternoon. We barely made it there before the guests did. It was a wonderful celebration, and such a blessing to have him there with us. Everyone in the photos is beaming with joy!
Posted by: Amy Shannon at 6:36pm Mar 28
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