Adoption fulfills a desperate couple's dream to have a family
Daniel Welling
Issue date: 2/1/06 Section: News
Many of us take our families for granted.
This isn't entirely true, however, when you talk to couples like Patty and Frank Rich who have made many unsuccessful attempts over the years to become pregnant. Adoption was their only hope.
As many adoptive parents will attest, few of them have had an easy time with the process. Patti and Frank's experience was no exception.
"I wanted a child even before I was married," Patti says. "I envisioned getting married and BOOM, I'd get pregnant. To me, motherhood is a big focus of my life. When Frank and I started dating, we were talking about children. We started trying a few years after we were married," she added.
But it didn't happen.
After some disappointing results through traditional methods, Patti's husband Frank suggested alternative means.
"After being unsuccessful we tried artificial insemination and then In Vitro Fertilization, which involved a lot of shots for Patti. They basically give her hormones to get her eggs producing so they can harvest them."
The disappointment was stronger for Patti. It was very important to both of them, but Frank was able to weather the frustration more successfully.
"I love kids," Frank said, "but I was okay without them as long as I have Patti. My focus was on Patti and what she was going through."
Patti was devastated.
"It took me awhile to come to terms with the fact that I had to turn to science to help us," she said. "I thought for sure that I would get pregnant, getting shots in my butt... bearing all the pain associated with that, but it still didn't happen."
Soon they gave up on conceiving naturally and began to explore the adoption process, but new then challenges presented themselves.
During the previous year, Frank had been diagnosed with Solitary Plasmacytoma, a cancer of the blood found in his spinal vertebrae. Immediately, he underwent surgery to remove it and he is now cancer free, but because of that diagnosis adoption was made more difficult.
This isn't entirely true, however, when you talk to couples like Patty and Frank Rich who have made many unsuccessful attempts over the years to become pregnant. Adoption was their only hope.
As many adoptive parents will attest, few of them have had an easy time with the process. Patti and Frank's experience was no exception.
"I wanted a child even before I was married," Patti says. "I envisioned getting married and BOOM, I'd get pregnant. To me, motherhood is a big focus of my life. When Frank and I started dating, we were talking about children. We started trying a few years after we were married," she added.
But it didn't happen.
After some disappointing results through traditional methods, Patti's husband Frank suggested alternative means.
"After being unsuccessful we tried artificial insemination and then In Vitro Fertilization, which involved a lot of shots for Patti. They basically give her hormones to get her eggs producing so they can harvest them."
The disappointment was stronger for Patti. It was very important to both of them, but Frank was able to weather the frustration more successfully.
"I love kids," Frank said, "but I was okay without them as long as I have Patti. My focus was on Patti and what she was going through."
Patti was devastated.
"It took me awhile to come to terms with the fact that I had to turn to science to help us," she said. "I thought for sure that I would get pregnant, getting shots in my butt... bearing all the pain associated with that, but it still didn't happen."
Soon they gave up on conceiving naturally and began to explore the adoption process, but new then challenges presented themselves.
During the previous year, Frank had been diagnosed with Solitary Plasmacytoma, a cancer of the blood found in his spinal vertebrae. Immediately, he underwent surgery to remove it and he is now cancer free, but because of that diagnosis adoption was made more difficult.