Today is the Feast of The Annunciation of Our Lord. It holds particular significance for me because it is the anniversary of the day my wife learned that we would be parents for the first time.
My wife Mikki and I married in September 2005, just four short months after graduating from college. We tried to for three years to get pregnant, and were diagnosed in Summer 2009 with “unexplained infertility”, and given a 5% chance of conceiving. Rather than spending what could be years on fertility drugs and frustration, we decided to skip straight to adoption and start our family with our youth still firmly intact.
In January 2009, Mikki and I chaperoned a group students from Loyola College Prep to the March for Life in Washington, D.C.. We bonded quickly with the students as they asked all about married life and our desire to have a family, and we shared our desire to adopt and that our process would start as soon as we returned home.
For many years, Mikki and I prayed that Mary would intercede and send us a child, no matter the means. In March, my brother’s wife gave birth to their firstborn son, also the first grandchild in the family. The birth was bittersweet for us. We had received calls in regarding adoptions in the weeks prior to the birth of our nephew, but three times the mothers instead chose to abort their children. Each was devastating. We had offered to pay for everything, insurance and medical bills, and any compensation for any inconvenience or lost wages, but it was not enough to save the lives of those babies or achieve our dream of being parents.
Two days after the birth of our nephew, Mikki and I reached the breaking point. As we sat on stools at the breakfast bar, suffering through a tearful brokenhearted dinner, Mikki’s telephone rang. The number was unknown, so I cleared my throat and answered. On the other end was the mother of one of the students on the D.C. trip. The mother of the student explained that her husband is an OBGYN and that earlier in the day a woman came for an appointment and stated that she wanted to give her child up for adoption to a Catholic couple. The OBGYN husband told his family about the visit, and the daughter exclaimed that her teacher, Mikki, was looking to adopt a child.
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The night of that phone call was the Feast of the Annunciation, which celebrates the archangel Gabriel’s visit to the Virgin Mary declaring she would have a child, Jesus, the Son of God. We had six weeks notice to prepare for the birth of our daughter, Mary. She has been the joy of our lives every since.
My wife and I prayed to “Mama Mary” every day asking that she would send us a child. True to her greatness and love for us, she sent us a little miracle in a way that let us know it was more than just coincidence. Mama Mary loves us and intercedes for us.
Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, for thou hast borne the Saviour of our souls.
