To Charis’s birth mother,
As Charis’s second birthday approaches, you are on my heart. I know you must be thinking of your daughter. You must wonder where she is and if she is loved and well cared for. I know you miss her. So I would like to thank you for being one of the most courageous women I have never met. You gave life to my child and a daughter to me.
Charis is stunningly beautiful and wildly intelligent. She got that from you.
Every since she became my daughter at five and a half months old, she has had an incredible personality. She’s very curious and on her first doctor visit the doctor even noticed how much she paid attention to detail. She loves her family and friends so much – she sometimes even cries when she doesn’t get to see them as much as she wants. She always wants me to read books to her and she has started pretending to read them to her dolls. She is very brave, sometimes I think too brave when she does dangerous things! She loves to sing and loves for us to sing song together. We go to a class for little ones where we sing songs in Chinese. I want her to love the music from China as much as she does the music here.
No words can completely describe what you have done for me. I’ve always known that God had planned for me to be a mother, but I didn’t know he would use a woman from the other side of the world to give me a daughter. You could have made so many other choices, and you were probably encouraged by others to make those choices, but you loved her enough to carry her for nine months and to make sure she was well cared for after she was born.
I know it was the most difficult decision you have ever made. I have heard that other birth mothers say it is not a decision you make once, but one you have to make every day. Your gift has given me the opportunity to feel the same unconditional love you felt for your baby. I promise you that not only will she always be unconditionally loved by me, but she will also always know the unconditional love of a large family and many close friends. Charis knows how much I appreciate you; we talk about you and pray for you often.
I am so grateful to you for giving me the chance to be a mom. I cannot imagine a greater sacrifice to make or greater blessing to receive. May God bless you always for the selfless sacrifice you made.
Lori
