Teen went to Applebee’s to meet her baby’s potential adoptive parents—ended up finding a new family
Giving a baby up for adoption is a difficult decision that many parents make out of love and concern for their child's well-being. Autumn Wright was one of those moms. Wright was pregnant as a 15-year-old and was in a difficult home situation. She knew that her living conditions were not good for a baby. But at the same time, she felt reluctant to part ways with her baby after she found out about her pregnancy while she was still in high school. Nonetheless, she started looking for potential adoptive parents along with her boyfriend. Eventually, she met a couple at Applebee's and instinctively knew they were the right parents for her unborn daughter, per TODAY.com.
"Initially, I wanted to keep her. I immediately loved this baby growing inside of me," Wright explained. Nonetheless, she was looking at parents through adoption agencies with the help of her then-boyfriend. Soon enough, she got to know about a local couple who were looking to adopt a baby. The wife, Jourdan Hathaway, sent an email to the mom and asked if she would be open to meeting them. Wright agreed to meet the couple, Cam and Jourdan, at Applebee's back in 2009. The couple who were hoping to start a family were really nervous about the meeting with Wright. On the other hand, Wright instantly knew that they were the right people for her daughter. "As soon as I saw Jourdan and Cam, I just knew. They could provide everything I never could."
The mom wrote an email that read, "We have decided that you and Cameron are who we want to raise our daughter. We would love for you to adopt her." However, it was not easy for Wright to give her baby up for adoption. "What I told Autumn was, I know what it's like to go to the hospital, deliver a baby girl, hold her in your arms and then leave the hospital without her. I knew that kind of pain. I knew that kind of anguish," Jourdan shared. They had decided that Wright would be a part of the baby's life as well. But as she delivered her baby back in March 2010, it was still not easy for her to let go of her daughter, Madeline Brooke Hathaway.
"I was holding Maddie and she was perfect. I remember thinking, 'She's so easy. She's so cute. I can do this. We can figure it out,'" Wright recalled. Eventually, she gave Madeline up for adoption. A couple of months later, Wright realized the gravity of her home environment. "Whenever there was screaming or violence, I'd tell myself, 'Thank God Maddie isn't here.' Even though it hurt, even though I was grieving, I knew I had made the right choice for her." It was decided that the two families would see each other three times a year, but they ended up forming a really close bond. They also became a major part of each other's milestone events. The families started spending all holidays together as well.
The couple was also a big part of Wright's wedding back in 2017. Jourdan officiated the wedding, Madeline was the flower girl and the couple's son, Keller, was the ring bearer. The couple and Wright shared that the bond between them formed very smoothly and gradually. "It happened so organically, so naturally. After that, it was, 'Let’s all go to the fair, to the harvest festival, the preschool play, whatever the activity was, we all went together," Jourdan remarked. "Jourdan is like a mom to both of us in a lot of ways," Wright added.
More on Amplify
Couple with 5 children adopt 6 siblings in just one day for the most heartwarming reason