Matt and Katie had felt called to be parents for so long that when they finally received news of their soon-to-be-adopted daughter’s birth, they could not contain their emotions. In a video which has been viewed over a million times, Matt lets the tears of joy flow as he tells Katie the good news. But the joy doesn’t end with Matt and Katie; family and friends are ecstatic to learn of the little girl’s arrival into their lives.
“She’s seven pounds, nine ounces. She was born in Raleigh and they’re transporting her to Charlotte on Friday,” Matt told Katie while wiping tears. “And she’s [the birth mother] already revoked her rights. She’s ready. I’m such a crier.”
Upon meeting their new baby girl whom they named Natalie Gray, Matt introduces himself as her dad and kisses her head. Katie doesn’t say a word as she takes her baby girl into her arms for the first time. They are overcome with the joy of adoption.
“We, Matt and Katie, take you, Natalie Gray. We promise to love and to care for you to the best of our ability with the guidance of God our Father,” vows Matt.
“We promise to guide you. We promise to provide you with everything that you need, not everything that you want, but everything that you need,” continues Katie as they say their vows to their daughter.
Matt and Katie are thrilled to learn about their daughter’s birth.
While this amazing video shows just how beautiful adoption is for the child and the parents, it also shows that adoption doesn’t just affect the child. Adoption doesn’t just give someone the opportunity to be a parent. Adoption changes the lives of everyone – grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends. Katie can be overheard telling someone the good news on the phone and that person responds: “I feel like I just won the lottery!”
Throughout the video, everyone that they share the good news of Natalie’s life with is beyond excited.
“Are you kidding me,” says a new aunt as she cries over Skype.
“What? Oh my gosh! How? Oh my gosh! Are you joking with us? That’s not fair if you’re playing a joke,” the new grandmother and other relatives say.
Baby Natalie
Even Matt and Katie’s coworkers are thrilled when they get to meet baby Natalie. When birth parents choose adoption over abortion, they don’t just save their child’s life; they change the lives of countless others. Future best friends and future spouses will be affected by a birth mother’s decision to place her child for adoption rather than abort. Adoption changes the world for the better. It gives a family a future. Abortion wipes away a future.
“We promise you today in the sight of God and in the presence of these witnesses, our souls will be bonded forever by love and unity that is called family,” the couple tells their baby girl.
Family. Adoption creates a family.
