Meet The Riccis
We are the Ricci’s; Matthew, Kally, and Tanner, a family of three living in San Angelo, Texas. Matt and I have been married for almost 5 years now and have a precious one year old little boy. Matt is currently getting his doctorate to become a Physical Therapist at Angelo State University. I work weekend nights as a registered nurse in the Emergency Room at one of the local hospitals. Life is busy and full of adventure, but we love every minute we get to spend together as a family.
Matt and I have always desired a large family. While dating and engaged we both expressed a desire to adopt. We have both seen the joys and miracles that adoption can bring to the lives of many. Matt’s father legally adopted his older twin sisters shortly after his parents married. To Matt, adoption has just been a part of his life and family. As for me, I have an aunt and uncle who adopted two children. I remember one night while visiting with my aunt and uncle, one of their adoptive children was sitting by his mom on the couch. This moment really touched me. The love that these two shared was undeniable. I was in awe at the life my cousin was given though the gift of adoption. My cousin lived in an orphanage before he was adopted. It was in that moment that I knew that I wanted to eventually adopt. I knew that I wanted to make a difference in a child’s life.
We never thought the opportunity to adopt would happen this early in our marriage. We always imagined the opportunity would be something we would go seeking for years down the road after we had a few more children of our own. Our journey to adoption is one of humility and honor as we feel there have been people in our lives that have been placed there for a reason to give us a sweet baby girl.
Two weeks into my sister’s first semester of college my sister, Camie, took her college roommate, a new friend, to buy a pregnancy test. When the test came back positive, my sister supported this birthmother as she faced an unplanned pregnancy. This birthmother decided to place her baby up for adoption to allow this child a better life than she could provide given her current life situation.
My heart went out to this sweet birthmother and her unborn child. When sharing this story with Matt I remember both of us saying “if only we were in the position to adopt.” Weeks passed on and this sweet child couldn’t leave either of our minds. One night we decided to look into the process of adoption, purely out of curiosity. The process of adoption seemed complex, but certainly not impossible. We were hesitant to share our newfound knowledge with anyone. We didn’t want to become attached to this child and feel our hearts break when this child went to a different family. We knew that there were probably better candidates of potential families; families that couldn’t have children and struggle with infertility, and families that were more secure in the future. Additionally, we had never met the birthmother, let alone talked to her.
Still this unborn child was always on our minds. After many prayers I finally mentioned something to my sister about our desire to adopt. She relayed our interest to the birthmother and before we knew it we were talking to her on the phone “interviewing” to be the parents of her child. While waiting for a decision, we sought legal help so we would know exactly what the process of adoption would entail. After what seemed like an eternity we got the call that she picked us! This was a very humbling day knowing that she trusted us enough to give us her baby.
We were so excited and have been anxiously waiting for the month of May when this child will make her entrance into the world. We truly feel that this is one of those experiences where God puts people in your life for a reason. If my sister had never been roommates with this birthmother we would have never been given this opportunity. We truly believe that Camie was the support that this birthmother needed to get through this period of her life. Today, I am still shocked that she picked us given we have never met in person. However, this birthmother not only developed a close relationship with my sister, but also spent time with parents and other siblings. The birthmother relayed to Camie that she “felt peace” knowing that her baby was going to someone in Camie’s family.
The journey of this adoption has been pretty smooth sailing until about one month ago. The birthmother lives and will give birth in Nevada. We learned that even though this is a private adoption Nevada’s Interstate Compact necessitates that an adoption agency be used for all adoptions coming out of the state of Nevada. This came as huge shock to us, mainly in the additional cost that this will amount to. It has become a huge hurdle for us in this journey of adoption as we press forward to add this sweet baby girl to our family.
Shortly after we found out we had been picked to adopt this baby, we talked with some close friends about their adoption story. These friends adopted a little boy adopted about 18 months ago. They told us that there were going to be challenges along the way and as long as we prayed and felt this adoption was right for our family, then to press forward and remember that everything would eventually work its way out. This advice has brought peace to us. We do feel that this baby girl is meant to be a part of our family, but we would be lying if we said the financial aspect didn’t scare us. We know we can provide a wonderful life for this baby girl, but with Matt still in school for about another year, Nevada’s adoptions laws complicate this adoption.