ABSA Family Profile – Cole and Heather

As part of our ongoing series, ‘Miracles in Adoption,’ in which we introduce you to some of our incredible families who have adopted with us in the past, we are excited to share the amazing story of Cole and Heather.

 

Meet Cole and Heather from Pittsburgh, PA

 

Cole and Heather knew they wanted to start a family, and the couple was ecstatic when Heather became pregnant in 2012.  With no previous health issues, the couple was blindsided when Heather suffered heart failure during her pregnancy and was forced to undergo life-saving treatment. The treatment saved her life, but tragically, they lost their baby.  Since her condition may have prevented her from safely becoming pregnant again, she and her husband, Cole, decided to turn to adoption and began exploring their adoption options.

 

As Heather recovered, they began talking to family about their plans to adopt. Cole’s mother mentioned she knew Barbara Casey, an American Academy Attorney who specializes in adoption and runs a successful agency with an office in Reading, not far from their hometown of Pittsburgh. She suggested contacting A Baby Step Adoption Agency to learn more about her adoption options. The couple was intrigued and contacted the agency to learn about what available adoption situations could work best for them.  The couple signed on with A Baby Step Adoption Agency officially in February 2013, expecting the process of being matched with a birth mother to take about a year, which is the norm among most adoption agencies. Heather and Cole couldn’t have been more wrong. Within a month, the couple was matched with a birth mother who was almost four months pregnant and due in August, 2013. Their dreams for a baby of their own were coming to fruition faster than they could have ever hoped.

 

One of the adoption options offered to them was to have an open adoption where the birth mother and adoptive family maintain contact throughout the pregnancy. Heather and Cole had the opportunity to experience the special moments of the pregnancy, receiving sonogram photos and getting regular updates on prenatal appointments from the birth mother. They got the call she was in labor in August 2013 and rushed to the hospital where their beautiful daughter was born.

Named Maida for Heather’s grandmother, they chose the birth mother’s last name to use as her middle name to make sure she always has a connection to the woman who birthed her. Heather and Cole were so impressed with how streamlined and seamless their experience of adoption was with A Baby Step Adoption. Out of all of the available adoption situations out there, their adoption of their daughter couldn’t have gone more smoothly.

 

The couple, who co-own a natural pet supply store called Petagogy, live in Pittsburgh, PA with little Maida who turned one this past August and their two dogs.