Even though Karen and I were miles apart, the Spirit bore witness to both of us that her choice and my growing up in the family I did were all in accordance with Heavenly Father’s plan.

Karen and I made plans to meet in person, and in the 13 years since that night, Karen has become a cherished friend. She has developed a special relationship with my sweet mother as well. Karen has never attempted to take my mother’s place. She simply adds another dimension of love to a life full of blessings. She has also become “Grandma Karen” to my four children, who adore her.

After experiencing the pregnancy and delivery of my own four children, I appreciate even more deeply the gift Karen gave me. When you carry a baby for nine months, that baby truly becomes a part of you.

To give up that life so selflessly in order to allow that baby to have a complete family and the opportunity of temple blessings takes a deeper kind of love. It is true charity.

One of my close friends has had the opportunity to reunite with her birthmother, and it has helped me tremendously to know something of the relationship they have developed since their reunion. My friend was in her late thirties when she finally found her birthmother, and like many adoptees, she had wondered about her “roots” since childhood. It was a difficult process for them to find each other, but they now share a beautiful friendship that includes weekly phone calls, frequent letters and occasional visits. My friend’s relationship with her mother and father is strong and loving, and she was fortunate to have parents who supported her search efforts and weren’t threatened by it.

Reading about real life reunion success stories, and knowing about my friend’s story, makes me even more eager to keep the connection between my children and their birthmother (the two children whose birthmother we know about) alive and healthy. It also makes me mourn for my children who will never have this opportunity.