The Miracle of Adoption: Chloe’s Story

The Manis family brought their daughter, Chloe, home with the help of a Show Hope grant! In their inspiring adoption testimony below, they share about their journey.

My husband and I have always wanted to be parents. Kids seem to be drawn to us, and us to them. We have both looked forward to the day when we could have children, and would often dream about what it would be like when we finally experienced the privilege of becoming parents.

After more than two years of trying to get pregnant, we decided to see a fertility doctor to find out what was going on. After several tests, the doctors found nothing wrong. Ours was a case of “unexplained infertility”.

This is when we first started to consider adoption.

We spent many months praying about, discussing, and seeking counsel regarding adoption. In December 2008, we began our home study process. In August 2009, our home study was finally complete. We applied with multiple agencies for a U.S. domestic adoption.

Several months later, we received—out of the blue—an email from one of the adoption agencies that a birth mother had chosen us. A baby girl, who was due in March 2010, was going to be ours! We could hardly believe it. After five years of waiting, could we really be so close to becoming parents??

The next few weeks are a bit of a blur. There were countless phone calls to the adoption agency, letters to our birth mom, plans to be made, baby showers, shopping trips with family, and lots of joy. There were hundreds of people who had been praying with us for years that we would have a child, and now our prayers were being answered. Our baby girl seemed to bring joy, faith, and encouragement to so many people—and all before she was even born!

The highlight of our time of waiting for our daughter was on December 5th, when we met her biological mother for the first time. It was during that meeting that God confirmed to us in such a dramatic and miraculous way that this baby girl was ours. We encourage you to watch the story of her name in the video below! We want to share all the details about this story because it brings glory to the Lord for the amazing things he has done!

Our daughter came into the world on February 17, 2010, a few weeks before her due date. We were in the delivery room and got to see her the first moment she was born. It was an incredible experience that we really have no words for. Our little Chloe Elizabeth, who we had dreamed and prayed about for so many years, was finally here!

The Lord chose to bring our daughter to us in a way that we did not expect. But in the end, he has done something more miraculous and more wonderful than we ever could have imagined. We are so thankful for the blessing of adoption and for the goodness of our Heavenly Father. Out of pain and difficulties, he made something incredibly beautiful. Our sweet little Chloe is the most indescribably amazing gift, and we are thankful beyond words for her.

Thank you, Show Hope donors, for helping to bring her home!