Answered Prayers

By Katie Stone
Having a second child was an important dream for the Kuykendall Family. Heather and Jonathan always wanted to give their daughter, LynnLee a sibling. After a trouble pregnancy with her daughter and the loss of another that followed, Heather knew that having another may not be possible. The couple looked into surrogacy, but with the costs being anywhere from $100,000 or more, this wasn’t a financially responsible option for them. They also considered becoming a foster care family, but ultimately decided to go with adoption. “I was in foster care and Jonathan’s family was a foster family so, we knew that could mean that kids would come and go,’ Heather said. “That just isn’t what we wanted.” They knew this road could be a difficult one, however they continued to push forward despite the obstacles. After some time had passed, they felt like giving up. “We got a call from Jonathan’s aunt about a young girl who was pregnant and looking to give her baby up for adoption,” Heather said. Unfortunately, the young girl had no local family to support her and made the decision to do what she felt was best for the baby. Heather and Jonathan were able to meet with her and an attorney to finalize the paperwork. Once that was completed, the couple was able to attend ultrasound appointments and start preparing for their baby girl. They decided to have a baby shower around 8 months of pregnancy.

They got all the things needed for a baby girl. “We let LynnLee pick the theme of the baby shower, so it was all ballerina,” Heather said. They decorated the room in baby pink and awaited their newest ballerina to their family. When the time came to welcome their baby girl, Heather escorted the birth mother to the hospital and stayed with her since she had no local family. However, the local facility would not allow Heather to be with her initially. “Even though they knew ahead of time, and she told them that I could be in the room, they still made me wait in the hallway for a long time,” she said. “They finally let me in and allowed me to stay when she went into labor.” Jonathan stayed outside in the hallway waiting for the birth of his daughter, however what he heard instead was, “IT’S A BOY!” The Kuykendall’s were ecstatic to add a son to their family and they knew LynnLee would be too, despite wanting a little ballerina. With their baby girl now being a baby boy, they had to come up with a new name. “We can’t do Marie for a boy!” Heather said. The couple even asked the birth mother if she had a family name that she would like to suggest when they were thinking of a name for their son. “That was one of my answered prayers. I am the only one out of mysiblings to have my mom’s maiden name. Although my daughter will carry my bloodline, I was hoping for a boy to carry my name,” he said. They named their son LeeLynn. The hospital seemed a bit skeptical at first considering they didn’t know the whole situation at hand, however a quick visit from their attorneys and they could take LeeLynn home. “We used John Delk, and he really made the whole process so much easier,” he said. “He came to the hospital even on the weekend to be sure that we were taken care of.” Heather considered herself so grateful to experience the birth of LeeLynn, however she and
Jonathan continued to be afraid of losing him. “In Arkansas, a birth mom still had 6 months to choose to keep the baby,” Jonathan said. “In my mind, I am just focusing on getting my baby over the 6-month part.”

The couple decided that this would be an open adoption, and the birth mother would always have an opportunity to get to know LeeLynn. “At one point the birth mother had her stepmom in town, and she began to question the whole situation,” he said. “It caused a lot of tension with the adoption and our relationship with the birth mother, but eventually we were able to smooth it all out.” She calls LeeLynn from time to time and the Kuykendall’s keep her updated when she asks. They are very open with LeeLynn about his adoption. “We read books to him and things to continue to teach him how we are his family,” she said. “I don’t think he fully understands because he is only 6 but we keep talking about it.”

Although they didn’t do a lot of research, some of the things they found out were disheartening. “We called DHS and the only resource they had for us was to be a foster home and that isn’t a guarantee of adoption,” Heather said. “We couldn’t find any other resources to help us so a lot of it we just figured out as we went.” They contribute a lot of help from John Delk. “He was so good about telling us all the steps and what to expect,” he said. The Kuykendall’s are happy to complete their family, and are forever grateful for God’s gift.