Blessed by Adoption and a Mother’s Decision

By Amy R. Murray,

member of First Presbyterian Church, Greenville, SC, and The Light & Life Ministry, a Life Team of PPL

 “He predestined us to adoption as sons 

through Jesus Christ to Himself, 

according to the kind intention 

of His will.” 

Ephesians 1:5

Adoption! Adoption is such an important and special word for me. God brought me into His family through adoption, and I was also adopted into my earthly family! 

I was adopted from the Children’s Home Society of North Carolina when I was three months old. I always felt special because I knew my wonderful Christian parents had chosen me! Well-loved and given many opportunities, I got to go to college and have a career as an elementary school counselor. Knowing how fortunate I was, I chose to work in high poverty schools to help those children most in need. It was a closed adoption, meaning I would never know who my birth parents were and that was okay with me. However, God had different plans.

When I was forty-three years old, The Children’s Home Society forwarded a letter from my birth mother which contained no names or locations. Having prayed and consulted my family, I decided to answer the letter. This started a chain of writing back and forth through the adoption agency.

From her letters, I learned my birth mother had grown up in London, England, during World War II. After the war ended, times were difficult in England; she came to the United States, got a job and was looking forward to becoming a U.S. citizen. A few years later, while still on her green card, she became pregnant with me after a sexual assault. She went to a Red Cross home for unwed mothers in North Carolina. The adoption agency required her to take care of me for three weeks. During that time, she had a baby dedication ceremony for me in Duke Chapel. She named me “Hope” and prayed for me. She never had any other children. 

My adoption was a closed adoption: the Children’s Home Society of NC could not release our identifying information even though we both requested it. The agency did help by connecting us to the same search registry who quickly made the match, and then the adoption agency confirmed it.

Her name was Sylvia! I was shocked to learn she had lived in Jacksonville, Florida, from the time she first arrived in the United States! My parents lived in Raleigh, North Carolina when they adopted me. Surprisingly, my dad’s job transferred us to Jacksonville, Florida, when I was three years old, and that is where I grew up.

Sylvia and I had five very special years of learning about each other before she passed. Sylvia got to know my husband, Steve, and our daughter, Rachel, her granddaughter. I am filled with gratitude that Sylvia chose life for me despite the sexual assault. I am thankful that God found a way to connect us so I could learn my story, and so that Sylvia could have time with her only child and a precious granddaughter. Sylvia would be so happy today to know that Rachel now has her own family, and Sylvia has two great grandsons! Generations will live on because Sylvia chose life! 

How thankful I am that Sylvia, despite many obstacles, chose life for me. How thankful I am that my parents chose me through adoption! I was blessed to have three Christian parents who loved me and chose me!

It brings me joy and peace to reflect on the fact that as my parents chose me, so God chooses and adopts us into His family! As much as my parents loved me, and I loved them, God loves us even more! God loves us unconditionally and perfectly in every way and adopts us into His family!

Pictured below are Amy and her birth mother, Sylvia, on the day they were reunited in 2001.

Amy serves as her church coordinator for Lifeline Children’s Services "Worthy" Program. She shares her testimony on adoption as a free pro-life speaker and through her book, Hope for a Better Life.