<p>Many people spend their lives dreaming of the day they become a parent. They believe it&#8217;s their purpose in life to raise a child and shape it into a wonderful human being. And while there are people out there who welcome a biological child naturally, not everyone gets this chance. Every mom and dad&#8217;s journey to parenthood is different, and one nurse and her husband realized this the hard way. </p>

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<p>Born and bred in Utah, Heather Crockett Oram always dreamed of the day that she would become a mom &#8211; even if that child wasn&#8217;t her own biological baby. But when the chance to adopt fell through, Heather believed that it was all over for her. Little did she know that she would be taken on a much bigger adventure full of emotional turmoil and dramatic twists and turns.</p>

<p>For the first five weeks of her life, Heather Crockett Oram was just like any other baby. She was loved by her parents and she seemed like a perfectly happy, healthy newborn. However, things changed around the six-week mark, when Heather began to show signs of distress. Before too long, she was being rushed to hospital and undergoing countless tests. </p>

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<p>This was a difficult time for Heather&#8217;s family, and they were concerned when the doctors came back with the results. An ultrasound of Heather&#8217;s abdominal area found that her ovaries were not attached in the way they were supposed to be. This was causing the six-week-old a lot of pain, and there was only one thing they could do to solve it. They had to remove her ovaries completely. </p>

<p>Because Heather was so young when she had the procedure to remove her ovaries, she grew up without knowing what this really meant for her. It wasn&#8217;t until she was 13 years old that she truly realized the extent of her fate. While women without ovaries can often have biological children through IVF, Heather was told that she wouldn&#8217;t ever have this option.</p>

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<p>This news came as a huge blow to her. Although she was just a teenager at the time, she always knew that she wanted to be a mom someday. She had a deep maternal instinct within her, and she dreamt of the day that she would be able to follow in the footsteps of her own mom and bring a baby into the world. Heather struggled with this sad news, but she knew her dream wasn&#8217;t over completely. </p>

<p>Just as Heather was trying to understand the extent of her situation and the fact that she wouldn&#8217;t be able to conceive a biological child of her own, she encountered even more heartache. Within the space of just a few months, she lost both her mom and her sister to addiction. She felt as though her whole world was crumbling down, and she wept as she said goodbye to them in the hospital room.</p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn27

<p>Although Heather had also battled her own demons when she was younger, she had been able to overcome them. Sadly, two of the people she loved most in the world hadn&#8217;t been so lucky &#8211; and from that day forward she told herself that she would help others as much as she possibly could. So, she went back to school to become a Nurse Practitioner. </p>

<p>After the passing of her mom and sister, Heather occupied herself with this new sense of purpose. She studied hard and worked towards her nursing degree, and while it seemed as though she had everything together, she was struggling. Heather felt lost and alone, and she was scared that any prospective partner would leave when they discovered her secret. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn24

<p>Yes, Heather was terrified of telling her future boyfriend or husband that she couldn&#8217;t have children. She thought that they would run as soon as they heard the news, and go in search of another woman who could have children naturally. But when she met Jason, she realized that she had nothing to worry about. </p>

<p>After years of struggling with what life had thrown at her, Heather fell head over heels for Jason, a father of two young boys. The single dad had welcomed his sons into the world with a former partner, and he wanted nothing more than to introduce Teagan and Braxton to his new girlfriend. Heather embraced her role as a step-mom, and Jason even proposed to make their family complete. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn23

<p>But there was still something Heather had to tell her fiance. Before they tied the knot Jason had to know her biggest secret, and this was an ordeal she had tried to put off for fear of rejection. Heather wrote in a <em>Love What Matters</em> blog that &#8220;I sobbed as I told him. He then grabbed my face and told me it didn’t matter how our children came to us. They would be OUR children.&#8221;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Heather was overwhelmed with love when Jason reacted in such a way, and the couple soon got hitched and became husband and wife. In doing so, she became Teagan and Braxton&#8217;s official step-mom, and they created the perfect little life for themselves. Heather watched the boys grow up and enjoyed being a part of their lives. But, still, she knew she wanted more kids. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn30

<p>Going down the natural route just wasn&#8217;t an option for Heather and Jason. Because of this, they had to look into other options and weighed up the likes of surrogacy, fostering, and adoption. As someone who had vowed to help people for the rest of her life, Heather just loved the idea of adopting and giving new life to children who needed forever homes. </p>

<p>After much debate and many soul-searching discussions, the husband and wife duo eventually decided that adoption was the best route for them. They wanted to adopt a child and welcome them wholeheartedly into their home and their family, but they also had a lot of hurdles to get over before they could do that. Especially after they learned of the official adoption process. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn21

<p>Normally, prospective couples use adoption agencies to match them up with a child. But the more Heather and Jason looked into it, the more they began to question whether this was the right path for them. Not only had they heard numerous horror stories from other couples who used an official agency, but they also didn&#8217;t have the $55,000 the agency required for them to go ahead with the process.</p>

<p>It would have taken Heather and Jason years to save up the money needed to use an adoption agency. But considering they weren&#8217;t confident in the companies to begin with, they ultimately decided that this wasn&#8217;t the route for them. They hadn&#8217;t ditched the idea of adoption, but if they were going to do it, they were going to do it in their own way. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn22

<p>In the end, they opted to market themselves as potential adoptive parents through other mediums. Heather noted that &#8220;We ‘marketed’ ourselves online and through social media. We made a Facebook adoption page and paid for targeted ads. We had an Instagram page with pictures of our life and we also put our profile on adoption.com.&#8221;</p>

<p>Although Heather and Jason were confident that their own approach would work, they soon began to realize that their process would be more difficult than they first thought. They received countless messages and inquiries from women who were supposedly looking to give their baby up for adoption through these online mediums. But they weren&#8217;t quite what they seemed. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn20

<p>After a little digging, the couple soon discovered that most of these messages &#8220;were scams.&#8221; They were disheartened that people would act so cruelly when they were trying so hard to make their dream come true, and they wondered whether it would even happen for them. Then, they received a message from a woman in Missouri stating that her friend was pregnant and looking for a family just like theirs. </p>

<p>After speaking to the friend of the pregnant woman, they decided to push forward with the process and, in doing so, they wanted to speak directly with the woman herself. So, they asked her to call them and &#8220;we got a phone call from this woman in Missouri and we talked for an hour and a half.&#8221; They had such a good feeling about her, and they had a great connection. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn29

<p>Heather and Jason were on cloud nine over the next few weeks, and they stayed in contact with the woman to keep track of the pregnancy and make the necessary arrangements for the adoption. However, their happiness soon turned into confusion and worry. They had come to the realization that something wasn&#8217;t quite right about the whole situation&#8230;</p>

<p>Despite the fact that Heather and Jason had a great connection with the supposedly pregnant woman in Missouri, they began to question whether she really was pregnant. She had provided them with ultrasounds and blood tests &#8211; but so had some of the scammers they had dealt with previously. They knew how easy it was to fake these tests and results, so they wanted more proof that she was pregnant. </p>

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<p>However, the woman wouldn&#8217;t give them any more proof. She refused to let them meet her so they could see her bump or even feel the baby kicking, and she was reluctant to give them any more information about the pregnancy as a whole. Although Heather had trusted the woman and wanted to continue, the whole situation just wasn&#8217;t adding up. </p>

<p>As the couple weighed up their options and thought more about the woman in Missouri, the more they realized that it would be better to pull out of the process. They weren&#8217;t getting the reassurance they needed to believe that she was a legitimate prospect, and they just couldn&#8217;t take the heartache if everything turned out to be a lie. </p>

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<p>So, they updated their adoption profile and hoped that they would find another expectant woman who would be more willing to prove her pregnancy. Heather and Jason assumed that this process would take another few weeks or even a few months, but just a day after they updated their profile they found a young woman who seemed perfect in every way. </p>

<p>This woman contacted the couple through their adoption profile, and she told Heather and Jason that she knew instantly they were the family to raise her baby. She had scrutinized their social media pages and followed their lives for weeks, and when they updated their profile she was over the moon that they were looking for a baby again. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn17

<p>Because of this, she knew that she wanted to meet them in real life to make sure that her assumptions were correct. This filled Heather and Jason with joy, as this was the furthest they had ever gone in their adoption journey. And this meant that they could also be sure the woman was legitimate and truly wanted happiness for her baby. So, they agreed to meet up two days later. </p>

<p>Heather and Jason were still upset about the fact that the first adoption process had fallen through, and so they were very wary that this new woman&#8217;s intentions weren&#8217;t real. And this nervousness didn&#8217;t go away when they made their way to a diner two days later to meet her. After all, she was late and they were convinced she had stood them up&#8230;</p>

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<p>But when she finally walked in, they couldn&#8217;t believe their eyes. They noted that &#8220;In walked a very pregnant girl and her mom. We hugged and she showed us the ultrasounds of a little baby boy. He then started kicking and she had me feel her belly.&#8221; By the end of their meeting, the woman had officially asked them to adopt her baby boy, and Heather and Jason didn&#8217;t even need to think about their answer. </p>

<p>With a new baby on the horizon, Heather and Jason prepared themselves for the journey of a lifetime. They kept in contact with the birth mother from the moment they met in the diner until the night before she gave birth in October 2017. Then, they made their way to the delivery room to welcome the baby boy themselves. </p>

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<p>Their son, a baby boy called Andy, was born while they were standing right beside the birth mother, and it was a truly magical experience for everyone involved. Heather was the first person to hold him, and she was a bundle of emotions and she looked at his tiny body. But what the couple didn&#8217;t realize was that their lives were going to get a whole lot more emotional. </p>

<p>As the days went by and Heather and Jason took baby Andy home with them, they were consumed with love for their little boy. They were adjusting to life with a newborn, and Heather couldn&#8217;t believe that her dream of being a mother had finally come true. But Heather was also still in contact with the first woman they had spoken to while going through the adoption process. </p>

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<p>Although it was their decision to not go forward with this woman, Heather had formed a close bond with her &#8211; and vice versa. They talked almost every day, and the woman congratulated the couple when they took Andy home with them. There was no bad blood between them, but this woman did have something very important she wanted to tell them. </p>

<p>Heather and the first woman were in contact for a few months after the couple welcomed Andy into their home. And while their time was consumed by caring for their baby, Heather just couldn&#8217;t say goodbye to her. There was something still pulling them together, and things got even more complicated when the woman told them that she had found another family to adopt her child. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn13

<p>However, she wasn&#8217;t convinced that they were the right fit. When Heather heard this, she was shocked. This news meant that she really had been pregnant all this time, and the woman even sent them another ultrasound of the baby boy in her stomach that was nearing his due date. With this picture, she also asked Heather and Jason a question.</p>

<p>Heather and Jason were sad to learn that the woman they had grown close to was in a sticky spot with her pregnancy and the adoption process. They were heartbroken to learn that she was not going ahead with another family she had found. But they never expected her to ask them, once again, to adopt her child. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn12

<p>The couple was in complete shock. They had a three-month-old baby in their arms and had gone down a different path in their adoption journey, and now they were being asked to adopt another. They didn&#8217;t know what to do and were stumped by the question. They told the woman that they would need to think about it, as it wasn&#8217;t a decision they could take lightly. </p>

<p>Heather had always wanted to be a mom, and Andy had consumed her heart the moment she set eyes on him in the delivery room. She wanted to dedicate her life to making him happy &#8211; but she also couldn&#8217;t shake the idea of welcoming another baby into their home. In the end, the couple spent two weeks weighing up their options and trying to decide what was right for them. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn11

<p>Heather noted that &#8220;I prayed a lot about adding another newborn to our family only months apart.&#8221; And she was in a constant battle between her head and her heart. Her head knew that having two young babies at once would be a struggle, but her heart was screaming yes. In the end, &#8220;the same resounding answer came again and again.&#8221;</p>

<p>After mulling over the situation, Heather and Jason realized in their hearts that they had to say yes to the woman. Something had brought the two families back together even after they pulled out of the initial adoption process, and they knew that meant something. So, they agreed to become the baby&#8217;s adoptive parents and waited for the day he arrived. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn10

<p>Four weeks after they made their decision, they flew out to Missouri to be there the night before the birth mother was induced. They wanted to be there for the big day, and they also wanted to provide support and guidance for the woman. They had grown so close, and they didn&#8217;t want her to be alone during such a momentous time in her life. </p>

<p>When Heather and Jason made their way into the hospital room to meet the birth mother for the first time, it was like meeting an old friend. They had already connected on the phone and through messages, but meeting in person was truly something special. They had a bond that was only made stronger when the baby boy was born. </p>

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<p>As they stood beside the bed and watched baby Ellis come into the world, they knew they had made the right decision. It was an emotional moment and one that they would remember for the rest of their lives. And while Heather didn&#8217;t give birth to Ellis herself, the birth mother made sure that she was as involved as she could possibly be. </p>

<p>The couple was blown away by the birthing experience, and it was such a special moment for them. Jason was allowed to cut the baby&#8217;s umbilical cord, and Heather was once again the first to hold their child. They spent a few days in the hospital with the birth mom and the newborn, but they couldn&#8217;t wait to take Ellis home to meet his older brothers. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn7

<p>Once home, the whole family embraced each day they got to share with each other. They were all connected by a love so strong, and Jason was overjoyed to see that his two sons from his previous relationship loved their little brothers just as much as they loved each other. Everything was going so well for them, but Heather and Jason suddenly started to feel uneasy. </p>

<p>Four months after Ellis was born, Heather and Jason had well and truly immersed themselves into life as a family of six. But they couldn&#8217;t shake a niggling feeling that something was wrong with Ellis&#8217;s birth mom. They had open adoptions with both of their kids, and they regularly spoke to both Andy and Ellis&#8217;s birth parents &#8211; but they hadn&#8217;t caught up with them in a while. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn5

<p>The couple couldn&#8217;t quite understand what the feeling was, but they felt an urge to speak to the woman who let them adopt Ellis. They could sense that something wasn&#8217;t quite right, and they quickly realized that this hunch was for a good reason. When they spoke to their youngest son&#8217;s birth mother, they realized that she really wasn&#8217;t doing well. </p>

<p>What Heather and Jason learned was that Ellis wasn&#8217;t this woman&#8217;s only biological child. She had three older children as well, but she was struggling to provide for them. She didn&#8217;t have the money to keep a roof over their heads or food on the table, and she just didn&#8217;t know what to do. Heather and Jason were heartbroken when they heard this, so they offered to help.</p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn8

<p>They offered to fly her teenage son, Sean, to their home for 10 days so that they could look after him. They also wanted to give him the chance to see his younger brother, Ellis, and spend some time together. Those 10 days soon turned into a whole summer, as Sean fell in love with life in Utah as well as this new family around him. </p>

<p>With Sean added to their brood, they had become a family of seven and welcomed three new boys into their lives in just under nine months. This was more than they had ever dreamed of, and Heather was truly thriving as a new mom to wonderful boys. Their house was full, and so was their hearts. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn6

<p>They loved to see all of their boys hanging out together and bonding. While they were all different and none of them were Heather&#8217;s biological children, she felt like the luckiest mom in the world. Everything had fallen into place, but their journey wasn&#8217;t over yet. Heather and Jason still had another hurdle to face. </p>

<p>While Sean was living with Heather and Jason, they encouraged him to get into contact with his estranged father. He hadn&#8217;t had a relationship with him previously, but after reaching out they developed a bond that led to him moving in with his dad. While the couple was happy to see him so happy with his real father, his leaving left a massive hole in their hearts. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn4

<p>They had grown used to having so many children in their home, and Sean filled their house with happiness and laughter every single day. So, after much consideration, Heather and Jason decided to once again go through the adoption process to fill their home back up again. They wanted another child. </p>

<p>By this point, Heather and Jason had become experts in the adoption process, and they had also made a name for themselves as adoptive parents. Their story has made its way across the globe, and they didn&#8217;t have to wait too long for a woman to choose them. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn3

<p>This woman wanted to find a loving forever home for the baby she was expecting, and she thought Heather and Jason were perfect. And so, in June 2019, the couple once again made their way into the delivery room to welcome another adoptive child into their home and hearts. They cried as they looked at little Lola, and Heather couldn&#8217;t believe that she was finally the mom of a &#8220;princess.&#8221; </p>

<p>Heather is the first one to say that her life isn&#8217;t easy. Raising three young children as well as two teenage step-sons is a handful, and she often struggles to maintain a sense of normalcy in her life. But she loves each and every one of her children, and she couldn&#8217;t imagine her life without them. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn2

<p>In a blog post, Heather wrote that &#8220;there have been many ups and downs and everything in between. But we wouldn’t trade it for the world.” Both Heather and Jason feel like they were born to be parents, and they love the fact that they have not only been able to change the lives of their kids &#8211; but the kids have also changed their lives. </p>

<p>Over the course of their journey, Heather and Jason have shared their experiences with those online. Fans have followed them from the beginning of their failed adoption process and been able to take the whirlwind twists and turns that have led them to where they are today. They have become adoption icons, but to Heather, they&#8217;re just a normal family. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn1

<p>What this whole experience has taught her is that &#8220;Family does not have to be made from blood. It can come in many shapes and sizes. Love is all that matters.&#8221; They certainly feel loved in their family, with cuddles and kisses coming from all of their children. And they spread the love amongst them all equally. </p>

When The Chance to Adopt a Child Fell Through, This Nurse Never Expected That Her Journey to Parenthood Would Take Such an Emotional Turn