“Every child is a precious jewel”

Every single day for 40 years, Deb Fife wondered about the baby girl she had given up for adoption. I pray she knows I love her, she thought. As it turns out, a single hug would heal both Deb’s and Amy’s hearts . . .

On her 19th birthday, Deb Fife stood at the nursery window in a Houston hospital looking at the baby girl she had given birth to— a baby girl who’d no longer be hers—through a blur of tears.

She knew she’d made the right decision to sign the adoption papers. Yet it had been the hardest decision she’d ever made.

“Can she at least hold her before she leaves the hospital?” Deb’s own mother, Elaine, quietly begged a nurse. But that wasn’t allowed. And so, letting her tears fall, Deb sent up a prayer: Please let my Amy have a wonderful life. Please let her be loved . . .

A sacrifice of love

Inthe months and years that followed, Deb— a college freshman on a piano scholarship when Amy was born—felt weighed down by loss, grief and guilt. Even after finding true love, having five more children and moving to Highlands Ranch, Colorado, she felt a piece of her heart was missing.

Still, Deb could never bring herself to search for Amy. She didn’t want to interrupt her life. And what if she hates me for giving her up? Deb worried.

But, she never stopped thinking about her. Even Deb’s elderly father, before he passed away, knew. Taking her hand, he said, “You really need to look for your daughter, Deb. Don’t wait until it’s too late.”

Nervously, Deb registered on Adopted.com, a website that connects birth parents with adopted children who are also searching. But when she didn’t get a match, Deb told herself: Maybe she’s simply happy with life the way it is.

Meanwhile, in Collierville, Tennessee, Amy Hurley—now a 41-year-old mom of two—was indeed happy.

By some amazing coincidence, her parents had also chosen the name “Amy.” And when she was five, they explained that she had been chosen, too, a blessing and a gift for them.

Back then, Cabbage Patch Kids dolls were all the rage, and Amy snuggled hers, marveling, “It comes with adoption papers, just like me!” Still, as loved and valued as Amy felt, sometimes while growing up she’d wonder who she looked like. And when she became a mom, she realized the sacrifice her birth mom had made. A few times over the years, Amy had attempted to find her birth mother. But after turning 40, she began to do so in earnest. And when she registered with Adopted.com, she got a match immediately!

Three years after she’d first registered on the site, Deb was shocked when she received the message: Your daughter is looking for you.

Hands trembling, Deb messaged back. And minutes later, she and Amy were talking!

“Your voice . . . it’s like an echo of mine!” she marveled.

Two peas in a pod

Aweek later, Deb flew the 1,100 miles to Nashville. Excited and nervous, Amy held a pink balloon and a sign that read, “It’s a Girl!” as she waited for Deb at the airport. And when she arrived, Deb pulled her baby girl into her arms for the first time ever.

To Deb, that embrace was like a chemical explosion of joy and relief. “I’ve loved you for so long!” she sobbed.

Amy felt an instant connection, too. “Everything I’ve ever wondered about just clicked into place!” she beamed.

Mother and daughter discovered so many similarities: Amy also plays piano. They have the same sense of humor. And they both dreamed of traveling to France.

When the subject of camping came up, Deb just laughed. “My idea of camping is . . . ” “… a motel with no room service?” Amy asked.

“Exactly!” Deb laughed.

In the days to come, Amy also met her five half siblings, her grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins. And Deb became a grandmother for the first time—to Amy’s two teenagers!

Recently, to celebrate Amy’s birthday, the two took a whirlwind trip to France. And today, a day doesn’t pass without mother and daughter texting or talking on the phone.

“In my life before, the hardest thing was thinking of the whatifs,” Amy says. “What if there’s something wrong with her? What if there’s a reason she doesn’t want to get in touch with me? Now those are all solved. I have true inner peace and a feeling of wholeness.”

“Every child is a precious jewel,” Deb adds. “Finding Amy— it’s like finding the missing jewel in my life and heart!”

— Marti Attoun

Family is a treasure chest worth more than a mountain gold.” of ANONYMOUS