A TikTok mom recently released a video capturing her and her husband meeting their adopted newborn baby for the first time and there was not a dry eye in the room!
Accoring to In The Know, earlier this year, Shelby and Cody Henigman met their adopted baby boy for the first time on the day he was born. And to commemorate the moment that the first-time parents' hearts grew larger than they ever imagined possible, Shelby shared the emotional video on TikTok on their son's six-month birthday.
As the video opens, Cody and Shelby, who goes by @shelbyhenigman on the social media platform, are seen walking through the hallway of a hospital to the Newborn Nursery unit.
A caption describes the moment saying, "Six months ago, we waited in a quiet hospital hallway as the most incredible woman we know welcomed our son into the world."
While the camera does not see what is around the corner, Shelby sees her son being wheeled to her in a clear hospital bassinet and viewers can tell that even before meeting the little one, she is already in love.
The new parents walk over to their baby boy, where Shelby gently touches his little cheek, almost as if to make sure that it is truly happening that she has become a mom.
As the video transitions, Shelby is seen in a room where she is finally able to hold her baby and bond with him for the first time. The look on her face and the tears that Shelby is struggling to fight back is that of love, gratitude, and joy all rolled into one.
"He's perfect," Shelby says to the camera.
Cody also gets his opportunity to hold his brand new son. And as he gently rocks the baby, the smile that only a new father can have is spread across his face.
Shelby also included pictures of the birth mother with the newborn, where she is standing behind the baby while he is in the bassinet, and one of Shelby, Cody, the baby, and the birth mother as they prepared to leave the hospital.
The video ends with a close-up photo of the new family of three and then of the baby boy at home in a warm pair of brown pajamas.
Not surprisingly, the video has tugged at the heartstrings of TikTok viewers. So much so, that since the video was posted, it has over 7.2 million views and 961,000 likes.
As this video showed, adoption is an extremely emotional experience.
According to Considering Adoption, on average, it takes approximately one year to domestically adopt a baby. However, for some families, it can be a much longer process due to unexpected circumstances that arise. And because the birth mother has the opportunity to change her mind up until the adoption papers are signed, according to American Adoptions, it can be an emotionally draining experience waiting for a baby to be born not knowing if the dream of having a baby will be taken away in the blink of an eye.
Once the papers are signed, however, that baby officially becomes part of the adoptive family and it is up to the adoptive parents and the birth mother what kind of contact there will be between the families in the future.
In the case of Shelby and Cody, it appears that there were no worries about being able to adopt their son once he was born. And by being connected with this particular birth mother, the couple's dream of becoming parents was finally realized.
Source: Considering Adoption, In The Know, American Adoptions