Brief

It doesn’t take biology to create a family—after being raised in a nontraditional family environment, Mikki Walker is inspired to seek adoption when she and husband Carl are unable to conceive. Through coincidence, she discovers that a pregnant friend of a friend is looking to give her child for adoption. Overcoming the obstacles of a clinical, complex foster system and her own fears, Mikki is able to adopt her “miracle baby,” discovering the power of choice in forming a family.

What We Liked

- This book tells the story of a woman who takes life into her own hands, choosing adoption as a means to grow her family and sticking to her choice every step of the way. An ode to the nontraditional family unit, this memoir is full of heart, proving that a healthy dash of coincidence and serendipity can lead to the most important decisions of one's life, and that a found family is just as much a family as a biological one;
- This book would make a great feel-good film, an inspiring story to add the scarce positive representation of adoption in cinema. This story would appeal to families united by adoption and the general public alike, as the theme of family, found or otherwise, is completely universal;
- This heartwarming story would appeal to audiences looking for a hopeful, feel-good narrative to tune into every week. The structure of this story--the development of a family--is ripe for adaptation, particularly in this modern moment, when the definition of a "family" is broader than ever;
- Based on a true story; Told from the perspective of an adoptive mother, this book provides a personal peek into the adoption system and its difficulties; An inspiring story that challenges preconceived notions of the "ideal" family unit; A feel-good narrative that, despite the drama, has an uplifting and happy ending; Meaningful message--this story takes a hard pro-adoption stance, encouraging family planning for those able to adopt and positively representing those who have.

Synopsis

While speaking to her son on the phone in present day, Mikki reflects on her family and what led her to form her own family. For a large portion of her childhood, Mikki lived with her mother, grandmother, and siblings, after her mother had escaped an abusive relationship and moved the family several times. As Mikki turned 12 her mother married William Walker without warning, and though Mikki initially resented the change, skipping school for nearly a month in retaliation, William's kind nature and determination eventually won her over, making a real father out of him. After a big move to upstate New York and her graduation, Mikki joined the Air Force, coming back home to find that her family had adopted 12-year-old Chet, and built a relationship with him slowly.

The story skips ahead to 1983--now a successful realtor seeking election in the local association of realtors, she marries broker Carl Smith, and over the next few years begins to try all manner of conception methods that don't result in pregnancy. Mikki begins to write affirmations, telling herself her child will be born on or before April of the next year, and travels to Dallas to attend a realtor convention featuring a speech by President Bush. After the convention, she gets a call from Carl--Mikki's friend Carol had found a pregnant woman seeking to give her baby to a family immediately after birth. Mikki and Carl quickly agree and get in contact with Sharon, who is attempting to escape an abusive relationship herself, and is set in her decision to give the baby up. They realize that at the exact moment Mikki was at the convention in Dallas, Sharon was also there visiting a friend, stuck in a traffic jam caused by the president's visit.

Once Mikki and Carl began the process of adoption, they realized there were several hurdles to overcome--the cost, for one, but upon the child's birth, as Mikki took a last-minute flight from a conference in Washington DC to be present, she ran into the issue of taking CJ home straightaway, as the adoption service had a policy that the child would be put into foster care for six weeks before he could be adopted. They found a loophole, as Mikki took the baby home via airplane with permission from Sharon to ""babysit"" until the adoption could be finalized. In the next few weeks the home study was completed and a judge decreed the adoption official. Over the next few years as CJ grows and Mikki and Carl learn to field the awkward questions and instill their values into him, Mikki keeps her affirmation in her mind, grateful for the opportunity life afforded her.

About The Author

For over 20 years, Mikki Shepard has written hundreds of educational marketing stories for client presentations, keynote addresses, continuing education classes and a multitude of public relations campaigns for clients throughout the U.S., as well as, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Mikki wrote, published articles and conducted seminars locally and nationally on "Open Your Hearts to Open Houses," "Farming Condominiums," "Your Winning Edge: Image," and "The fatal pitfalls facing businesses, how to avoid them and catapult to the next level!" as part of her series, "Beyond the Ultimate Sales Machine." Writing a good news, adoption story has been her passion for many years leading to an article in a special section called Women of the Rockies in the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph newspaper. That article became the seed that would grow into the book, In A Heartbeat-The miracle of a family that was 'meant to be.' Mikki and her husband live in the Hudson Valley, Pine Bush area of New York.