My sister Erin just became a mom to a baby boy named Noah, and our whole family traveled a few states away to where she lives to celebrate the exciting arrival of their little one.
I was super excited to meet my nephew, so I bought a lot of baby things and a teddy bear for Lily, my lovely goddaughter who my sister adopted about two years ago.
But when we got to Erin's house in the suburbs, I saw that Lily's plastic slide was missing from the yard. The little garden that she and I planted together that summer was also gone. Confused, I knocked on Erin's door, and as soon as I walked in with our mom and dad, Erin came to greet us, holding her baby in her arms.
“Everyone, meet Noah!” she said with excitement, showing the baby to us.
As I scanned the room, I realized that all of Lily's toys were gone, along with her drawings and the pictures of her that used to be proudly displayed all over the living room when I last came by.
Finally, I asked, “Erin, where's Lily!?” still grinning and holding her present.
With a level of indifference I had never seen before, my sister replied, “Oh, I gave her back!”
Thinking I must have misheard her, I asked for more details. “What do you mean you gave her back?”
I noticed our parents' expressions turned completely serious as they too were confused about what was happening.
“You know, I always wanted to be a mom, and now that I have Noah, why would I want a daughter?” Erin said. “Lily will be fine; they'll find her another family.”
I was shocked by what I heard.
“Erin, are you serious? That girl called you Mom for two years! She's not just something you can return; she was your daughter.”
My sister clearly didn't see abandoning her adopted daughter as a big issue.
“Chill out, sis,” she replied. “She wasn't really mine. It's not like I gave up my own kid. Lily was just… a temporary thing.”
Her words broke my heart. How could my own sister be so heartless? What was she thinking when she made such a ridiculous choice?
In that moment, all the memories I had with Lily rushed back to me. She was my sweet little girl, my biggest support during my miscarriages, my goddaughter, and now my sister just gave her away… just like that!
It seems that Erin and her husband didn't want to share their love between Lily and their biological son. The worst part was that they thought abandoning their adopted daughter wasn't a big deal. She even blamed me for making a big fuss about it.
While we were arguing, someone knocked on the door. To Erin's surprise, it was karma coming to get her.
Two people from Child Protective Services came to talk to Erin. Apparently, her neighbor, the one they always fought with, reported Erin's choice to abandon her adopted daughter right after she had her biological child.
“We have some questions about how you adopted your son and if you can give him a stable home,” said the woman who called herself Vanessa.
“We think you might have rushed the adoption termination and didn't get the important counseling before you gave up your daughter, Lily.”
Erin and her husband, David, said they did everything by the book, but Vanessa mentioned they were told they returned their legally adopted child without a proper plan, which made them doubt their parenting skills.
Erin started crying, but I didn't feel bad for her at all.
I just couldn't stand being around Erin for another second, so I walked away.
All I could think about was Lily. I really wanted to find out where she was and how she was doing. But getting that information wasn't simple. The details about where she was living weren't available to the public.
Fortunately, with the help of my lawyer, we were able to locate Lily. She had been placed in a foster home. My heart shattered. She had moved through a few foster homes before my sister adopted her, and now she was facing the same situation again.
Fortunately, I was granted visitation rights, and it didn't take long for me to file adoption papers myself. Lily meant so much to me, and unlike my sister, I couldn't just walk away from her.
It required a lot of time, patience, and a mountain of paperwork, but Lily was finally where she was meant to be, right by my side.
When the adoption process was complete, my husband, Aaron, embraced me and said, “We finally did it.”
His love and support for Lily were everything to me.
Last week, Lily celebrated her sixth birthday. She had a lovely party.
Sometimes, she keeps food because she's scared it might be taken from her, and she has bad dreams, but I know she will improve with time. For a long while, she thought she did something wrong, and that's why my sister left her.
Lily, my sister's adopted daughter, who my sister no longer wanted, became my whole world.
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