Champaign County mom Morgan Bowman says adopting her son changed the course of her life both personally and professionally.
Bowman was working full time in management at Navistar for seven years when she adopted her son. Receiving an urgent call about the infant who had been born at 26-weeks gestation to a substance-addicted mother and abandoned at Dayton Children’s Hospital, Bowman had little time to act.
“My husband looked at me and said he saw the desire in my eyes to have this baby,” says Bowman. “So, he took the paper and signed it. We were instant parents.”
Bowman’s newly adopted son had several health concerns. He underwent heart surgery, surgery for a hernia, suffered with lung disease and more. He had 12 medical specialists caring for him.
“I remember I looked at the doctor making rounds and asking what his odds were,” says Bowman. “There was never a doubt from the second I laid eyes on my son that he was my son. I began pleading with god, “’If you spare his life I will go back and make a difference.’”
To say that Bowman, who had struggled with unexplained infertility for 10 years, underwent major life changes as a new mom might be an understatement.
Because of her experiences with the healthcare her son required and continues to need, Bowman enrolled in the Registered Nursing program at Clark State Community College. Eventually she had to leave her well-paying job at Navistar to care for her son. At that point, Bowman says she thought her college journey was over, so she began applying for Clark State Foundation scholarships.
“Because of the scholarships I was awarded, I was able to stay in school,” says Bowman who plans to continue her education at Ohio University and pursue a BSN. Her ultimate goal is to become a pediatric nurse practitioner or maybe even a medical doctor.
While juggling her son, his health needs and college, Bowman became ill in December 2016.
“I thought for sure I was dying,” she says. “But I was pregnant!”
Now the mom of two young boys, Bowman continues to advocate for adoption and encourages others to consider this option. She and her family hold no ill-will toward her son’s biological parents; in fact, Bowman credits them for the decision they made and for making her a mother.
“There are so many families out there that would love to give children good, loving homes,” she says. “If you had asked the 20-year-old me about taking in another person’s child … my answer would have been completely different than what it would be today.”
With Thanksgiving in just a couple weeks, the idea of thankfulness isn’t lost on Bowman.
Adoption, she say, didn’t lead her to one miracle, it led her to two.
“I have two sons that I should have never had,” Bowman says. “Yet, here I am a mom to two miracles, and I’m pursuing something I would have never pursued. I’m blessed beyond measure.”
For more than 122,000 children nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, without permanent family connections.
National Adoption Month is recognized annually in November as a time to raise awareness about the urgent need for adoptive families for children and youth in foster care.
Bowman’s goal is to make a difference, even just for one person.
“Before (my son), I always questioned my purpose,” she says. “The second I laid my eyes on my son, I found my purpose.”
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