I Adopted a Baby After Making a Promise to God – 17 Years Later, She Broke My Heart!

The breaking point came on prom night. I stood in Ruth’s room, phone ready for pictures. She looked ethereal, but her face was cold and hard. Before I could speak, she said I wasn’t coming to see her off and that after the dance, she was leaving for good. My heart stopped. When I pressed her, the truth landed like a physical blow.

“Stephanie told me why you got me,” Ruth said, trembling. “She told me about your prayer. That I was just a deal you made with God to have your real daughter. I’m just a payment, aren’t I?”

The room turned icy. I sat on the edge of her bed, crushed by the weight of a seventeen-year-old secret. I admitted the promise but explained the nuance: the bathroom floor, the five miscarriages, the grief that had made me desperate. Stephanie hadn’t caused me to adopt Ruth out of obligation; my love for Stephanie had taught me that my heart had space for another. The vow had guided me, but the love was Ruth’s entirely.

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