There are different ways you can show your love as a parent.
Some decide to give up their babies for adoption because they want the best for their children.
Others open their hearts for adoption, promising this child a home, a family, and to experience love.
It’s a beautiful thing.
An unforeseen gift
Three years ago, a firefighter working for the Anne Arundel Fire Department and his wife, a nurse at the University of Maryland Medical Center received an unexpected gift.
Mike Faherty and his lovely wife, Karen Faherty, tied the knot in 2015.
Their love story started when Michael met Karen in the Reserve Officer Training Corps while they were students at the University of Scranton.
After graduating, the two served in the Army but settled down to start their own family.
Unfortunately, it became difficult for them.
After four long years of trying and dealing with stress and infertility, Mike and Karen decided that adoption was their best option.
They chose Adoption Makes Family to handle the process, and like many other adoption stories, it took a year before they heard from the agency.
One day, on a Saturday, Michael heard sirens and people talking in front of their home.
He was confused. What was happening?
“And then I hear them start to sing and then I start to hone in on some of the faces and I look and think, ‘Wait, I know these people,’” Mike said in his interview with ABC 7.
Karen and Michael were expecting people.
Someone from the adoption agency phoned the couple to do a last-minute home inspection.
Unforeseen but not unwelcome
As part of the process, the agency should make a thorough investigation to see if their home was suitable for adopting and raising a child.
Karen and her husband were confused about why the agency needed a second visit, but they agreed.
They waited for Dean Kirschner, the agency founder.
“We had convinced ourselves almost a little too well which is partially why we were so shocked when we opened the door and saw the fire truck and the ambulance and 30 firefighters,” Karen smiled as she remembered that day.
There for a sweet serenade
Men and women walked up to their homes and started singing.
The couple heard the song “Little Red Wagon,” a song familiar to them as they learned it at the fire academy where they graduated.
“They might think they know they’re getting a baby but they never know how,” Kirschner said, proud of his surprise.
Kirschner loves surprising his clients.
He calls it “Gotcha Day,” a very special day for the new parents as they welcome their child.
Mike and Karen were not exempted.
When the agency founder found out about Mike’s occupation, he knew how he would plan the surprise. He called the fire department and set up everything.
As the couple looked out, they saw Kirschner walking towards them, and in his arms, a newborn baby.
Karen gasped as she realized what was happening.
“It’s the best feeling in the world. It was such a gift that the birth parents gave to us that we dreamt about this time for so long and without them, this dream would never come true,” Karen recalled.
Karen kissed her tiny child.
ONLY ON @ABC7News —
A firefighter with @AACoFD & nurse with @UMMC are surprised with a baby boy this weekend. They waited a year to #adopt after dealing with #infertility and are now parents.
The heartwarming surprise video & interview at 6 pm. pic.twitter.com/Tf8VFh2qUK— Victoria Sanchez (@VictoriaSanchez) February 19, 2019
Afterward, Kirschner guided the couple to see their other surprise. Inside the ambulance, they saw boxes of diapers and other necessities for first-time parents.
According to the agency, the biological mother chose Mike and Karen just weeks before she gave birth. She also saw the video.
She knew she made the right decision.
She knew her son would be loved and would live a good life.
Karen and Mike named the new member of their beautiful family Michael Terrance Faherty III.
See this couple get the surprise of a lifetime in the video below!
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