{"id":304898,"date":"2024-01-10T06:41:49","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T12:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=304898"},"modified":"2024-01-09T17:15:47","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T23:15:47","slug":"smile-every-tear-struggles-led-joy-adoption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/smile-every-tear-struggles-led-joy-adoption\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A smile for every tear’: How one family’s struggles eventually led to the joy of adoption"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Angela Cross had been married to her high school sweetheart when she swallowed the abortion pill that would end her baby\u2019s life. She did so out of fear; her husband had been unfaithful to her, and Planned Parenthood informed her that the child in her womb was merely \u201ca tiny clump of cells.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Angela told Live Action News, \u201cPlanned Parenthood had assured me my baby would feel no pain because it wasn\u2019t even a living human being yet. But for 20 years I struggled with the grief of aborting my first child \u2014 though knowing God had forgiven me, I couldn\u2019t forgive myself.\u201d She and her husband later divorced.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a woman, Angela knew in her spirit that her body was harboring life. She realized that many post-abortive women like her internalize the trauma of ending a pregnancy. She felt strongly that she had been carrying a son and decided to honor him with the name Josiah.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot knowing I the name I had chosen for my aborted child, my mother went to the Lord in prayer, and he also gave her the name Josiah,\u201d Angela said. \u201cFor me, it was confirmation that my baby was in heaven.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When Angela later married Tanner Cross, a loving man with solid Christian principles, the couple was eager to start a family. They could not have known, however, that their desire for parenthood would be marked by disappointment and heartache as years passed with no pregnancy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tanner told Live Action News, \u201cWe were both evaluated by doctors but were told our fertility levels were fine, that nothing should be preventing us from getting pregnant. Doctors recommended we try intrauterine insemination (IUI) but after two years of failed treatments, we were frustrated and asked the Lord for guidance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An unexpected turn of events<\/b><\/p>\n

Four years marked a turning point. Tanner, a physical education teacher at Leesburg Elementary in Virginia\u2019s Loudoun County school system, was suspended from his job by taking a stand against the district\u2019s transgender policy, refusing to address students by their preferred pronouns and publicly denouncing the sexually explicit books students were compelled to read. It was during this turbulent time that Angela and Tanner encountered a couple who convinced them to consider becoming foster parents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tanner said, \u201cWhen I testified before the school board in an appeal to remove sexually explicit books from the schools, we met Bev and Chip, whose foster children \u2014 having suffered prior sexual abuse \u2014 were also testifying how their wounds had been reopened by being forced to read sexually graphic books in their classrooms. They helped us see how we could make a difference as foster parents and mentored us throughout the process.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

READ: Study authors perpetuate narrative that it\u2019s better to be dead than in foster care<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

But the new road to parenthood was fraught with a different set of challenges. The Crosses decided to work with a private foster care provider. Gender or ethnicity was irrelevant to the couple \u2013 they would love any child. Yet while the agency would allow the Crosses to foster<\/em> a child of any race, they would not be permitted to adopt<\/em> a child who was not Caucasian like them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had struggled through so many hardships,\u201d Angela said. \u201cYears of infertility and now, we were ready to become foster parents, yet nothing was coming to fruition. The state has control of who has access to children being placed for adoption. We were questioned about how we would handle a transgender child and were open that we would adhere to our Christian values when raising our child. So, we were disqualified from adopting a transgender child.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As if in answer to prayer, the couple received a call from a teacher friend of Tanner\u2019s who told them about a baby being placed for adoption after being abandoned by a methadone addict.<\/span><\/p>\n

Angela said, \u201cWe fell deeply in love with this baby and believed he would be ours. We had him for only a month. When the baby\u2019s state-appointed attorney learned about Tanner\u2019s battle against the school, we lost our chance to adopt him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As their debts mounted, a friend stepped up to offer financial assistance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur benefactor told us the Lord wanted to bless us and return the money that was lost so that we could try again,\u201d Angela said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0In all, the Crosses experienced eight<\/em> failed adoption attempts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s plan comes to fruition<\/b><\/p>\n

Yet, it\u2019s always the darkest before dawn. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tanner\u2019s unwillingness to bend to political pressure may have produced many challenges for the Crosses, yet one man, Ryan Bomberger, a pro-life activist and founder of The Radiance Foundation<\/a>, was impressed by Tanner\u2019s courage, and he would be the impetus for setting into motion God\u2019s perfect plan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bomberger attended the next school board meeting to advocate for Tanner, and then connected with the Crosses on Facebook where he saw a heartfelt post by Angela. He reached out with a startling proposition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had posted on social media about the pain of being rejected for adoption based on our skin color,\u201d Angela said. \u201cRyan called and said he wanted to award us a grant to cover the cost of our adoption. After many unsuccessful attempts working through an agency, we adopted our son Josiah privately.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n