There’s a version of the adoption conversation that feels too small, too rushed, and too boxed into false either-or choices. So we made space for something deeper: Tammy Tuttle’s story of “the third choice” and the long, faith-led road that brought her daughter, Remy, home. Tammy is a mother of five who started with a simple desire to adopt, then spent years learning patience through closed doors, doubts, and the kind of waiting that tests your peace.

We talk through what adoption actually looks like on the ground: overseas adoption barriers, domestic infant adoption realities, and the practical steps that matter most, including contacting local family adoption attorneys, completing a home study, and getting adoption paperwork finished before an opportunity appears. Tammy shares the moment she finally surrendered the desire to God, asking for it to be removed if it wasn’t meant for their family, and waking up with a calm confidence she couldn’t manufacture.

Then everything changes with one phone call and an impossible timeline. Tammy tells the birth story that still brings her to tears: meeting Savannah, receiving an invitation into the delivery room, and witnessing the courage it takes for a birth mother to choose adoption. We also explore what people rarely say out loud, including the grief adoptive parents can feel for a birth mom after leaving the hospital, and the surprising, beautiful bond that can grow even when an adoption begins as “closed.” Tammy closes with how she tells Remy her adoption story with love, why Remy’s compassion matters, and the scripture that reshaped how she sees adoption.

If this story moves you, help us reach the next listener who needs hope: subscribe, share this episode, and leave a review. What does “the third choice” mean to you?

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