Labor Nurse Mama’s Adoption Birth Story: Stuck in India | 279

At 28, with four little boys at home, no money for the trip, and a stomach virus she couldn’t shake, Trish boarded a plane to India alone to bring her daughter home. She didn’t know if she’d leave with her. She definitely didn’t know that September 11th would happen while she was there, and that every flight to America would be grounded.

This episode is deeply personal. Trish’s adoption story went viral as an Instagram carousel, but she’s telling the parts a carousel couldn’t hold. There’s the courtroom, the embassy, the stranding in Mumbai, and the homecoming that still chokes her up. It’s a story about being scared and going anyway, and about the people who show up to carry you when you can’t see the whole path.

In this episode, Trish shares:

• Why she stopped waiting at home for a court date and decided she had to show up in person
• The surprise buddy pass that made the trip possible, first class, y’all
• Meeting her 15-month-old daughter, who screamed and ran the other way, and the lollipop that changed everything
• Getting in trouble in an Indian courtroom for crossing her legs
• A taxi door to the head, a very sick baby, and refusing to leave the American Embassy without her paperwork
• Being stranded in Mumbai on 9/11 with no flights and no phone lines home, and the one person she met that saved them
• Flying home with a plane full of military men passing her baby around, and the 50 people waiting in Chattanooga
• The three lessons from that trip that shaped who she is today

What Trish carries with her:

1. You can make a meaningful decision without feeling confident about it.
2. You can stick with something important when it gets complicated.
3. You can take the next step without knowing the whole path, and let people come alongside you to help.

If there’s a decision in front of you right now, ask yourself: what’s one thing you can do with what you know today, and who can come alongside you? Then take the scary step.

If this story moved you, share it with a mama who’s facing her own leap of faith.

Helpful Timestamps:

• 00:00 Adoption Leap Begins
• 04:23 First Meeting Sithara
• 05:55 Courtroom Culture Shock
• 09:58 9/11 & Stranded in Mumbai
• 10:52 Help from Shikha
• 14:21 Homecoming
• 15:03 Three Lessons from This Trip

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Produced and Edited by Vaden Podcast Services