My Wife Waited Years to Become a Mother – but Just Four Weeks After the Adoption, I Came Home and Found Her Crying: ‘We’re Not Parents Anymore!’

My wife and I thought the hardest part of adoption was over—the paperwork, the waiting, the heartbreak. We were wrong. Just weeks after bringing our daughter home, one email nearly destroyed us.

I’m Eric, 36. My wife, Megan, dreamed of being a mom since college. After eight years of infertility treatments and two miscarriages, we chose to adopt a newborn. That’s how we met Melissa—18, scared, and certain she wasn’t ready to be a mother. We promised her the baby would have a safe, loving home.

We named our daughter Rhea.

The first weeks were exhausting and beautiful. Megan barely slept, afraid to take her hand off the bassinet. We whispered over the baby monitor, stunned that she was finally ours.

Then one evening, Megan was waiting on the couch, crying. The adoption agency had emailed—Melissa had contacted them. Under state law, she had 30 days to revoke consent.

That night, Melissa showed up at our door.

She didn’t want the baby back, she said. She wanted money.

“Pay me $15,000 in cash,” she told us, “or I take her.”

What she didn’t know was that our security system—and my phone—recorded everything.

We hired a lawyer immediately. The legal fight lasted months, but the recording changed everything. In court, the judge ruled Melissa had attempted to extort us. Her parental rights were permanently terminated.

Rhea was ours.

Four weeks after becoming parents, we nearly lost our daughter. But love isn’t just a feeling—it’s fighting when everything is on the line.

And we fought.