BBM.
I'm sure it will be an excruciatingly hard day for Rachel and Heidi McFarland, too. And Rebecca Garrett. Does anyone even remember them?
After all, Rachel and Heidi McFarland brought Gabriel home from the hospital, invested months of their lives, and thousands of dollars, and allowed themselves to have hopes and dreams about raising Gabriel, during MA's pregnancy. They embraced motherhood, and changed every aspect of their lives to prepare for, and receive Gabriel. They invested emotional energy in dreams for his present, and his future. They loved, and attentively mothered this child, and welcomed MA into their home to remain involved in Gabriel's life.
One of them quit a job she loved to be a stay at home parent. They cared for Gabriel as if he had grown inside them, and loved him and cared for him as his only parents for 3/4 of his life.
They sacrificed enormously, and loved this baby deeply. They have suffered deeply, and been tremendously disrespected. They are cast aside, invisible and disposable victims of this terrible tragedy, as if they were mere babysitters. An afterthought. They have lost a huge part of their lives and dreams in this entire situation, IMO.
And NO ONE even bothered to call them to tell them the baby they considered their son was dead. No one.
I hope they were invited to participate in a funeral or memorial service. I hope they weren't cut out of that part of Gabriel's brief life, too.
Rebecca Garrett is suffering, too. Gabriel's adoptive grandmother.
.
I hope Rebecca Garrett, and Heidi and Rachel McFarland can advocate as mothers, to make changes in Iowa law to prevent this entire situation from ever happening again. Their arms are empty on what should have been their first Mother's day, too. Let's not forget them. They matter. They are victims, too-- over and over, they have been victimized.
http://www.omaha.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20140425/news/140429072/1707
