Jacki and Matt Piha met in 2014. He was still in college, and she, degree in hand, was working in Philadelphia. Anndee Hochman for The Philadelphia Inquirer described the happy turn their lives took at a Bala Cynwyd park.

The pair hit it off and were living together once Matt finished school. They relocated to Delaware for Jackie’s career and married in March 2019.

Both wanted to be parents. But after a year of trying, testing, and IVF, they decided to adopt.

Jacki, who is herself adopted and therefore viewed the process positively, was overjoyed at the decision. They were approved within six months of their first contact with Open Arms Adoption Network. They got their call 10 days later.

They met their son Finley for the first time in a Bala Cynwyd park, with his birth parents and social workers present.

“It didn’t feel real until she placed him in my arms and I ugly-cried,” said Jackie.

They decided that the boy would always know about his adoption.

“It will be part of his life, just as it was for me,” said Jackie. “We were meant to be a family in this way.”

Read more about this happy trio and the role a Bala Cynwyd park played in their future in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

_____

A video profile of the Open Arms Adoption Network.