Christina Fisher of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, spent most of the past year arranging adoption plans for her unborn daughter, Abigail. Because Fisher felt that she didn't have the means to take care of a second daughter, she wanted to do everything she could to ensure her child had a secure home and happy upbringing.
By the time of Abigail’s birth on January 11, 2016, Fisher had completely finalized adoption plans with another woman, and on January 11, the adoption mother even went to the hospital with Fisher to welcome home a new child.
But the moment this adoptive mother discovered that Abigail was born with a disfiguring birth defect, she bailed on the arrangement and left the hospital, “crying” and “saying how deformed” Abigail was.
Abigail had been born with Treacher Collins syndrome, a genetic condition that interferes with the proper development of bones and other tissues in the face. As a result, little Abigail's face seems to sag at the sides. This condition can potentially lead to permanent hearing and vision loss, and it couldn't, unfortunately, be identified by conducting tests before birth.
When the adoptive mother walked out of the hospital, Fisher knew that Abigail was meant to be hers. Although she wasn’t in any way “fully prepared” to welcome a new daughter, she “can no longer see [her] life without either one of [her] daughters.”
Over the course of the year, Fisher asked for and received the financial support of family, friends, and strangers across the Internet to buy materials and supplies to best take care of her new daughter. Now, she and Abigail are doing well, and the latter has just turned nine months old. Fisher has never heard from the adoptive mother again.
