Today. January 27, 2009. This day marks nine months from the day the decision was made, the hope rekindled. And yet, after all the hoping, all the waiting, all the heartache… today feels like the end.

Let us go back to the beginning of the story.

It’s a story of love and pain, of faith and heartache. It’s the story of a Rochester College employee, Rebekah Pinchback. She has worked at RC for just under two years, and is currently the Office Manager for Academic Services. But, back to the story.

In June 2002, two high school sweethearts, Ben and Rebekah Pinchback, were married after dating for four years.

After about two years of marriage, the desire to grow a family surfaced for the couple. For the first few years, they tried the old fashioned way, without medical intervention. When it became clear that something was wrong, they worked with an infertility clinic for another year and a half.

“The last thing we did before we walked away was insemination,” Rebekah said.

For weeks leading up to the procedure, both Ben and Rebekah were monitored through countless appointments. For the insemination to work, everything had to be just right.

“Finally, the day comes,” Rebekah remembered. “And on the day that we were getting inseminated, everything was perfect. I never even entertained the idea that it wasn’t going to work. And so then when it didn’t work, a couple weeks later, it was devastating.”

Within days, the endocrinologist called from the infertility clinic, ready for them to come back in and figure out a new plan of action. But they had reached a point where enough was enough. Knowing they couldn’t go through any more infertility treatments, they walked away.

“From October to January was probably the darkest time in my life,” Rebekah said. “We weren’t talking about adoption, and so for us, there was just no hope.”

In January 2008, she began to bring up adoption. At the time, Ben was completely against the idea.

“I think a lot of it is because we had gone through so much,” Rebekah said. “I mean, it is such an emotional process when you’re trying to do something that everybody else can. I think he just couldn’t even entertain the idea.”

During this time, Rebekah prayed that God would help her deal with the situation, whether that meant changing Ben’s heart toward adoption, or helping her to be satisfied with no children. She and her best friend began to pray together weekly, not only for a baby, but also for their families.

“We prayed for a full month,” Rebekah recalled, “And at the end of the month, one night we were laying in bed and Ben said, ‘Okay, I think I’m ready to adopt.’”

That was April 27, 2008. By April 29, they had submitted their application to an adoption agency, and Rebekah started a blog documenting their journey. (You can visit it at www. rebekahpinchback.blogspot.com)

Read more about Ben and Rebekah’s journey tomorrow in Miracle Baby - Part 2