A woman named Kaleena got pregnant when she was in high school and she had to make the decision of placing her baby for adoption to make her child’s future secure.
Suddenly, “she had to make some very adult decisions,” her stepmother, Kirsten Ballard, said.
Kaleena had no life experience to raise a child and she found out that a trusted family friend was looking to adopt.
“When I first found out that I was pregnant, I knew I didn’t have the life experience to raise a baby, and I wasn’t going to be selfish… So, I decided for adoption,” Kaleena shared.
She was already four months pregnant when she got to know about her pregnancy and she made a deal about adoption with a friend. The family who adopted the child was informed every detail during her entire pregnancy, she even sent them ultrasound photos.
Kaleena told the adoptive family that she wanted to breastfeed her baby, named Raylie, while they were both in the hospital.
“When a baby is fed breast milk, they are just way ahead of the game. I decided that I wanted my baby to have the best options and to be able to grow — and so, I knew I was going to pump and give her that benefit,” Pysher told Montgomery Adviser.
She had a hard time expelling a lot of milk in the beginning but she dedicated herself to providing milk for her daughter. The adoptive family asked her to not send milk any more time as their freezer was already full.
She was not sure what to do with the breast milk she was still expressing, Kaleena decided to store them in her parents’ freezer and later she learned that she could donate her breast milk to NICU babies.
The young mother with a breast milk bank in Colorado and made arrangements to have the breast milk donated there.
She has stopped sending breast milk to adoptive family for her baby, the family keeps her updating about Raylie. Kaleena is grateful because her daughter’s family still want her to remain in Raylie’s life.
“They have told me that we are a family now. They say that I will always be her mother and that they are appreciative of the gift of life I have given them,” said Kaleena.