Nine Year Pregnancy

Nine Year Pregnancy By Delana Stewart Nine Year Pregnancy By Delana Stewart CrossBooks, 2011, ISBN-13: 978-1462713059, 152 pages, $12.99 paperback “Nine Year Pregnancy” by Delana Stewart is a personal and inspiring true story of the trials and triumphs of adopting a child. Stewart takes you on her family’s journey, starting with a mysterious dream that plants a longing in her heart for a daughter. Although Texas is the opening scene, the events quickly move to places around the world, including The Island of Cyprus, Azerbaijan and The United Arab Emirates as well as other exotic places. As the story unfolds she pulls the reader into her world by recounting emotional experiences we can all relate to. The door to adoption opens and shuts throughout the story, building a mountain of hurt and disappointment along the way. But through these hurts and disappointments, she still desires to follow God’s plan for her family even if it means letting go of a dream she has wanted for so long. Analogies in pregnancy are used in the book to compare the experience to adoption. By using these analogies it is easier for someone who has never adopted to understand the process of adoption while reading. Even the titles of the chapters are expressive of the different stages of the adoption journey: Conception, Expecting, False Contractions, Labor and Delivery. She writes, “Knowing that God would bring a particular child into our lives would be the comfort and strength needed to help us through the challenges we would surely face. Nonetheless, I felt so ready, so expectant. I might as well have been pregnant because in my mind I knew God had given me this vision, had implanted it in my heart and would bring it to full term.” Poetry and songs, composed by the book’s author, are strategically dispersed throughout the chapters to help the reader get a sense of what she is going through. These poetic and soulful confessions to God prepare the reader for the heartfelt events that follow. This is a real-life drama that will keep you intrigued as you experience the author’s journey. It is a joy to read and an excellent example of how faithful God is, if we just believe. Read more about “Nine Year Pregnancy” at http://9yrpregnancy.com. — Reviewed by Kristin Jopling. a prospective adoptive mother who is in the process of adopting from Ethiopia with her husband, Josh, and two children, Rafe and Bryson. To find out about Jopling’s adoption story go to http://joplingjourney.blogspot.com or http://www.adoptionbug.com/jopling.