Being a teenage parent comes with a lot of challenges both physically for the teenage pregnant girl, and emotionally for both parents and, possibly, for their child in the future.
“Babies raising babies” as teenage parents are referred to is not exactly an ideal situation.
Oftentimes, neither of the parents is mature enough or financially independent so that they can bring up a baby, and these are probably the main reasons why many of them chose a different route like adoption.
But Jim Mcaskill was not one of those teens. When he was only 15 years old, his girlfriend at the time got pregnant. They had no idea what they were supposed to do, but his girlfriend was brave enough to carry the baby and give birth to her.
However, at the tender age of 15, she did not feel ready to accept the responsibilities that come along with raising a child, so she decided that she would place the baby for adoption as soon as she was born.
Jim did not agree with her, but he was not given an option or an alternative.
So, when baby girl Devon was born in 1978, while he was excited to become a father, he was at the same time devastated that he would not get the chance to raise his baby himself.
Against the hospital rules, he was allowed to see his newborn baby, and say his final goodbye to her before she was gone forever- as he believed at the time, at least.
“A nurse took me to a little room, put me in a gown, and brought Devon to me. Just this little small pudgy nose and she just kept staring up at you like she knew who I was,” Mcaskill shared with CityNews.
He told his daughter that he loved her and that he would meet her again one day, and then he said goodbye.
After that, and for thirty years, he kept looking for her everywhere, but all his research led to a dead end. Until 2013, when he found Nicole Stefanick on Facebook.
Nicole, his 35-year-old daughter, looked just like her biological mother, according to Jim. He found her online and reached out to her.
From then on, things went on really fast. They soon met in person and they could not hold back their tears.
When they met for the first time, Jim, besides a bouquet of flowers, also had a necklace to give her back.
You see, when he first met the baby in the hospital he took a beaded necklace from her neck and promised to give it back to her one day.
Indeed, he gave it back to her and she put it on as a bracelet.
The two of them spent lots of time together sharing memories from their lives until then and hoping that they’d make up for the lost time in the years to come.
“I told her, one day we’ll be together, and we’re here.”
Watch Jim talking about his daughter in the heart-melting video below!
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