WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Adrianna’s adoptive parents met her when she was just four days old.
The previous night, her birth mother had dropped her off at West Chester Hospital, using Ohio’s Safe Haven laws to ensure that she could leave her baby in a safe environment without facing the legal repercussions of abandonment.
In the hours between Adrianna’s separation from her birth mother and meeting her adoptive family, Dr. William Naber and registered nurse Erin Ward were her caretakers. The pair were on duty that night when the emergency room receptionist came to Ward with the bundle in her arms, unsure how to handle a Safe Haven surrender.
“We take care of all kinds of people when they are in their times of need, but it’s not often that we do so with someone who is so vulnerable,” Ward said. "That truly doesn’t have anybody at that moment. So we just kind of became her guardians for that short period of time.”
The next day, Adrianna was transferred to Children’s Hospital, where prospective adopters Bob and Jessica “just fell in love with her.” The couple welcomed her into their family, where she now lives with two younger siblings.
Four years later, Jessica said, Adrianna began to ask her parents about where she had come from. She wanted to know more about her birth family and about who had been there to take care of her before she met her parents.
On Thursday, she found out.
Adrianna’s family brought her back to West Chester Hospital Thursday to meet Naber and Ward and learn more about her background -- and the two medical professionals were reunited with child they’d cared for so long ago.
“You hope that every day you go to work that you make a difference, but it’s not always this warm and fuzzy,” Naber said. “It’s just so cool that now the child has a beautiful life and family -- that started just that way."
WATCH the video above to see their heartwarming reunion.
Because Adrianna's parents are still in the process of adopting her youngest sibling, they requested that their family name not be publicized.
