Two years after adopting child, New Albany couple guides others through process
Jun. 5—TUPELO — Jody Edwards always had a love for adoption, despite no one in her family having been adopted.
"I guess the Lord just put that love in my heart early on, knowing what was to come," she said.
She and her husband, Jeremy, recently joined Tupelo-based adoption agency New Beginnings International Children's and Family Services, where they help birth mothers considering adoption and families looking to adopt children.
It's a process through which they've been themselves. The couple adopted their daughter, Jaylee, now 2 years old, in January 2020.
Now, as part of New Beginnings, they see birth mothers through their most difficult times and help families through the hoops and hurdles of adopting a child.
'She has been such a blessing'
Jeremy and Jody, both 37 years old, faced fertility issues after deciding they'd like to have a child.
One day in October 2019, Jody Edwards was upset with the situation and turned, as they often do, to prayer.
"She was just really praying, 'God, we really want this child,'" Jeremy Edwards said. "Then our pastor, just out of the blue, texted her and said, 'I really feel like you're going to get your miracle this week.'"
Turns out, their pastor was right; they received a text from Jaylee's birth mom the next day.
Three months later, they brought Jaylee home from the hospital on the day she was born.
"Jaylee's birth mother was just in a situation where she could not parent, so she chose adoption for her," Jody Edwards said. "Once she chose us, she decided she wanted us at the hospital and to be with Jaylee from the very beginning."
Although the couple opted for a private adoption and handled much of the process themselves, New Beginnings conducted their home study — a comprehensive review conducted by a licensed social worker. Over the course of three home visits, they conduct personal interviews, perform background checks, ensure the home is safe and that there is adequate space for an additional family member.
The couple still maintains open communication with Jaylee's birth mother and family, staying connected through social media.
"She has been such a blessing, and she really is a blessing to everyone she meets," Jody Edwards said of her daughter. "Everybody loves her. She's full of energy, full of personality, loves laughing. She really is the greatest thing."
The couple's own new beginnings
In mid-April, the Edwardses joined New Beginnings as full-time employees where they guide others through the same process they went through.
Jeremy Edwards is the nonprofit's chief operating officer, overseeing the budget, finances, fundraising and donor relations.
He previously did insurance work for a behavioral health company and served as full-time music minister for Jesus Name Community Church in Walnut, where he continues to serve in a part-time capacity.
Jody Edwards oversees domestic and international adoptions, along with home study programs.
This is her third time working for New Beginnings. She started out as the secretary years ago and left to pursue a degree in social work. She came back as a social worker in the domestic department before marrying her husband. The drive from Walnut to Tupelo proved too far, so she found work closer to home, working as a children's therapist with Region IV Mental Health Services and later as a medical social worker with Legacy Hospice.
During that time, she stayed on as a contract social worker with the organization to help with home studies or birth-mother work when needed.
After they both joined New Beginnings, the couple moved to New Albany, where Jody Edwards' family is from, because it's the perfect halfway point between their workplace in Tupelo and their church in Walnut.
Faith and celebrating life
Faith drives everything the Edwardses do at New Beginnings.
They see their work as a ministry, and the entire staff tries to show the love of Christ to their clients.
Or, as their former pastor's wife used to say, they "keep the main thing the main thing," meaning they always strive to put God first in all they do.
"I heard somebody say recently that physical adoption is such a parallel to spiritual adoption," Jody Edwards said. "And it is. We're all adopted into God's kingdom. For us, it did not matter how Jaylee came to our family, whether that was biological or through adoption. What matters is that she's here. We love her and we want to train her up to love the Lord and serve him."
The Edwards' church family rallied around them during their struggle with infertility and celebrated with them when they found out about Jaylee and the adoption.
The couple does the same on a smaller scale at New Beginnings with birth moms and adoptive families.
"We used to say 'We hold your hand through the process,'" Jody Edwards said. "And we try to do that for both parties."
Adoption is never a Plan B, she said. It's simply the plan.
"The Lord is in control," Jody Edwards said. "I believe he brings both parties to us. He brings us the birth moms we need to work with and brings us the adoptive families as well.
"In the end, we get to celebrate life," she added.
