• Diversity
• Pregnancy and Childbirth

Two Dads and a Newborn Adoption: "Our Experience Was Wonderful"

By: Mikalee Byerman

December 04, 2018

Watch as two dads look back on their newborn adoption process. They reminisce about discovering their newborn was on his way — and how Renown Health subsequently helped them navigate the process. 

During Memorial Day weekend, Chris Mulhern and his husband, Jeffrey Bodimer, learned a set of birth parents chose them to parent their unborn baby boy. After writing a letter to the birth parents, they were chosen over other applicants in a private adoption.

The adoption agency took care of many details, like connecting Mulhern and Bodimer to the birth mother and dad. In fact, they could participate in nearly all the phases of the pregnancy. The mother's prenatal care and delivery took place at Renown Health, where Mulhern and Bodimer attended her appointments and took childbirth classes.

"Our experience was wonderful at Renown," says Mulhern. "We thought it was absolutely incredible how nice and accepting everyone was."

The Nuances of Newborn Adoption

Their son, Bradley, was born via cesarean section. And the adoptive parents got to see him an hour after he came into the world. The labor and delivery nurses even helped coordinate everything between them and the birth mom. Mulhern and Bodimer stayed in a room at The Inn at Renown. The closeness of the facility on the Renown campus made it possible to feed Bradley every two hours.

Incredible Nurses

"They were great, the nursing staff. If we weren't sure about doing something right, about burping him right they would say 'It's okay. He's not going to blow up. He will eventually do it'," says Mulhern. The nurses also made arrangements for the two dads to participate in skin-to-skin contact with their newborn baby. Experts agree parents and babies should be in direct contact for at least the first 1–2 hours after the birth.

Taking Baby Home

Chris and Jeffery took Bradley home after three days at Renown. “It was the most joyful thing to be chosen as his parents, even before we met him,” says Chris.