Cathy is a full time wife and mom of four who lives in a small town outside of Houston, Texas with her family. She has been married to her husband, James, for 16 years and their kiddos range from 5-12.
She is also the birthmom to an amazing 19 year old named Lexi. With unconditional love, understanding, hard work, Cathy, Lexi and their families have created a wonderful open adoption.
Cathy and her family are active members of their church and lead an adult small group at their home every week. Cathy also has her own health and wellness company and has a passion for helping others. She loves to read, she loves all things Pioneer Woman and considers chips and queso her love language! Her favorite past time....anything that involves her husband and kids.
We are so honored that birthmom Cathy Crossno agreed to speak at our upcoming Activism in Adoption Speaker Series, and we thought it might be fun to ask her a few questions about what to expect during her presentation.
Tell us a little about yourself, and what you are speaking about?
I am a mom of 4, and married, and live in Texas. My adoption journey began almost twenty years ago, and now I love sharing about the possibilities of open adoption and what it can look like. I do understand that everyone’s story is different. I think sharing my story, how it all started, why I chose adoption, what that looks like today, to us, is kind of my plan.
What is the most surprising thing you have learned?
I learned what we are capable of; of the strength given to us by God. I learned that it can be hard but it can also be very beautiful. I’ve learned so much about myself and my personal growth through all of this. I learned that everything is unique but I think that this is hard for all of us. It’s hard for the birth mom; it’s hard for the adoptee; it’s hard for the adoptive parents. And I think that we just need to come from a place of honesty, and love. I think there can be a lot of fear involved in adoption, but for us, its been an extension of family; we are just more people that can love Lexi. And her parents are people can love my kids, and for me, its not a contractual agreement. Its family. Its natural.
On Sharing Their Story
Lexi and I started sharing our story just a couple of years ago. We took to social media and did a Facebook Live, and we got so much love and support. Granted, there was backlash as well, but the amount of love and support was just amazing, so just to be able to offer people some hope, just by sharing our story, is what we hoped to get out of this.
We haven’t always been as open about it, about our adoption story, and now, its okay to acknowledge it because for a long time I just didn’t talk about it, and part of that was just guarding my own heart, and trying to be respectful of everyone’s situations. But at the end of the day, she is a part of this family, and it is okay to say that. We’ve embraced this new ‘it is what it is’, and its been really neat to see how that has grown.
She’s at an age now where we can have tough conversations with her, and I truly believe that James and I weren’t put in her life for back then, when she was little, but that we were put in her life for now, because now we are able to work through things with her, and pour love into her as a second set of adults that love her and just want the best for her. We’ve been really thankful for that opportunity. I am super-blessed by a husband who is supportive, and loves her, and I am so thankful for that.
It is National Self-Care Awareness Month. What have you been doing for self-care lately?
I love to be outside, I love to move my body, and I would say I would love doing family walks, outside
Where else you can find Cathy?
Cathy was featured on the What They’re Worth podcast this week. You can also find her on Instagram, and you can see what else she is up to on her Linktr.ee.
Tickets are still available for the Activism in Adoption Series.
