She said the moment was overwhelming.
After realizing the pricey cost of adoption, Jessica and Hayden Goudy sadly put their dream of having children on the back burner.
The Idaho husband and wife had been trying to conceive a child of their own for seven long years – including six miscarriages, seven lost babies, fertility treatments, and tons of visits to specialists.
Watch: Couple Adopts 5 Siblings on National Adoption Day: 'All They Have Left is Each Other'
Because Hayden himself is adopted, the couple hoped to do it one day themselves, but didn’t know it would become their only option.
“It takes a toll physically and emotionally. We tried not to ever let it get us down so we threw ourselves into the community. It pulled me out of those slumps when I was feeling bad for myself,” Jessica told InsideEdition.com.
The pair calculated the cost for adoption — about $40,000 — and realized it would take them 11 years to afford it. In the meantime, they put together a Facebook page chronicling their story in hopes that it might help them find a family.
At the end of September, the couple received an unexpected breakthrough. A family friend knew a social worker who knew a woman who was looking into adoption for her child.
“They connected us with the social worker and she had us write our story. This birth mom picked us,” Jessica said. “We spent the next few months writing letters back and forth.”
Their daughter’s birth mom also allowed Jessica and Hayden to go to doctor’s appointments and be in the delivery room.
“It was one of the most incredible experiences and it doesn’t matter that it’s not in your body and it’s incredible that she allowed us,” said Jessica.
Although their dream was coming true, however, because of the adoption costs, the family couldn't afford all the things they wanted for little Mesa Hope when she was born on December 5.
In November, the couple was placed into a group of nominations, along with 1,000 other entries, to receive gift cards and money from a "Secret Santa," who wished to remain anonymous, in partnership with the East Idaho News.
They won.
Read: 9-Year-Old Boy Opens Lemonade Stand to Help Foster Parents Pay His Adoption Fees
The family was given a host of baby goods for Mesa Hope, along with a $500 gift card to Target.
"Because of the adoption costs, you can’t go out and buy her all the things you want," Jessica said. "To see them unloading all these wonderful things for our baby girl [was] overwhelming and humbling."
She added: "It’s been a very emotional period. It gives you a new level of respect for what these birth moms go through. They love the child so much that they want to give it a better life."
Watch: 5-Year-Old Girl Gets Surprised by Disney Princesses at Adoption Court Hearing
