Suzie Harrison Ken and Jody Garcia seemed...

Suzie Harrison

Ken and Jody Garcia seemed to have everything.

They were high school sweethearts married for 21 years. Ken was about to start a dental practice, they had a home they loved in

Laguna Beach and plenty of wonderful friends. Ken’s band Jasso and

Garcia had been playing for six years and was a success, playing

frequent gigs and producing a couple of CDs.

The couple had accomplished many goals, but were unable to have

what they wanted most, a baby. The Garcias were having problems

conceiving, and they went to great lengths to make having a baby

possible.

“I was put on medication, which was hard,” Jody said.

They were both displeased with how the fertility medication was

affecting Jody, often changing her moods, and decided to try an

adoption agency.

“Years back, we went to an adoption agency and really got turned

off,” Jody said. “We saw it was all about money and not about love.”

Around the same time, they were doing missionary work in Mexico,

at an orphanage where they have been helping for 15 years.

“It was hard for us doing missionary work,” Ken said. “Seeing

babies every time we went down there, it was really sad.”

So they looked into adopting in Mexico, but it didn’t look

promising. They decided to give in vitro fertilization one more try.

“We decided we would find out who was the best in vitro

specialist,” Ken said. “We would hold off on the adoption and go all

the way to make sure we gave it our best shot.”

After three times and a lot of money and emotional and physical

distress, there were no positive results.

“It’s probably one of the most emotionally draining things you can

do in your life,” Jody said.

Trying to convince themselves that they could have a fulfilling

life without children proved to be draining for both of them.

“We went through everything you could go through,” Jody said.

“There’s a reason for everything, and I think God was telling us we

need to bring a child into our home.”

One of Jody’s friends suggested an adoption source different than

the one they had tried before. It required that they take 12

child-care classes and first aid. They were told that adopting was a

long process that would take six months to a year.

After about six months with the agency, Jody and Ken had grown

impatient and called them to tell them that they were going to try

another agency. The agency pleaded with them to give them a little

more time, telling them that they thought they were a great couple

who had a lot to offer a baby. They decided to hold on a little

longer.

In late September, the Garcias planned a trip to Las Vegas for

Jody’s birthday and for some rest before the grand opening of Ken’s

new dental practice, Laguna Island Dentistry. Before Ken left for the

airport to meet Jody, he received a call from the adoption agency.

“They called me and told me that they had great news,” Ken said.

“They said not only do we have a baby, we found you a special baby.”

They wondered what was meant by the term “special.”

On the flight to Vegas, Jody had asked Ken what he would like to

name the baby. The first thing that came out of his mouth was Taber.

It was decided at that moment that would be his name.

It didn’t seem possible to them that within the week everything

would come to fruition -- the dentistry’s grand opening, closing on a

house in Fisherman’s Cove and adopting a baby.

Immediately when they returned, they scheduled a meeting with the

agency. They went over all the details and were shown a picture of

the baby.

“They told us that there’s some toxicity involved,” Ken said. “We

read the report. It was toxicity to heroin. His mother was a heroin

user. She stopped seeing him due to her heroin use and she was in

trouble with the law.”

They left pretty content, and Ken asked Jody if she was bothered

or concerned about the drug abuse. Their worries were diminished

after they did some research on the subject. They said they were a

little more concerned about how the 4-month-old Taber would react to

them.

Before they met their baby boy, Jody wanted to be prepared to

bring him home and went on a whirlwind shopping adventure, buying

everything the baby could possibly need.

The couple said that they knew without question that their prayers

had finally been answered the moment they saw Taber on Oct. 4. Ken

brought his guitar and sang him some songs. He said the baby just

stared at him, like he was asking, “Where have you been dad?” They

had never seen a happier baby or a baby laugh and smile all the time

like Taber did.

“When we first saw him, we started crying,” Ken said. “We fell in

love. Little did we know that he was going to be the most beautiful

baby we have ever seen.”

The Garcias couldn’t believe they were finally bringing their baby

home. They brought him to the beach, where their friends met him, and

a pro surfer friend named a wave after him.

As for their worries about Taber being affected by his mother’s

heroin abuse, they are no more. The adoption will be official on

April 12.

“The stuff we had read in the report,” Ken said. “We never saw any

of that. What we got is more than a perfect baby.”

Ken and Jody welcome any calls from people who have any questions

or want to know about adopting a special-needs baby. They can be

reached at 497-4900.

* SUZIE HARRISON is a reporter for the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. She may be reached at 494-4321 or suzie.harrison@latimes.com.