Teen mom who gave son up for adoption shares emotional video: "My heart was breaking..."

Hannah Mongie of Provo was 18 years old when she became pregnant. At that point, the Utah woman was not in a position to keep the child, so when her son was born, she decided to give him up for adoption, in the hope that at least that would give him the life that he deserved. On March 21, 2016, two days after the birth of his son Taggart, and just before his adoption was made official, Mongie recorded a heartfelt video from the hospital, which shines a light on adoption, according to ABC News. 

“You hear all these stories of birth moms writing letters but I wanted Tagg to experience that moment of when it was happening,” Mongie shared. “I wanted him to know that my heart was breaking and how much his dad had loved him and how much his mom, Emily, loved him before she even met him.”

In the video, Mongie, who must probably be in her mid-20s now, explained to Tagg how her love for him led her to decide on adoption. She also explained her heartache after her boyfriend, Tagg’s father, died suddenly while she was pregnant. She uploaded the video on YouTube, fearing it would be deleted from her phone, but she never thought it would go viral. 

“This is for you, Tagg. I made this video so that you know how much I love you. I wanted to tell you why I made the decision to place you with your family. … Gosh, you’re so cute, you’re making this hard!” Mongie says in the video, later adding, "I had a hard time even considering placing you with a different family when you were my last piece of Kaden.”

Mongie revealed that she woke up one morning weeks after her boyfriend’s death with an “unexplainable peace” that suggested she should go through with the adoption plan.

After going through thousands of adoption applications online, Mongie zeroed in on a couple, Brad and Emily Marsh, who also lived in Utah. “There was just something about them,” Mongie recalled. “I read their letter and what they said about birth moms and I just cried and something told me this was it.”

The Marshes welcomed the little one into their family, which already included an older adopted son, Carter. They also brought home a newborn adopted son, Lucas, in 2018. The Marshes are in close touch with all three of their sons’ birth mothers, including Mongie.

“Our birth moms are kind of put on a pedestal at our house,” Emily Marsh said. “We have a picture of each kid with their birth mom on their nightstands and we speak very highly of them and they’re very respected in our home.”

The best part is that Mongie not only gets to see her son grow up into an absolutely wonderful young man, under the Marshes' roof, she also is a part of it. “It’s the biggest blessing in my entire life that they’ve been willing to accept me in their family,” Mongie said. “If I’ve been having a hard with the adoption or am missing Tagg, I’ll go visit them and I’ll see the way that their family works and that Emily says prayers with the kids every night and the little things that Emily does."

“When I leave I feel this sense of joy and love that I don’t feel anywhere else and it solidifies my decision,” she said. “I’ve never once regretted my decision.”

“I don’t look for pity, like I’m showing the world that this was so hard for me,” she said. “I hope people understand that every birth mom can relate to this in some way ... and that they start to see birth mothers and see what they actually do for their children.”

Mongie then shared that she visits local high schools with Emily Marsh to talk to young students about adoption. “Our sons can always know they’ve been placed out of love and we love their birth families,” Emily Marsh said. “I hope people have more hope and perspective on the positive experience [adoption] can be.”