Joss Stone Gets Candid About 'Difficult' Adoption Journey After Welcoming Son Bear with Husband Cody DaLuz
“It’s truly incredible to finally be present, to have him here, because we’ve desired to adopt for such an extended time,” she tells entonightdaily.
Joss Stone is sharing details about her challenging experience of adopting her newborn son Bear with her spouse Cody DaLuz.
The 37-year-old singer spoke with PEOPLE following the announcement that she and DaLuz have welcomed their third child together, a son named Bear, via adoption. Stone, who has a son, Shackleton, 2, and a daughter, Violet, 3, with DaLuz, mentions that the pair always intended to adopt.
“It’s truly incredible to finally be here, to have him with us, as we have wished to adopt for such a long time,” the new mother of three shares with PEOPLE, noting, “When I initially met Cody, that was the topic we discussed in the first weeks of our conversations.”
“We’ve held onto this dream for a long time and have been attempting to adopt for over a year and a half.” “And we’ve experienced some adoptions that didn’t go through,” Stone elaborates. “We’ve experienced instances when we were selected, but we couldn’t arrive in time.” A lot of events have taken place, leading you to feel that it may not occur.
“And then, we received that call,” she recalls nostalgically, “and it’s simply the most wonderful thing. He’s incredibly kind, and his biological mother is very kind as well. She couldn’t be any kinder. It feels as if everything is flawless. We haven’t had to face a challenging circumstance. Everything is love. “Everyone simply has an abundance of affection for this little fellow.”
As Stone and her spouse, who was similarly welcomed via adoption, initiated the adoption process, Stone mentioned that they utilized DaLuz’s “firsthand experience” as a foundation. “She explains that he understands what it’s like to not know your mother, to not know your father, to not know your roots, and we didn’t want that for our child.” “We position ourselves to be selected by the mother who is putting her child up for adoption.” In that manner, it’s all affection coming from every side.
Prior to meeting Bear’s birth mother, Stone and Daluz connected with several families that did not work out — including one situation she describes as “awful” involving a birth mom who created a “complete facade.”
She considered, ‘Well, I’ll simply take this money, and then I’ll keep the baby.’ “It was merely an entire facade,” Stone remembers.
In spite of the challenging situation, Stone and DaLuz rallied and persisted in their quest for a new family member, since, as Stone states, “We have to be strong” in the adoption journey. And when we feel weak, pause for a moment, dry your eyes, breathe deeply, rise confidently, and move ahead. “That is the key point.”
She later informs PEOPLE that her “mantra” during the waiting period was “she’s not my baby until she’s my baby.” She mentions, “I would actually tell myself this nearly every day.”
Stone openly expresses that adoption is “something that requires you to place yourself in a situation where it can happen and then hope. All you need to do is pray, and I’m really happy we did. “He’s simply gorgeous.”
Upon bringing Bear home for the first time, Violet “felt extremely excited and overjoyed to become a big sister,” says the mother of three. “She desired to embrace him and wished to nourish him, and whenever he weeps, she thinks, ‘Oh, right, his pacifier!'” “She is attempting to assist me.”
Shackleton, in contrast, felt more enthusiasm about meeting his mom than his newborn brother. “I needed to spend a night in the hospital with Bear,” Stone clarifies, “and Shackleton, I believe, genuinely missed me.” Thus, he didn’t even realize the baby was present. He sprinted towards me and wrapped his arms around me in a big hug. I said, ‘Hey, you have a brother! And he responded, ‘Alright, fine.’
On December 20 and 21, Stone will be visiting Costa Mesa, California to showcase songs from her album Merry Christmas, Love at a Christmas Symphony event. Sadly, since Bear was born “11 weeks early,” she informs PEOPLE that she is unable to take him along with her while traveling. “His small lungs are rather vulnerable.”
Fortunately, Bear is “progressing rapidly,” the musician remarks. “He is nearly 6 lbs. now.” When I initially encountered him last week, he weighed 4 lbs.
This isn’t the conclusion of the path for Stone and Daluz in their adoption journey. “We wish to take in a group of children,” she states. “Thus, we hope he won’t be the only one in this family who has been adopted.”
“We absolutely adore infants.” “I often say, more children, more affection,” Stone shares with PEOPLE. “They’re merely small beams of light and they merit all the affection we can offer them.”
