"For This Child I Prayed" shows the human impulses that lead one woman to place a child for adoption and another woman to adopt that child. They both face only one clear assurance-nothing is certain. The story is enlarged by biblical and cultural narratives that remind us how similar our human quests can be. Open adoption, a practice where birthparents have some kind of contact with adoptive parents, is the fasting growing kind of adoption in the U. S. This story is for those who want to understand the changing nature of family in the 21st century. It helps define the custom, although each open adoption differs slightly. The drama comes from the narrative-the author and her husband did not know if they would be able to keep the baby they were to adopt until after he was brought home from the hospital, a common concern in any adoption.