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The pediatric nurse began making her dream come true in 2016 when she met Gisele, a 3-month-old girl who had been transferred to the Massachusetts Hospital where Smith worked. Gisele was born premature to a mother who had used drugs and the baby had health problems. She weighed less than 2 pounds.
And that's not all: the baby has not received any visitors for several months at Franciscan Children's Hospital.
But hospital staff paid close attention to little Gisele and a nurse asked Smith if she had met him.
"I said" No, why? "" She needs a medical foster home and you are the perfect couple, "she recalled Thursday during the" New Day "of CNN.
Smith had never considered fostering or adopting foster care until the week following the conversation with his colleague, when Smith saw Gisele in a stroller.
At that time, Smith, who is now 45 years old, said that she knew that she wanted to be his mother. But a lengthy court proceeding was coming, since the baby was the state's keeper upon his arrival at Franciscan Children's.
The state had discussed the family's fostering of the child and Smith came forward, saying that she would look after Gisele. The baby went to live with the nurse in April 2017.
"It was an emotional roller coaster," Smith told CNN later on Thursday. "When I started to feed her, the goal was reunification with her biological parents, I always kept her in my mind while I was taking care of her, but at the moment where I knew she needed every ounce of love I had to give her. "
Smith stated that birth parents had supervised visits, but their frequency decreased over time.
"I could say that they once believed to be her parents and that they wanted to be her," she said. "They have always been supportive and have noticed how healthy she was when they saw her."
The state ended parental rights last June after it determined that parents could not properly care for Gisele, Smith said. "It was very sweet-bitter. I experienced this tremendous gain and happiness in my life, while others knew the opposite.
Colleagues, friends and family members joined Smith in October for the day of adoption.
Gisele, 2, became a gigantic and courageous little girl. Her health is stable and she continues to improve, Smith said.
"She is booming.It has a feeding tube in which she still feeds most of her diet, but other than that, the specialist thinks she's just remarkable," she says. Smith said. "They can not believe the progress she has made, her health and strength, her resilience is a source of inspiration for me and every day she marvels me."
The lives of Smith and Gisele have radically changed for the better. And the toddler continues to teach Smith the beautiful meaning of life and motherhood.
"We're talking about the power of love, but it's amazing how it can transform a life and see how it has transformed his life and mine," Smith said. "I've never been so happy or so strong and I just could not imagine life without it."
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