Cover Story
For Chris and Corrie Coghlan, parenthood is something to be celebrated this month and all year long, especially as they consider how God brought them together and then helped create a family through adoption. The couple had found “celebrity status” in two different arenas – Chris as a successful Major League Baseball player with a World Series win and Corrie as a top-five finalist on the reality show “The Bachelor” – but finding each other and then establishing a family through Birmingham based Lifeline Children’s Services truly made their lives full. “I hope that when they [people] see the Coghlans that they see a reflection of the love that Christ has for us and them,” Corrie said of their journey to parenthood, “and that when the world looks at us, they see Jesus shining through.”
The Baseball Player & Reality Show Star. Chris and Corrie met on Twitter, and both knew about each other’s backgrounds; Chris was in the middle of his baseball career and Corrie had just appeared on “The Bachelor.” They said that they met each other at the right times in their lives and were ready to settle down. They married in 2011. Chris played third base at Ole Miss, where he earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors in 2004 and was named to the SEC Second Team in 2005; after being drafted in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft, he had a successful career playing for the Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics, and Toronto Blue Jays. His accolades while playing professional baseball included recognition as the National League Rookie of the Year in 2009 and leading all MLB players in batting average for a time during that same season. He played professionally until 2017.
Corrie appeared on the television reality show “The Bachelor” in 2010, going on the program after a girlfriend nominated her; she submitted a video and was subsequently selected to appear on the long-running competition program. She advanced as one of the show’s top five contestants before being eliminated. “I went into the experience knowing the kind of husband I wanted to find and realized he wasn’t there,” she recalled. “I remember the first time I had with Jake {Jake Pavelka, that season’s bachelor], and I brought up my faith. There were a handful of girls on the show that were upfront about being Christians.” Her experience on “The Bachelor” prepared her for what she desired in a husband and when she met Chris, she felt affirmation that they were meant to be together. When they met, Chris was a relatively new Christian; he found that it was important to be upfront about his faith while playing professional baseball, and also while establishing relationships. “I got saved in 2008, so I was a Christian throughout my major league career,” he said. “I think it’s important to be consistent and authentic to the Gospel and in the way you live your life as well as in the decisions you make when no one is looking.” Corrie said she quickly learned how important faith was to Chris, and she appreciated his honesty and integrity. “Chris is and was more than I ever hoped for,” she said. “I was a little fearful that men I dated wouldn’t necessarily be themselves or totally honest when I met them. Chris shared his testimony with me on our first date and I knew he was being honest and vulnerable with me, and I felt such peace. He was so intentional and transparent from the very beginning. He never left me guessing or wondering where I stood with him, and it was obvious he wanted our relationship to honor the Lord.”
Ties to Birmingham. Corrie attended Auburn University and then lived in Birmingham when she and Chris met. Chris lived in the Magic City while he rehabbed from a sports injury at Andrews Sports Medicine, and then returned early in their marriage. “After we got married, we lived in Florida for two years, but we decided to move back to Birmingham so we could attend the Church at Brook Hills,” Corrie said. While living and worshiping in Birmingham, the Coghlans learned about Lifeline Children’s Services. “Many people at our church had adopted through them, and it was the first agency we reached out to when we were considering adoption,” Corrie said. “We started to talk to them, and then we also looked at fertility at the same time.” Although they were ideal candidates for IVF, they ended up not feeling called to go in that direction. “We felt like the Lord was calling us to adoption,” she said.
Corrie had grown up with examples of adoption in her own life–with cousins who were adopted and with close family friends who had adopted children from China. “At an early age, the idea of adoption was implanted into my mind and heart,” she said. Chris had more complex feelings about the issue. ”I had a pretty shallow view of what adoption was,” he said–but quickly was convinced about the value of the process. When he looked at adoption in relation to his faith and his relationship with Christ, he knew that adoption was something he and his wife needed to seriously consider. “As a Christian, there’s the idea of how we’re adopted into God’s family,” he said. “Understanding the Gospel more and more, I thought it was beautiful.”
Lifeline Children’s Services philosophy that “adoption is one way God provides families for vulnerable children to know the love of Christ,” became the Coghlan’s literal lifeline to building their family. They began the adoption process in 2014 and prayed that they’d receive a child sometime in 2015. Frustration began to mount when they learned the process might take longer than expected–until they received a call before Christmas that there was a baby available. “On December 16, we got a call about a little boy who’d been born the day before,” Corrie remembered. “He came home with us on the 23rd, right before Christmas. We’d prayed that the Lord would provide for us by Christmas, and our prayers were answered.” Judge, now 8 years old, joined their family that holiday season and the Coghlans have gone through the process a second time to adopt a baby from China. They began the process in 2019, but it was hampered by COVID, and they are still waiting for the “green light” on the process. According to Corrie, the adoption process has been a beautiful one and is one she encourages couples to consider. “I remember when Judge was about three days old and I was holding him and I had this moment when I thought, ‘It doesn’t get any better than this.’ The end goal was to be a mom, and whether being a mom through adoption or being one biologically, it didn’t matter,” she said. “It’s just about being a mom. It’s not second best.”
The Family & Faith Connection. The Coghlans, who now live in Florida where they run a wholesale distributor of construction supplies, strive to build a family and home that honors God. As relatively new parents, they said that they don’t feel like “seasoned” parents and often make mistakes. “We’re trying to parent like Jesus would parent,” Corrie said. “We’re trying to raise an emotionally strong and healthy man who loves the Lord. So, we try to parent with a lot of grace, while also valuing strength.” Ultimately, though, they believe parenthood is about raising a child who will learn to love God himself – and to exhibit characteristics that honor their faith. “I pray that God will give me wisdom and clarity as the leader of the house to raise Judge, and Lord willing more children, in a godly way,” Chris said. “And that he would grow to know God and to love God and to serve God. That he would see characteristics of God in Corrie and myself.” Corrie adds, “We both have the same desire for our family. To honor the Lord and raise children who will carry the Gospel into the world and their own families one day.”
-Cheryl Wray
