courtesy Mackenzie Denich
“Babies are supposed to be with their moms. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t be together, but the world is not perfect,” Mackenzie Denich, a 39-year-old neonatal nurse practitioner in the NICU atChildren’s Nebraska, tells PEOPLE “I’m so thankful that she is here. I tell her every day, ‘I’m so happy to be your mom.'"
“They wanted to be grandparents, they didn’t want to be parents again,” Denich says. “My mom said, “Mackenzie will take her.”
“I was like, ‘What am I doing? This is not happening,'” the Omaha nurse says. “Why would a family choose a single mom who doesn’t have other kids? So, I just put it out of my mind.”
Denich was actually working on Oct. 11, 2021, when Athena was admitted toChildren’s Nebraska. When she met the newbornjust four hours after her birth, she immediately fell in love.
“She needs me,” Denich remembers thinking.
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Mackenzie Denich and Athena.Emily Mohs
Emily Mohs
At home, Denich has been lucky to have plenty of support.
She comes from a family of nurses — both her parents and her two brothers and her two sisters in law are all nurses — and her father cares for Athena while Denich works at the hospital. “The whole family is well-equipped to care for her,” Denich says. “I can trust her with everyone.”
More than 50 friends and family were at the courthouse when Denich legally adopted Athena, now 2, on July 14, 2023.
“I think adoption is two things: It’s happy and sad,” Denich says. “It was a really lovely thing that came from a really traumatic event, but it was worth it. And I’m committed to doing the best job that I can for her — both with her medical care and her little heart.”
People often ask what the little girl’s “diagnosis” is and why she is smaller than other children her age, but her mother — who advocates for acceptance of people with differences — says it doesn’t matter and declines to answer.
“What is there not to love?” says Denich’s mother Brenda, a pre-op and PACU nurse at an orthopedic hospital. “She’s pretty special.”
For more on Denich’s story, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.
Mackenzie Denich’s mom, Brenda Denich, and Athena.Courtesy Mackenzie Denich
Courtesy Mackenzie Denich
Athena still sees her biological grandparents every week, and regularly talks to her biological aunt, cousin and birth parents.
“We have their pictures in our home, and we talk about it, because I don’t want her to ever have a day where she finds out. I just want her to know,” Denich says. “I hope that she feels deeply wanted and loved and cared for.”
If you would like to make a donation to the Children’s Nebraska NICU in Athena’s honor, you can do sohere.
source: people.com
