Since
our first date we talked about and knew we wanted to extend our family,
with children. We talked about adopting one day after we had children of our
own because there are so many children out there that need loving parents. We began our journey to become parents
shortly after we were married June 25, 2010. We have been trying to have
children for over 3 years. We first learned after trying for 6 months that
Heather would need help from a fertility specialist. After over 2 years of fertility treatments
that included daily doctor visits, 3-7 shots a day, and tens of thousands of
dollars, we opened our hearts to god for direction. We know that god has plans for us to be able
to provide a loving home to a child; we just didn't know how that would
happen. We continued to follow the
directions of the doctor and found out we were 5 weeks pregnant, but suffered a
miscarriage at 8 weeks. We thought at that moment that we could still conceive
and carry a child. We tried 5 more times to conceive. However, God has completely different plans
for our family and how wonderful His plans are, compared to ours!! In August
2013, after prayerful consideration and listening to our hearts for Gods
direction, we have decided to take that leap of faith and apply to adopt a
child from the United States. This is a great opportunity for us to build our
family through God’s plan of adoption as well as provide a loving home to a
child in need. As we begin the adoption process we have come to realize that it
is a very expensive process and while we have some of the funds, we still
need at least $15,000 to complete the
process of providing a forever home for a child. This is one of the many
obstacles we will face along the way, but it just allows us to rely solely on
God and become closer to Him.
Cost
of adoption can be overwhelming and these are the fees that we will incur
during the process.
Agency
Fee: $15,000 for some agencies this includes counseling for birth mother and
adoptive parents, this includes finding and matching us with birthmothers.
Adoptive parent preparation and training.
Home-study
fee: $2000-$3500 is the process where a social worker evaluates us and our home
to insure that we are able to provide a safe loving home to a child. These costs include travel for the social
work for 2-3 pre-placement visits and filing of approval paper work with state.
Some states will require an additional visit 6 months after the child comes
home.
Home
adjustments: $500-$1000. There are certain child safety measures that they will
require us to take. Some specifically required by the state and some that are
based off the agency we are using.
Legal
fees: $4000-$9000 depending on the state of the birthmother
Medical
expenses: $2000-$6000 for baby and mother during delivery and prenatal
care. We have to receive full medical
clearance and the details very by state. Counseling before and after
termination of rights of the baby.
Travel
expenses: $3000-$6000 we will need to travel to the birthmother once the child
is born and some states require that we remain there for up to 2 weeks.
End cost $27,000-$40,000
We are
relying on God for $1 at a time. We would be amiss if we didn’t also ask for
help from our families and friends who may be willing to donate to get us one
step closer to giving a child a forever home – no amount is too small! Our plan
is to apply for as many grants as possible, embark on fundraisers and pray that
doors will open for the money to come through.
Please
consider helping us bring our daughter/son home. If you are unable to send a
monetary gift of any amount, perhaps you can help by praying for us through
this journey. We appreciate anything you can contribute and want to thank you
ahead of time for your donation and your thoughts and prayers.
