We have BIG news! We are adopting a young child from Ukraine!
Welcome to our Adopt Together page! We’ll be using this space for the latest on our adoption journey!
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THE STORY ——
Just over a year ago, we sold our home, put all our stuff in a storage unit and left our home country of the United States of America to follow a job opportunity for Tony (Daddy). At the time, we really couldn’t place why God was calling us to move, but we were obedient through it.
The job change changed our family dynamic completely. We went from two-working-parents to one, and we went from daycare and public schools to homeschooling our two children, Ariana and Maddox.
Within a few months of the move, the topic of adoption came up again. A conversation between us that we can never seem to put down, especially since we experienced a third miscarriage in 2015. What sparked the conversation was Kristin (Mommy) helping a friend with her website, a blogger, who writes a lot about adoption. Through her readings, Kristin’s heart was crushed for these orphans and yet encouraged that you don’t have to be perfect to be adoptive parents. With our new lifestyle, the conversation went a bit further after this time, and then we thought “Wait, can we even do this? We don’t live in the United States!”
Honestly, that wasn’t the only thought running through our heads so we sought counsel, prayer and dug into God’s Word, even more, to make sure we were on the right path.
A few Google searches later, we found an agency (Small World Adoption) that works with expat families, just like us. We scheduled a video conference with Jim, the leader of the agency, and when he said all they need are parents, we didn’t need anything else, we said “We’re in!” to the call of adoption and began the home study process.
We have always talked about adoption, and we have always known that we’d adopt a young child. We are expecting to be matched with a young girl (not a baby) at the end of this process, and we’re hoping to have her home with us in the next 8-10 months.
We do believe that this is a call for our family and now we know why God brought us to where we are in the United Arab Emirates. He allowed things to fall in the perfect place (just as He always does) with lifestyle, location, timing, and age of our children. It is now so utterly completely clear why we got on that plane one year ago.
No bump, but we’re still pumped!
WHY WE’RE CROWDFUNDING —–
As part of our adoption process, we’ve started a crowdfunding campaign. It may surprise you to hear that adoption-related costs can easily total up to $35,000 or more. We hope that by inviting you into this process, you will see yourself as part of the community we hope to build around our child as she grows up.
Money is the one thing that has stopped us from moving forward with this process. When we talked with the agency, they encouraged us to lean into God’s promises and trust that the funds will be provided. One thing that stuck with us is how many times they said: “We just need parents!” In addition to the crowdfunding campaign, our caseworker is helping us in applying for grants and scholarships.
**If you're interested in giving a tax-deductible donation on behalf of the orphan to be adopted by Anthony & Kristin Bernazard please email [email protected] for more information. Or, if you'd like to stay anonymous you can email [email protected].
UPDATES ——
July 11, 2019
We’ll tell you straight up that adoption is way more work and thought into growing your family than we’ve ever done with our current two. We have been blessed to have a large community of friends who have walked through this process before us, and we are ever so grateful for your encouragement and support, whether you think you’ve contributed or not, you have.
We began the home study process in February, and we’re just awaiting two more documents to come back in the mail before it is complete. Below is a photo of our online portal with all the checklists complete! This is a big moment for us because within these checklists are dozens of tasks that have literally taken months of work, long conversations and lots of reading and learning.
Our next step is getting approval from the USCIS and then our dossier will be created and sent to Ukraine.
August 15, 2019 // Update from Kristin
Thank you to all for your support and love during this process. We are very thankful for those of you have given financially, and we're equally thankful to those who have reached out to us with prayer support.
The big change since last month is that we are all together again! Being in different countries and trying to work out paperwork and emails proved to be difficult, so Tony and I are thankful to be in the same household again for a daily talk on where we're at with the adoption. We've also gone back to the Dave Ramsey cash envelope system to make sure we're staying within budget for our monthly expenses so any extra can be allocated towards bringing our girl home.
I was waiting for some significant news to update this page, but unfortunately, we're still awaiting the final completed home study in our hands. We've seen it, signed off on it, and it was stopped at the reviewer's office in Ukraine. We have been asked to complete a new "child desired" form, which is very different than the initial one we received from the agency. Tony and I are working on finding a trusted doctor to help with questions on medical diagnosis and prognosis.
I've been told that after the home study is in our hands, we will receive a new timeline from the agency on when the big moments should be happening. The original one we received in February has fallen by the wayside already.
We were expecting twists and turns during this process, so our spirits have not weakened. If anything, this past week we were reminded in a timely sermon about God's sovereignty.
"We can have our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." Proverbs 16:9
