Thank you for checking out our page!
As most of you have probably heard, we are in the process of being approved to adopt a child! It was a long journey (6 years but who's counting?!) with several heartbreaks that lead us to pursue the adoption path. Although we can no longer have a biological child of our own, last fall both Tracy and I realized that our desire to be parents remained, and we began looking into adoption, so we could make that dream a reality. In late December, we signed a contract with Bethany Christian Services in Iowa, a private, non-profit adoption agency that focuses on domestic newborn adoptions.
The process of being "approved" to adopt is a long one, but we have quickly navigated through the numerous paperwork and documentation requirements, interviews, home study visits, and educational training. We anticipate our official "approval" to come in early May, at which time Bethany will begin showing our profile book to expectant moms they are working with. There is no set timeline as to when we can anticipate becoming parents. Some families wait just a few months for a child, while others may wait several years. We realize that it is out of our control, and that when the right child is meant to be placed in our lives, it will happen. We just need to have faith.
Well, besides faith there is something else that we need. Money. While we are beyond excited with the progress we have made, we are also stressed out with financial burden that adoption places on families. When it's all said and done, our total fee to Bethany will be $25,000 and we will have an additional $4,000 or so in out of pocket costs. Adoption, as we quickly learned, is a very expensive path to becoming parents. Since learning about these costs, Tracy has taken a second job and is now working 60-70 hours each week to help us save money. We have cut back or eliminated all the fun stuff (eating out, travel, entertainment, etc.) and are trying to save as much as we can each month.
After much thought, we have decided to start a crowdfunding campaign. We chose to use AdoptTogether for several reasons. First, we truly believe in their mission! We also like that all contributions made to our adoption campaign are tax deductible for you (other crowdfunding sites like Go Fund Me or You Caring do not provide tax deductions). By using AdoptTogether, your contributions will not come directly to us, instead the funds will be sent directly to Bethany, our adoption agency, to go towards our fees. AdoptTogether does have a 5% fee deducted from contributions, which goes to support their transaction costs, but a fee of 3-5% is pretty standard with all crowdfunding sites, so we can live with that.
We have set a goal of $7,500 to go towards our Bethany expenses. 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 he/she grows up.
Thank you for your consideration.
With gratitude,
Karen & Tracy Bougher
