Thank you so much for viewing our profile. We are very honored that you are considering us. Please allow us to introduce ourselves. We are Chace and Melisa from Texas. We were both born and raised in Texas, so we are Texan through and through! While we have many things in common, one of the biggest commonalities is that we are both elementary school teachers. We teach at the same school, which is so fun!
Our story begins 10 years ago when Chace started working at the school that Melisa was working at. Chace was hired as a P.E. coach while Melisa was teaching 1st grade. Although there was an instant attraction, because it was in the workplace we waited years, yes years, before acting on this attraction. Over the years we developed a solid friendship. Three years ago we finally began dating. Since we had known each other for so long our relationship progressed fast and we quickly fell in love. We began dating in June and got engaged in November. Chace organized an epic proposal. His family had been planning a trip to visit Israel for some time. Chace invited Melisa and Alex. When at the Jordan River, where Jesus was baptized, Chace proposed to Melisa. He then proceeded to baptize our son, Alex. We were married the following June on the beach in Jamaica. We were blessed that all of our family and very closest friends were able to attend the wedding. Our lives since then have been nothing but blessed.
We have a multigenerational household, with Melisa's parents and son living with us. NaeNae and PawPaw are both retired, which means that they are home all the time. As such, they are always home to help take care of children. When Alex was young he stayed with NaeNae and PawPaw while Melisa was at work. They had so much fun staying home, playing and going on adventures. NaeNae and PawPaw miss having a young child around and are excited about the possibility of having a baby to love, take care of when we are at work, and spoil once again. Our son, Alex is 13 years old and ready to be an older brother. Since Alex will be a much older sibling, the child will benefit from having an older sibling without having to compete for the same type of attention. The attention and time that is necessary for a teenager is vastly different than that required of an infant. In addition, we have a large extended family that are very excited about loving and welcoming a new child to the family.
We have both been very committed to raising our son Alex, and any future children, to have a deep and personal relationship with Jesus. We attend church on a regular basis. While we understand it is their mission as Christians to seek out the lost, we also know it is vitally important to surround ourselves with fellow Christians. We are blessed that all of our families share our love of the Lord. We have also worked hard to help Alex cultivate friendships with friends that share our faith and testimony. We plan to continue to share the Lord with Alex and any other future child that we may have. We both feel that the most important roll that we have as parents is fostering a relationship with Jesus.
Adoption is something that is very personal to both of us. Melisa’s mother and grandmother were both adopted. Melisa’s grandmother was adopted from an orphanage when she was a week old. At that time, only closed adoptions were being conducted, therefore, she did not know her birth family until she was 65. Melisa’s mother was adopted within the family. Her birth father and her adopted mom were first cousins. This open adoption allowed Melisa’s mother to know her biological siblings, which has allowed them to form long lasting, meaningful relationships. Being exposed to these two types of adoption has illustrated the importance of having an open adoption. We feel that it is in the best interest of all parties involved to communicate over the years, which is why we are going with American Adoptions, as that is the only type of adoption that they complete.
Adoption is something that has always been on Melisa’s heart. Since she has such an intimate experience with the results of adoption, she has always felt a desire to grow her family this way. Although we greatly desire adoption, we did try to grow our family the traditional way. We attempted conception naturally and when that was successful, we moved on to fertility treatments. We both felt that it was important to put a time and financial limit on this endeavour. When those limits were reached, we were both comfortable with moving on to another avenue to grow our family. We both felt it was God’s path for us to adopt.
When we are chosen for a placement with a child we are committed to developing a relationship with the birth parents. We would welcome an open adoption, as well as, email/text communication, phone calls with us and yearly scheduled visits.
We are beyond excited and are doing everything we can to be prepared to welcome a beautiful new life into our home. As part of our adoption process, we have started a crowdfunding campaign. It may surprise you to hear that adoption related costs can easily total up to $35,000 or more. This is why we have set a goal of $50,000 to help ease the financial burden that often overwhelms adoptive parents.
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!
Chace and Melisa
