We always felt like adoption would be part of our story. We didn't know it would come this soon. Yet, a number of months ago we were approached by dear friends to consider adoption from Jamaica. They both felt led by God to ask us to consider. After praying for a number of weeks, we felt led by God–and incredibly excited to begin the adoption process. We felt like God was clearly leading us to adopt not just one child, but a family or sibling set. We've heard stories of siblings being separated or being much harder to place. While we know it's quite a step, we are overjoyed and the thought of growing our family through the adoption of a set of siblings. One of the things the family who initially approached us said was, "Don't worry about the finances. That's what your community–your family, your friends, your church–that's what we're here for." 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 over $25,000 for just one child. It is more than that to adopt more than one child. This is why we have set a goal of $43,000 to help ease the financial burden that often overwhelms adoptive parents. We are so thankful to have a matching grant program that has helped us cover part of the $43,000.
Our adoption journey has been filled with adjustments and challenges. Most shocking and challenging for us was the bankruptcy of our initial adoption agency in 2020 (none of our initial funds were recovered from that bankruptcy - over $7000). We had to quickly find and sign on with another agency. Adoption matches were also significantly affected by the global pandemic. Nearly all adoptions and matches in the Caribbean were put on hold during this time. Our intention was to adopt from Jamaica, a country we knew and loved. However, adoptions from Jamaica slowed significantly and nearly all communication ceased. In the middle of 2022, our adoption agency asked if we were willing to consider matches from the greater Caribbean. This meant the possible expense of changing country programs. However, we said yes. Shortly after, in November 2022, we received an initial match to a sibling set from Grenada. Just before Christmas 2022, we were able to take a trip to Grenada, meet the children, and enjoy nearly a week together with them in our custody. We are looking forward to moving the adoption process along and cannot wait until we can finally be together as a family.
We hope that by inviting you into this process, you will see yourself as part of the community we hope to build around our children as they grow up.
