We are in the process of adopting…again! 
CURRENT STATUS: Approved by our agency, we are not matched with a birth-mom/baby, but waiting on The Call!
As most of you know, we started our very first adoption journey in 2016, which lead to the blessing of adopting Stormie in 2017! Now that she is 3 years old we feel like our family is ready to grow. She is already so very excited to meet her baby brother or sister!
The first time we adopted it all happened so fast we didn't have time to do any fundraising. With the help of savings and a loan we were able to make it work. However, this time around we are trying our hardest to do this without getting into debt. We feel so lucky to have an amazing support system of family and friends, and we hope that you will all join us on this journey to bring Mader baby #2 home! 
Did you know that on average adoption costs $40,000 - $50,000 in the US?! Yes - we were shocked too! To be totally transparent, we wanted to list what the adoption expenses will be for us…
EXPENSES:
TOTAL REMAINING = $35,000 THE GAME PLAN:
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.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
#1 Donate! By donating to our adoption through this website you can feel comfortable knowing the money goes where intended. Bonus - it's tax deductible! AdoptTogether is an IRS approved 501c3 organization.
***Scroll down to view our first fundraising event - a Puzzle Fundraiser!***
\> Click the green "give to this adoption" button to donate via credit or debit card.
\> If you wish to donate via check or cash please contact Sontera Mader at [email protected] or 281-221-2878
\> Venmo @Sontera-Mader Please mention Adoption Fund in the description.
#2 Share! If you don't have the ability to financially contribute but still want to help, please feel free to share this website link with your family, friends and social media!
#3 Prayer! We ask that you would join us in praying for our family as we prepare to add baby #2! We are also praying for the woman out there who is pregnant and having to make this tough choice to place her baby for adoption. We don't know who she is yet, but we are praying that God surrounds her in his supernatural peace.
WHY ADOPTION?
When we were first dating we talked about the possibility of having kids one day and I (Sontera) talked about my desire to adopt one day. Ryan loved the idea too! After a few years of being married we were ready to take on the next challenge - parenthood! (As ready as you can be?! haha) Since we knew we wanted to adopt we started looking into adoption agencies in 2016 as well as trying to get pregnant. Well, after almost a year of no pregnancy we saw a fertility specialist and learned that we had some challenging fertility issues that would mean if we wanted to have a biological child IVF was the best bet. After some prayer and giving ourselves the time we needed to grieve, we decided to move forward with the adoption plan and not pursue IVF.
For us, adoption wasn't a plan B, how ironic that we were already planning to adopt - right?! God has a way of preparing our hearts, doesn't He?! While we knew our future children wouldn't share our DNA, we had no doubt the love would be just as intense. The instant we set our eyes on our beautiful baby girl, only 48 hours old, we were in deep love!!!
Once we decided that our family was ready for baby #2, we talked about how to go about it and adopting again just felt right. In addition to all the reasons most families want another child… We want Stormie to have a sibling that can truly understand what life as an adopted child is like. And the same for our future baby. They will forever have each other to lean on and we pray they will become forever BFFs!
As a transracial family it's also important for us to create a home where our children feel secure and have other family members who look like them. We want them to be proud of their culture and their beautiful brown skin. To make that happen - we realize that love is not enough. It's the hundred little choices we make during their childhood such as: picking schools where there is diversity, neighbors, their doctors, toys, books, friends, tv shows…the list goes on!
2020
2020 is a crazy year, right?! 
We started this process again in January of 2020, before the world got turned upside down. First the pandemic, quarantine, and then the movements we are seeing to create better racial equality. Life is certainly intense for many of us right. To be honest, it's a bit scary moving forward and having an infant during this pandemic… but you know what's also scary? Being pregnant and having to make the choice to place your baby for adoption. We are committed to her, whoever she may be and to our future baby.
Y'all get ready, #TeamMader is growing again! #TeamMaderGrows
Thank you,
Ryan + Sontera + Stormie Mader
