We have BIG news! We are on the path to adopting another child!
Becoming parents through the adoption of Lucas had a profound impact on us and we desire to grow our family again (and Lucas really wants a younger sibling to dote on, help care for, and play with). We have found a deep meaning and purpose in not only parenting but parenting through adoption. Making an adoption plan is a loving choice for expectant women who do not have the resources to be a stable bridge for their child from infancy to adulthood. We cherish the opportunity to be a stable bridge, a safe harbor, and the roots of love that will nourish a vulnerable child into a flourishing adult.
We are beyond excited and are doing everything we can to be prepared to welcome a beautiful new life into our home.
Our journey so far
We have been advertising for an independent adoption since November of 2016, but it has not yet bore the fruit of an adoption. In January, we decided to sign up with an agency as our backup plan because we could tell quickly that our original path to adoption - independent - was not going as well as the last time (which still took us about 1.5 years to be matched with Lucas). The agency would keep us on a waiting list for about a year, depending on how many placements they made (so far this year, they have made significantly fewer placements).
While we wait to be promoted to their pool of families to be shown to expectant women, we are actively fundraising to cover the increased cost over an independent adoption. Deanna is using her spare time to apply for adoption grants, sell stuff we don't need, teaching sewing lessons, making and selling crafts, and teaching extra online science courses through Northwest University, but it's still a heavy lift over what we had expected - an increase from around $8,000 to complete a private adoption to over $30,000 for an agency adoption.
Our goal is to complete this agency adoption without going into debt. We have, so far, set aside and raised just over $20,000 towards our goal of $30,000. To help ease the overwhelming financial burden of an agency adoption, we have started this crowdfunding campaign with a goal of raising $5,000 (to cover the cost increase in August 2017 to pay for the rising cost of providing housing to expectant mothers). The Adoption Tax Credit (which was nearly axed in the new Tax Bill) will reimburse us less than half of this cost of the adoption within 2 years after finalization. Still, this presents a very short-term financial crunch.
An invitation to you
We hope that by inviting you to help us reach our goal of a debt-free adoption, you will see yourself as part of the community we hope to build around our child as he/she grows up. We are in this together and stronger because of it and we are blessed beyond words!
You are helping us to build a stable bridge that will carry this child from infancy to adulthood. We are stronger together!
Thank you for all of your love and support in this wonderful adventure!
Love,
Bill, Deanna, & Lucas
You can learn more about us and follow our story at our adoption blog.
