We have some EXCITING news! Nick and I are officially adopting a Newborn baby domestically.
Let me give you a short synopsis of how the adoption process works below and where we are in the process….
We are officially in the "paperwork process"/Homestudy as they call it, here in the Adoption World. We have 3 months of literal paperwork to take care of before we "Go Live." Then we will have to do 3 interviews and have our home inspected by a Social Worker. After this portion is done we will need to move on to taking adoption classes, create a "Profile Book" and then we finally "Go Live." Once we "Go Live" is when our wait officially begins. During our live period our profile book will be shown to expectant mamas and then they will choose us based off of the information and photographs we provided in our profile book. After an expectant mama chooses us we are officially matched and then we anxiously await the birth of the child. Once the baby is born the birth mother will have 72 hours to sign the "TPR." (Termination of Parental Rights) Finally, after that happens we can officially take a breath of fresh air and settle into our hotel room for 14 days! We have to wait about 10 to 14 days for the state that we would be in to release the child to our current homes state!
Here's the real talk though. Adoption is expensive. We are looking at total costs around $40,000. Give or take a few thousand. This does not even include our travel costs, airfare, and our at least 14 day stay in a hotel room. Here's where you come in. Many of you over the years have asked "How can we help you guys? Is there anything we can do?" Up until now, there has been nothing you can do except to be supportive of our decisions. So, now we are asking for a donation, any amount that you are comfortable giving. But just a heads up, there are some really great perks to using this website as our "crowdfunding" platform. This site actually turns your donation into a charitable donation which will provide you with a receipt in which you can then claim as a charitable donation on your taxes! It is amazing! The reason why they can do this is because they are a 501c organization and Nick and I will actually have to prove that we need these funds for ONLY adoption related fees. Travel fees are not included in the claim process so those have to be covered by us. Nick and I will never actually touch the money ourselves, because it will automatically get sent straight to the agency after we apply for it and prove why we need it. This was very important to us, I did not want our supporters to think we were using the money that YOU donated to us and wonder "where is that money going?" You will never have to wonder that now.
Final note, every single time a person donates, no matter the amount, it could be $1 or $10,000, we will write your name on a puzzle piece and at the end of our fundraising campaign, the puzzle pieces will form the words "It Takes a Village"… Then the puzzle will be placed in a double glass frame in our adopted baby's room. I want our little love to know that YOU, and YOU, and YOU, had a helping hand in bringing them home, because it really does take a village. I truly believe with every persons help in our circle we can raise our goal of $30,000. You can share this as well as our blog as often as you like! Send it to anyone and everyone, because I am sure someone in your circle has experienced some form of heartache like we have. We are ready to mend our hearts and open them up to the beautiful world of adoption and hopefully gain another circle in the process. Thank you all so much in advance. We love and appreciate all of the support thus far!
