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Thank you for taking the time to read this. There's so much to say on this topic but we've tried to keep this concise!
We’ve always considered adoption alongside biological kids as one way to live out our beliefs. We think Russell Moore says it best in his book, Adopted for Life: “We believe Jesus in heavenly things—our adoption in Christ; so we follow him in earthly things…”
But not until recently have we really understood all of the implications. And we’re still learning. There’s a lot of work and there’s risk and there’s unknown (similar to a pregnancy, right??). We’ve prayerfully wrestled with these things and still, we know God has equipped us to meet this need for a birth mom who’s choosing life even when it’s hard. We enjoy being parents and we simply desire to be an option for her, whoever she is. We respect her so much already—for the courage to make such a loving decision to place her baby into our arms as mom and dad.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed in this process, but we experience the most peace as we trust that God cares about details. Yet He’s graciously revealing those to us one step at a time! Which leads us to our community’s involvement - again, we think Russell Moore says it best: “All of us have a stand in the adoption issue, because Jesus does.”
We’re so grateful our third child will be known and loved by you, just as Jane and Henry are.
If you have any questions or encouragement for us, please reach out!
We apologize for the delay in updating.
Baby William Robert was born on Friday, December 6th at 2:08pm, weighing 8lb 1oz and 18.5” long. Kaylyn was able to be in the delivery room - a unique and amazing experience. Birth mom signed papers and we were granted Power of Attorney. We stayed at the hospital in a room across the hall from his birth mom and cared for him alongside her and the staff. William was discharged midday on Sunday the 8th and we brought him back to our Airbnb. Robert brought our kids down on Monday to meet him and bond as a family as we anticipated staying in town through Friday (which was the end of the birth mom’s revocation period). Tuesday, we received clearances between Alabama and Tennessee, meaning we had the green light to bring him home! However, we had a pediatrician appointment scheduled so we proceeded with that plan and on the car ride, we received a call from the agency director that the birth mom had changed her mind (within the 5 business day revocation period) and had decided to parent. Shock is an understatement as she had been unwavering in her decision thus far. We had to immediately drive 1.5hrs to the agency to give William back. It was horrible. However, we want to be clear - we think a baby staying with his/her birth parents is the best situation if at all possible. Adoption is beautiful for many reasons but it also carries a brokenness as a baby and mother being separated was never meant to be. It’s the result of the fall, of a broken world that we cannot fix. We wanted to stand in the gap for a birth mom who had exhausted her options/resources but was still boldly choosing life. We still believe this was the case here, as she apologetically expressed she didn’t expect the postpartum emotions to be so strong. We don’t know what baby boy’s life holds moving forward - would you pray for her and for him as they navigate the impossible?
The grief on our end feels layered - for the loss of William after becoming attached (will he ever know Jesus?), for the planning and preparation and time this process has involved, for not knowing if a third child is in our family’s future at all. Our spirits are heavy but we remain confident God is near to the broken hearted.
We know you were expecting your donations to go towards bringing baby home into our specific family, as did we. Unfortunately, AdoptTogether does not allow refunds. Thank you for helping cover a portion of our expenses. We’re bearing the emotional pain of this loss, but your generosity has alleviated the financial burden and for that, we’re extremely grateful.
Birth mom has made it a week past her due date and is scheduled to be induced this Friday morning, the 6th! We will be heading to the hospital to be with her during labor and delivery. Once baby boy is discharged, we'll be waiting at an Airbnb in Alabama for clearance to bring him home to Tennessee.
We're so grateful for your prayers and financial support. Please continue to pray as God is finishing what He started.
We were given the opportunity to meet baby boy's birth parents yesterday along with the agency director. They are amazing and we are so grateful they chose us! Now we wait as birth mom goes to her doctor every week from now until delivery. Would you pray for her?
We are now able to better estimate a total cost for services rendered throughout this process. Our anticipated fees are $53,000, which does *not* include attorney fees, reimbursement/copays/deductibles not covered under the birth mom's private insurance coverage, consultant fee, home study expenses/fees, or travel costs (we will be required to stay within his birth state for up to 2 weeks). If you feel led, please donate through this page.
If you'd like to support us in a different way, here are our other immediate needs!
- Do you know someone who owns an Airbnb in Huntsville or Birmingham that would be willing to let our family stay for free or at a discounted rate? Unfortunately we do not know exact dates at this time.
- We do need a few items before baby arrives and put together a registry here: https://my.babylist.com/hinson-family-adoption
Thank you for joining us in this!
After 22 cases, we've matched with a baby boy due at the end of November!! Things feel wild right now updating paperwork and making plans. Please pray for everyone involved!! More to come. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Cases have picked up again in the last month and a half! We've now said yes to 14 but are still waiting for our match. Thank you to those who have checked in - keep praying!
