Thank you for your willingness to read our family's story. It is with humble hearts that we ask for your help.
In January 2023, we were blessed to adopt our daughter after a long and challenging journey. We had waited for over three years for her, and after all the twists and turns, our dreams finally came true. Our lives changed for the better, and we spent the entire year making beautiful memories together. While we hoped to give her a sibling one day, we did not intend to try to grow our family again for several years - until we were financially ready.
However, on January 29, 2024, our world turned upside down again. Our adoption agency called us out of the blue and informed us that our daughter's birth mom had delivered a baby boy the day before, on January 28th, just 11 days after celebrating our daughter's first birthday. They asked us if we were willing to adopt him so the siblings could be together.
We were shocked and completely unprepared. Our home study had expired, and we could not afford another adoption so soon. There were a million practical reasons to say no, but we knew that we wanted to say yes. We loved this sweet baby boy as soon as we knew he existed and were committed to keeping these siblings together.
We drained all of our savings, including our emergency fund, to make the required initial payment to the adoption agency, update our home study, and fund initial travel costs to Fort Worth.
We are so excited that our son and daughter will grow up having each other as a connection to their family of origin, and now that we are a family of four, we can't imagine it another way!
That said, we are now under a tremendous amount of financial stress. Funding one adoption is challenging enough, let alone two in two years, one of which was unplanned. Additionally, Jackie will have to drastically reduce the hours she works to care for our children, which would be an additional reduction in annual income and a substantial hit to our monthly cash flow. There are also the looming hospital bills for our son's delivery and care, part of which included a stay in the NICU.
The full total must be paid to our adoption agency next month, May 2024.
We would be extremely grateful for any support you’re able to provide. The three ways you can bless us and partner with us are:
Donating to help us cover the adoption costs.
Praying that God will provide for us, for our family as we adjust to life as a family of four, and for our children's sweet First Mama.
Sharing our story and link with others.
With all the love and gratitude in our hearts,
Stephen and Jackie
