Chad and Rachel Althaus

are adopting a child from United States of America

We are excited to share that we are adopting a child!

The standard questions we are asked often are, “Do you have children? How old are they? Do you want more children?” We are usually pretty honest with our answers and let people know that it wasn’t in the plan for us to only have one child at this point in our marriage. Through our honesty and confession about the stirring to adopt, God brought specific people into our lives to give us a word of encouragement and others who pointed us in the direction of New Life Adoptions. Through these friends and Rachel’s medical diagnosis, God has made the path toward adoption very clear to us. We are eager to follow His lead.

Adoption is very expensive. In order to make adoption a reality for our family, we are inviting others to financially and prayerfully partner with us. The exact amount required by the agency is $24,000. We also have up to $1,750 in additional fees that will be given to the attorney once adoption is finalized.

Any money donated beyond this amount will go towards formula, diapers, clothing, and other expenses related to the needs of our adopted child.

We appreciate your financial partnership greatly.

Adoption Status

Home At Last

Adoption Agency

New Life Adoptions

Updates

  • Update 18

    Urgent prayer

    January 12, 2025

    Baby N arrived in the morning on Friday but is still having trouble keeping his respiration rate in the normal range. We really hoped to go home today but will not be able to.

    Everything else is fine, and he is not in need of the NICU, but until he consistently stays in the normal range, he can’t be discharged. Please pray for God to touch his little body and make his respiration settle. We are so thankful to have him with us, but we are so very tired and discouraged.

    We’ll post a longer update with all the fun details soon.

  • Update 17

    Today is the day!!!!

    January 10, 2025

    We wanted to thank y’all for praying over our last requests. Not long after posting, Chad finally received the insurance info.

    Today is the day we get to meet our boy! We are currently waiting for baby N’s arrival alongside Sandi from New Life.

    As we reflect on all that’s happened to make this possible, we are filled with many emotions. Joy and sorrow are both felt.

    Adoption is beautiful, and yes, we are gaining a new baby. But our gain is birth mommy’s loss. Baby N also experiences this loss. We shy away from acknowledging that newborns experience emotions beyond “feed me” or “change me”, but they do.

    Our biggest prayer requests are for birth mommy to feel comfort as she transitions away from being so close to baby N. We also ask for prayer for baby N as he wonders why the comforting voice he’s known for 9 months is no longer present.

    We will update again on Monday as we want to be fully present with baby N through the weekend. 🩵💙🩵

  • Update 16

    Prayer requests

    January 8, 2025

    Good morning!

    We are anxiously counting down the hours until we get to meet baby N!!

    Chad began a new job on Dec 30 which means our insurance changed. We still do not have any info, and we need it not only for baby N but for Rachel as she has an appt with a specialist on Jan 14. She booked this months ago as the specialist is highly acclaimed and takes a while to get in to see. We don’t quite understand the timing of it, but it’s yet another opportunity to trust.

    Please say a prayer with us that we have access to the insurance info by Friday. We are thankful he’ll be on birth mom’s insurance for the delivery. Please also pray for God to sustain or miraculously heal Rachel as surgery will need to be postponed for a few months due to baby N’s arrival.

  • Update 15

    Date of arrival!!

    January 3, 2025

    We hope everyone had a blessed holiday season! We have two big updates:

    1. We have an official date of arrival! Baby will be born via c-section in the morning on January 10... one week sooner than we were originally told! As we prayed about when baby would arrive, Rachel heard "January 10", and we got that confirmation today. Pretty incredible.

    Please be in prayer for all of us during this time. Mom asked us to be on stand-by in the waiting room during the procedure. Texas state law requires mothers to wait 48 hours before terminating parental rights so we will be in the hospital for 48 hours -given no medical complications arise.

    2. We (our family and birth mom) decided on a name together, but we can't share until finalization in July. For now, we will call him "baby N" :)

    Rachel enjoyed setting up this Photo Booth for a New Years Eve party as part of our balloon fundraiser
    @celebration_elevation (Instagram)

  • Update 14

    A few things

    December 22, 2024

    We wanted to write another expression of gratitude to each of you for contributing to our campaign. We've applied to 8 grants and have only received one so far. We got an email yesterday morning that we were denied from the "big one" we were hoping for (a $10K grant) . We can't pretend like we're not disappointed, but we see that this campaign has raised almost that amount. We know that God is still providing amidst that disappointment.

    Second, we've had people ask about registries and showers and all the traditional things that happen prior to a baby's arrival. This is such a quick turnaround during the holiday season so I wanted to clarify that we will not be having a traditional baby shower prior to placement. As much as we'd love for it to resemble a typical experience, we've accepted that adoption is all around different. Different isn't a bad thing. It's just a different thing!

    At this time, we have a small registry on Amazon, are accepting DoorDash gift cards or freezer meals, and have a Meal Train here: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/qk2g18

    Our biggest needs are funding for the adoption expenses and a car seat. We're just focused on getting the necessities while continuing to prepare our hearts and our home. Please feel free to share with anyone you know who'd be interested in supporting us in these different ways. We seriously cannot do this without your help. So we are truly thankful.

    Here's the Amazon registry if you know someone who'd like to support us in this way:
    https://www.amazon.com/baby-reg/rachel-althaus-january-2025-hockley/10I1DWQ7DSYGA?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_QRJBEXWGDQREJS67WP3S

$12,394 raised of $18,000 goal
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Donations 39

  • Cleo Carroll gave an undisclosed amount
    We are praying with you in the adoption process.
  • Krystle Ballew gave an undisclosed amount
    We love you and are praying for you! We’re so excited for your family and this beautiful chapter in your life!
  • Ryan Emily Delahunt gave an undisclosed amount
    So happy for y’all! Keeping you in my prayers ❤️ Hudson, you will be the best big brother!
  • Anna Willems gave an undisclosed amount
    Praying that God blesses you above and beyond what you could ask or think. Can't wait to see how He writes this next chapter in your story
  • Herb & Yvonne Johnson gave $500
    We are excited that you will be adopting. You are great parents and the child will benefit greatly from your love of Jesus.
  • This is Church Ministries gave $1,344
  • Margaret Welch gave an undisclosed amount
  • Whitney Tole gave an undisclosed amount
    Praying over your journey! We know God will do amazing things through y’all and your family!
  • Christine Hards gave an undisclosed amount
    We are so excited that you are growing your family! Continuing to pray for each of you during this transition.
  • Stephanie and Keefe Andrews gave an undisclosed amount
    We LOVE adoption and hope to adopt someday ourselves when God allows. We are so blessed by the Lord to be able to partake in your journey towards expanding your family and blessing this child. May God bless your family with great Joy!