Hello! We are the Cantareros, a family of seven with room in our hearts for two more. In 2022, we received heartbreaking news from my husband’s home country: a close relative – a devoted, hard-working single mother – had suffered a fatal heart attack, leaving her two young children orphaned.
We instantly became their sole means of financial support, and we felt called to bring them into our family through adoption. Although we knew international adoptions are complex and costly, we were dismayed to learn that adoptions in the children’s native country can take up to three years.
We’ve always lived frugally, and we believe strongly in being self-reliant, but now we’re at a crossroads. The total cost of our adoption has expanded as we’ve progressed on this journey, and as we near the end, we can now calculate the full financial weight.
While we have received help from family and friends, we have also exhausted our savings, maxed out available loans, and are working extra shifts. We have applied for grants but have not received any support from charitable organizations. It’s difficult to ask for help, but to bring these children home, we still need $40,000 to cover:
Extensive legal, translation, and courier fees
Home study agency costs
Placing adoption agency costs
Government fees, for both our government and the children’s government
Travel to complete the adoption and bring the children home
Donations made here through Adopt Together are tax-deductible.
Your donation, whether $10 or $1,000, brings us closer to providing a stable, loving home for the children. We look forward to the bright future we can offer them as they continue to heal from their traumatic loss, surrounded by a loving family of their own. The drawing above is a portrait one of the children made of me, my husband, the child, and their sibling.
We know we can’t do this alone, and though it is humbling to ask, there are no words for the deep gratitude we feel for any and all help extended to our family. Together, we can turn a heartbreaking story into one of healing and love. Thank you for being part of our journey.
We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the many generous donations we have received from so many of you! Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story and give so freely! You have helped make possible something that seemed impossible! We have adjusted our goal to reflect the cash donations we have also received outside the Adopt Together platform.
We were waiting to give an update until we had news to share, but the only news so far is that we are still waiting. In the case of kinship adoptions, this final process of determining that the children are eligible for adoption can take quite a long time. So we are doing our best to be patient!
We were able to go visit the children in January and see them off on their first day of school (the school year there goes from late January to early November). We also met with authorities on the national level with the hope of moving the process along.
In our latest contact with those in charge of this process, we learned that the final phase of the adoption will require additional unanticipated expenses. Although no one can say for sure, the current expectation is that we will likely be bringing the children home toward the end of summer, right around the three year anniversary of the passing of the children’s mother.
As hard as it is to keep waiting, we have often felt God’s loving reassurance and seen His hand at work as our adoption journey continues. We have faith that all will be accomplished according to His perfect timing.
Matched by Seth Christensen
Matched by Seth Christensen
