Douglas and Pamela J.

are adopting a child from United States of America

We’re Pamela and Doug Johse, a married couple from Texas. From the very start we knew that a family was a big part of our dreams. When we learned that pregnancy would come with serious health risks, we knew adoption was the path for us, and we couldn’t be more excited for this journey!

Both of us were raised in Texas, surrounded by great friends and family. We were fortunate to grow up in loving homes, and those experiences shaped our desire to create that same supportive and nurturing environment for a child of our own.

Our estimated cost of adoption is $50,000 which covers the agency fees, legal fees, travel expenses, legal costs, and the birth mother’s living expenses during her pregnancy.

We’re working hard to fund as much of this this journey ourselves as we can by setting aside savings and selling baked goods, personalized items to help cover expenses. While asking for support isn’t easy, we believe that family and community are at the heart of this journey.

Every contribution, whether through purchases, donations, or simply sharing our story, is an investment in the life of a child who will one day become part of our family.

Thanks for all of the love, encouragement, and support!

Adoption Status

Completing Paperwork

Adoption Agency

Adoption Angels

Updates

  • Update 12

    Parents in Waiting! Finally!

    May 4, 2026

    We have some exciting news to share!! Doug and I received our Parents-In-Waiting letter!

    What does this mean exactly? It means that we are officially on a Waiting List and our profile will be shown to birth mothers!

    We are still waiting to hear back from grants and hope to hear back from them soon! As always thank you for your love and support!

    We’re super excited for this news and can’t wait for the day we get matched!

  • Update 11

    We're Almost Parents-in-Waiting!

    April 18, 2026

    Yesterday we finalized our photo book and placed the order! Once it arrives at Adoption Angel's offices in a week they will tie up a few things, they'll put a copy of our profile on their website, and they'll start showing us off to birth moms as they come! Eventually we will be picked by a birth mom and then matched up where we wait for the baby to come!

    The "official" time estimate from the agency since we started with them was 1 to 2 years before we have a baby at home, but we were told this past week that they've gotten pretty busy and that this estimate could be MUCH shorter if everything lines up just right!

    On the finance side, we've put in close to 15 grant applications and we hope to hear back from them here in the next month or so, we're still short a good bit of the full $50,000 we needed when we started, we've put in about $22,000 so far, but, we make strides each month with our own savings and additional work outside of our careers!

    Thank you all for your continued support!

    With love, optimism, and excitement,

    Doug & Pamela

  • Update 10

    We Were Featured in an Article from SAN!

    March 19, 2026

    Check out this article and video that was made about us back in October of 2025!

    https://san.com/cc/facing-50k-in-adoption-fees-this-texas-couple-baked-up-a-sweet-side-hustle/

  • Update 9

    Grant Applications are almost done!

    March 17, 2026

    Most of our grant applications have been submitted, and many of them can take up to eight weeks for us to hear back on whether they’ve been approved.

    Each foundation varies in size and award amounts, and from what we’ve seen, the approval rate is around 10%. We are really hoping and praying that we fall within that 10%!

    On average, grants tend to cover about one-third of adoption costs, though sometimes they can cover more. It ultimately depends on how many applications are approved. In the meantime, we are continuing to save as much as possible.

    Thank you all for your continued support! We can't wait to bring a baby home!

  • Update 8

    First Payment is IN!

    February 25, 2026

    We've made the first payment to the adoption fees! $15,000 out of the $50,000 expected. This should be the largest of the payments to make all at once, everything else from here on out should be piecemeal and a little easier to manage. Our next step is to work on some grants, we've applied for 2 so far and have quite a few more to do. At the same time we are working hard on getting our photo book put together. Once that is in we are going to start being shown to prospective mothers!

    Thank you to everyone for your support!

$5,130 raised of $15,000 goal
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Donations 34

  • Lindsay Fogle gave $100
    You guys will be the best parents ever!! Love you ♥️
  • Paula Harrison gave $30
    You will make great parents Cuz!
  • Dan & Cheryl McWilliams gave $100
  • Susan Norman gave an undisclosed amount
    You’ll be holding that precious baby before you know it!
  • Ben gave $40
    Wishing you a happy birthday today, Pam! Hoping the best for you and your future family member!
  • Mary Jean Lynn gave $100
    Good luck! God bless!
  • Briana Meeks gave $25
  • Donna gave $100
  • Anonymous gave $100
  • Anonymous gave $50