Our adoption journey has been long, and has had many twists and turns along the way.
We initially set out in 2022 to pursue a private adoption. We went through the home study and got approved in 2023 for infant placement. We raised funds and secured a finances to make sure that we could adopt an infant without having to worry about the cost – we discussed the details and high cost of private adoption in previous posts. We prepared a nursery and all the things we’d need to welcome a baby into our home. And then the adoption consultancy we were working with went through major changes in staffing and how they interacted with clients. This change left us in a position where we felt we needed to part ways with that agency at the end of 2023 and work with a local adoption agency in 2024.
During this transition, we prayed and sought direction on how to grow our family. We started by considering doing private adoption through the new agency. Then, we considered adopting a waiting child in the foster care system. And then in the Spring of 2024, God put it on our hearts to adopt a sibling group (ages birth to 8 years old). Not just one or two, but up to four. On top of that, we still feel led to pursue private infant adoption. That’s a big change from our original path, but God knows what He’s doing!
Because of the change in direction, we had to undergo a new home study in 2024 and take different training in preparation for older children. Our home saw some big changes too! We converted my (Hannah’s) office into a bedroom, we integrated play spaces into other areas of our home, and came up with ideas for how we could make more space in our home in the future.
While we wait for an infant match and a sibling group match, we are providing Respite Care for other foster families. This helps us practice the parenting skills we're learning in our classes, get used to the chaos of having kids in the house, and make some adjustments to our home and routines to accommodate kiddos.
Our hearts are open and willing, and we are looking forward to what God has planned for us! Your prayers and generous financial support have made growing our family to this extent possible. This has been a long journey, and it may take a bit longer still. But we are so blessed to have you with us!
Hey friends and family!
It's been a busy month with travel, pet issues, and loved ones' health emergencies!
Here's what we've been up to with adoption stuff:
• Our Home Study has been APPROVED
• Our TX background checks are in progress
• We initiated the profile book process with our designer
• We've been engaged in photography for our profile book
About a month ago, we received the signed letter that our Home Study has been APPROVED! That document is hanging on our fridge until we have to send it in. That is a huge relief!
Also during the past month, we've been working with a local photographer to get portraits and lifestyle photography for our profile book. These photos are going to show our prospective birth mothers us, the hobbies we enjoy, some of our friends and family members, and places we like to go. The profile book will have written stories that accompany our photos, and we hope to have that finished by early October.
As part of our TX background checks, we had to head to New Castle, PA, for a specific finger printing company's services. Thankfully, they did live-scan and not inked finger prints. There wasn't a whole lot to see in New Castle. It looks like it used to be a thriving small town, but it's seen hard times in the past few decades. A lot of shops were empty or boarded. But, there were two painted Victorian houses we passed on our way out of town that were pretty!
Hey everyone! Thank you for following us on our adoption journey!
We finally have some news to share. After a few months of hefty paperwork and waiting, we finally finished our home study inspection and interviews! That is a BIG weight off our shoulders. We anticipate passing the home study, but I will let you know for sure when we get that official notification.
God really showed up in the home inspection and interview processes! He smoothed the way, and took a ton of stress out of it. I thank Him for that!!! Because we're planning to adopt an infant, the home inspection was a lot easier than we thought it would be. The social worker took a tour of our home, made sure we had certain things securely contained, reviewed the baby's (or sibling group's) room(s), and chatted with us a bit. The interview portion was not difficult either. We mostly talked about items from our home study application in a little more depth.
We have our Texas clearances in progress. Why Texas? Because the adoption consultancy we're working with has adoption agencies they partner with in Texas. Texas requires a more detailed background check than other states, so we need to have that all finalized before we are matched with an agency for adoption.
Next up is our profile book! I'm really looking forward to putting this together. It's going to be how prospective birth mothers gets to know us and our family, so they can make a decision on which family choose will choose for raising their children.
And, another thanks to God -- He has provided us with so many things for our child/children: baby furniture and clothing items from friends in the area! Recently, someone offered us a very nice stroller, and someone else offered us a crib!
Please pray for:
• Wisdom as we put together the profile book.
• Our upcoming fundraising efforts - that God will provide the resources we need, when we need them.
• For God to supply us with increased faith and patience in waiting during this process, as He meets our needs.
• (And, as always...) For our birth mother. For health and safety during her pregnancy, for God to lead her heart to choosing life and adoption for her baby, and for her to have peace of mind on her decision to adopt. This is a difficult decision, and I never want to forget to lift her up in prayer. And, for her to have exposure to the message of salvation in Jesus Christ.
Thank you to all who have been praying for us, our child, and our birth mother. The results of your prayers are felt, and that means so much!
With much gratitude,
Hannah and Phil
We realized last week that we are nearly done with the paperwork portion of the Home Study! That is such a huge burden lifted! It's taken us many months to do the paperwork. We are hoping to mail everything off to the Home Study agency next week! After that, we'll get scheduled with a social worker for the interview and home inspection portion of the Home Study.
Another piece of good news -- my job (Hannah) offers a FREE service where you can talk to adoption specialists through a video call. We tried that last night, and it was really helpful! The social worker helped us set expectations for the home inspection (don't be TOO perfect, but make sure your home is safe) and for the profile book. We haven't seen a lot of examples of profile books, so it was great to talk to someone who has seen them in person and has advised on them in the past.
After we mail in our paperwork and get scheduled with the social worker, we will get moving on our profile book.
Thank you all for your support and kindness!
Hannah and Phil
This week begins our leap into training. We have four online classes that cover topics like talking about being adopted with your adopted child, and how to manage as a family that may not look very much alike. We also signed up for infant/child CPR training. I haven't gone through infant/child CPR training since my Red Cross Babysitting course back in 1990—I only remember the bit about how to dislodge something from a baby's throat. Probably time for a refresher!
But wait, there's more!
We are also going to be taking the baby care classes offered via the Summa Health Systems. It's going to be interesting attending that class, because it's primarily for birth parents. I wonder how many other prospective adoptive parents and fostering/family caregivers we will encounter? I hope that we can build some local connections through these classes.
We are getting close to finishing our home study prerequisites before we have the home inspection and meet with a social worker. While we work on taking our training classes, we're also going to be taking care of small home repairs that will need to be completed before the home inspection. Things like patching any misc. nicks in the wall, touching up worn areas of paint, making sure all our window screens are secure, etc. Winter is a great time to do this kind of thing because of the inclement weather. So, if you want to reach us, we'll be home!
With love,
Hannah and Phil
The fire safety inspection last week was definitely interesting. Our local Fire Captain came to our house and looked at specific areas that need to meet fire codes. We toured the whole house and looked at fire extinguishers, escape routes, number and placement (and functionality) of smoke detectors, CO2 detectors, shelving in the child's room, and general tidyness of the house. We passed in all respects, except we have to wall-mount our fire extinguisher. It was good to talk through some of our concerns with the Captain, and realize that our home meets nearly all the requirements he was checking for. He said he sees kids in dangerous situations at home every day, and it really broke my heart to know that is so common locally.
In other news, we received a $1000 matching donation recently. If we reach, or surpass, $1000 in donations, this donor will contribute $1000 on top of that. Thank you very much for that match, Anonymous! Your investment in our family means so much to us.
With relief at passing the inspection, and gratefulness for your support,
Hannah and Phil
