This is our incredible journey to sweet baby Lucas… As a lot of you know we have been working towards our Foster-to-Adopt chapter of life. Well, with God/The Universe always keeping us on our toes, our lives changed with one phone call. Six degrees of separation has led our family to the most selfless and giving birth mother. Our families connected immediately, and knew this sweet boy in Mama L’s belly was meant to be a Lee.
As we have moved through this process, making all the legal arrangements, and thinking “wow this is going so smoothly” of course life had other plans. Baby Lucas is going to be born with CDH (Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia) and will need to be delivered into a higher level NICU for immediate surgery. All parties (including doctors/lawyers) agree that Mama L needs to deliver close to us.
We are fundraising to help with the cost of lawyer’s for both parties, travel, room and board for everyone to be near the hospital.
Raising a family truly takes a village, and we whole heartedly appreciate every single one of you.
Thank you so much,
The Lee’s
There’s a lot of different ways and definitions for “failed adoptions” but in all reality none of those compare to the pain we’ve endured the last 6+ weeks. This was an extremely hard lesson to learn that will forever change our lives. We appreciate everyone who donated financially and that money will not go to waste as we still plan to adopt, so thank you again for your generosity. Moving forward we are really struggling with grief, anger, and sympathy as it ultimately came down to mental instability. It’s so confusing to be so angry with one person but yet feel so bad for them. I guess it’s the perfect example of God telling us to love our enemies. I know we tried with every ounce of love and compassion in our souls to make this work. Seeing the pain our own family was experiencing trying to make this work wasn’t Gods plan for us either. We will move on and will trust what’s meant to be will happen. Thank you again for everyone who has shown us love and support. #adopttogether #failedadoption #mentalhealth #thissucks
Hello everyone! We wanted to post an update on Baby Lucas and Mama L. As mentioned in the previous posts Lucas has what is called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). His defect has escalated with his stomach and intestines now in his chest cavity. We are all still very confident and hopeful for a safe delivery for both Mom and Lucas. Because of this Mama L is coming a little sooner than anticipated to make sure her and Lucas get the BEST care they can get with a support system. With all this being said we are asking and praying for help with the costs of staying closer to the hospital for all parties. As we get closer to Lucas's due date we have to be ready for anything and everything due to the medical needs both of them will need. Please watch the video below for more explanation on CDH, thank you! - The Lee's
https://youtu.be/LcHdHdCvqnk
You might be asking yourself "why donate when they are choosing to do this?" or "why do they need so much?" We acknowledge we are asking a lot of you, a lot of our friends and family, and a lot of ourselves... But let me just tell you why.
Jon and I always knew at some point we were going to adopt or foster a child; It's been a desire of mine since a little girl. We have such an amazing marriage, family, and support system so we decided to go for it. We have been working all year towards this with the county doing Home Studies, background checks, classes, and endless paperwork. We knew the cost of private adoption was too high for us, so going with the county made sense. As we crossed that finish line and settled into that "waiting to be matched" phase we received a life changing phone call from our friend Annie. I'll remember that night for the rest of my life. I was watching my oldest son's Little League game, he was catcher and doing a great job. It was unusually cold and windy so my other son and I were bundled up cuddling in one chair. Annie starts to tell me about her childhood friend who is pregnant and searching for an adoptive family or agency. We all agreed for her to get us in touch with Mama L and we connected immediately. Our friendship just took off, I knew I wanted to be apart of her and that baby's life. Eventually it was clear this was the best fit for everyone, that sweet baby boy in her belly was going to be our son.
You know when something totally crazy just works out and you get this excitement in your soul? That's how we feel everytime we talk with Mama L, think about Baby Lucas, or when our boys say they want to name him Mcdonald's or Steve.
Moving forward we knew we had to consider the finances and all the extra fees we didn't have with the county. Which is where we are now and we can't be afraid to ask for help because Mama L, Baby Lucas, and our family needs it.
We need help to pay for yet another home study, lawyer retainers, and Mama L's plane ticket out here. Lucas was diagnosed with CDH (congenital diaphragmatic hernia) and will need surgery directly after delivery. We are incredibly lucky enough to live near one of the best NICU's in the country. So Mama L's doctors want her to deliver here for her and the baby's safety. This might seem like a lot... and it is. But I know in my heart this was meant to to be. We were both meant to know Annie. We were meant to be on both sides of this process at the same time. We were meant to all be apart of Baby Lucas' life.
So please please please if you feel compelled to donate to our family we will greatly appreciate it.
Thank you again,
The Lee's
