Friends,
Adoption is good news. You can watch Michael tell that story by following our updates. There, you can also listen to Elizabeth sing that story, in our original song, "Welcome to the Green House."
We want to invite you into that story by helping us fund the adoption.
Some story details:
We're open to growing our family by whatever number of kids the Lord brings our way. UPDATED: We're adopting from Hungary and have said yes to a referral for twins. The cost, including agency fees, travel expenses, and other miscellaneous costs like specific medical and educational needs are part our pursued goal.
Our final home study (#3) is scheduled for next month! Between now and the end of January, we’ll be finishing remaining paperwork (e.g., proof of post-adoption financial, medical, community, and social resources), getting medical exams, and continuing adoption education training.
Part of this final study will include approval for the number of children we can adopt. We’ve expressed to our agency that we’re open to adopting 1–3 children. We don’t know how the Lord will move in this manner, but we are trying to make our home as ready as possible. Home expansion might mean an increase both in people under our roof and in usable space (along with other not-as-lovely-details like an additional septic tank—some problems you need to be ready for!). Our 3-bedroom, 2-bath home works well for our current family, but we’ve decided that we’ll need to convert our garage for an additional bed/bath space.
Through your generosity, we’ve raised enough money to cover agency and program fees (those cost around $30,000). Travel expenses (a required 45-day stay) are estimated at another $10,000, but this is just for 2 adults and 1 child. Additional children will increase the cost for travel needs (and we hope both sons can travel with us, too).
It’s possible that our family of 4 becomes a family of 7 this year!
We want to demonstrate to our adoption agency that we have the funding to bring home multiple children and to provide for them a home in which all of us are taken care of. Any funds we raise in addition to our fees, will go toward the additional cost of increasing the size of our family; providing for their continuing health, education, and well-being, and traveling with as many family members as possible between Hungary and the United States!
We’re grateful for how far you’ve helped us already.
It’s almost here, Christmas. The annual event that takes forever to get here as children, but returns in frighteningly shorter intervals the older we get. I spent one December night with eager children at our Christmas worship service. Elizabeth sang. I told stories with the kids. They laughed. We got a little loud. All of these things are routine for us at Christmas.
Whether it takes forever, or is here before we know it, next Christmas could be excitingly different for us. We could share the glory of Christmas with new children—children that return with us after our Christmas worship services, to their home, our home.
That will be a glory.
Merry Christmas.
(You can watch that Christmas time with the kids here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iCLXDw_8uA&t=75s)
Help from friends like you gives us extra reason for gratitude during this Thanksgiving season. We’re especially grateful for the Lewis family (whose own adoption story is an inspiration). Katie Lewis is graciously supporting our adoption with proceeds from 10% of all purchases from her Noonday Collection store!
Here's the link to her store: https://katielewis.noondaycollection.com/.
Avoid the black Friday crowds and shop online… and help fund our adoption in the process. Now through November 30 at noon CT, you can shop handcrafted jewelry, clothing, home and holiday items to benefit our adoption.
Admitted: I’m a bit jaded by ongoing, obscure national days of … whatever. So was the man who started World Adoption Day, but today I smile that he did.
Here’s how I’m celebrating World Adoption Day:
1. Taking time to thank and pray for every one who has contributed to our adoption fund.
2. Filling out more required paperwork to move us closer to completing our home studies.
3. Praying that God will honor our desire to serve in this way through His timing and provision.
Here’s how you can celebrate:
1. Support an adopting family like ours. Pray for us. Consider a tax-deductible gift through the link on this page.
2. Support trusted adoption agencies and supporters. We’ve chosen to adopt through Lifeline and collect funds via AdoptTogether (also the creators of World Adoption Day).
3. Share our page on your social media feed and tag #WorldAdoptionDay (jaded me is unimpressed with these newfound hashtagging skills).
Today we raise our hands with all of the families who’ve chosen adoption. We’re looking forward to seeing the smiles on the face… or faces… of those God adds to our family.
(Original post: https://stewartadoption.com/a-day-for-smiles/).
The cost of adoption is surprising. Given the amount of money we’re trying to raise and your partnership in that process, we want to be as transparent as possible about how money is spent.
Agency Fees: $18,000
Our agency fees include things like our home studies, application fees, and any other fees required by our adoption agency, Lifeline (we’ll post later on why we chose this organization). After our initial application fee ($300), we’re responsible for four agency fee payments of $4,425. We’ve already paid our initial application and agency fee.
Foreign Program Fees: $12,500
Foreign program fees include things such as a facilitation fee, translation fees, and program management. We’re currently attempting to adopt from Hungary. Our confidence in the team on the ground in Hungary is one of the reasons we’ve chosen this country. Our first foreign program fee is due at dossier submission ($4,000); our second is due when our referral is accepted ($8,500).
Estimated Third Party Fees: $2,000
Third party fees cover evaluations and other services such as background checks and immigrations services.
Travel Expenses: $10,000+
One of us will be required to stay in Hungary for 45 days. Depending on the time of year, our entire family would like to go; minimally, both Michael and Elizabeth want to spend time there bonding with our prospective child(ren). Those cost will vary based on airfare, in country medical exams, and how many of the Stewarts are able to travel.
Miscellaneous: ?
We want to be prepared for unexpected costs and post-adoption costs as well. Any “extra” funding beyond adoption fees can be used for items such as:
* multiple child adoption: our fees could increase as much as $4,000 per child for additional children
* language and ongoing education (our family wants to learn Hungarian and we want to provide English language training for our adopted children)
* family counseling to help all of us adjust to our new lives
* necessary upgrades (we might have to add a room depending on available children, or upgrade a vehicle with higher seating capacity)
