Matt & Anna Ward

are adopting a child from India

We are adopting a child from INDIA!

God has been calling us to this for so long (over 20 years) and we are thrilled to see His plan unfolding right before our eyes.

As part of our adoption process, we have started a crowdfunding campaign. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God would provide every penny we need for this adoption (even without any fundraising efforts). We fully trust Him with financing this adoption. We decided to move forward with crowdfunding because we firmly believe that not everyone is called to adopt, but many people want to play a role in “caring for orphans,” and we want to invite others into this ministry with us.

Many may be surprised to know that an international adoption can cost approximately $50,000. We don’t really have a goal for how much to raise but AdoptTogether requires us to put a number, so we set the goal to be $15,000. Whatever God provides will be perfect and will help to ease the financial burden (both now in paying for the adoption and for preparing for what our child will need after coming home).

We pray that by inviting you into this process, you will see yourself as part of this ministry God has called our family to. We also cover your prayers during this time.

We love you all!

Adoption Status

Matched

Adoption Agency

America World Adoption

Updates

Update 3

CARINGS Registration and Biometrics Appointment
December 7, 2023

Well, we have finally started to check off some boxes! The name of the game is “hurry up and wait” when it comes to adoption..it’s actually exciting to get to the “wait” part, because that means we are one step closer!

We asked for prayers because we were concerned about the US Postal Service (who isn’t concerned about this these days)! We had some documents needing apostille to make it safely back to us, and I’m happy to report they all made it to us! We also had issues with USPS getting a letter to us from USCIS (immigration). Because of this issue, we missed our appointment with immigration.

Thankfully, these issues have resolved! We received all of our apostilled documents and have a new appointment for Wednesday with the immigration office! Praise the Lord.

As of today, we are officially registered with India’s adoption agency (CARA). So, now we wait. The approval through India takes approximately 3 months. Once we are approved by CARA and approved through USCIS, we will be able to accept child referrals!!! One step closer.

Please pray for smooth approvals from both CARA and USCIS! Please also pray for God to prepare our family for this adoption.
Update 2

World Adoption Day!
November 9, 2023

Hey, hey! It’s world adoption day!!

No significant updates today, but we have received most of our apostilled documents back! A few documents had some errors that needed correction. So, we are waiting for the final 5 apostilled documents to return to us! Once we get those back, we will get registered with CARA (India)!! Then we wait. :)

Thanks for your consistent prayers for us. Waiting can be so tough… but God is good and we trust His timing in all of this!

Imagine a world where there were no children waiting for families…
Update 1

10.19.23 Update - USCIS and CARINGS Registration
October 19, 2023

I’ve been anxious to share an update, and I have come to realize that the adoption process is very much a hurry up and wait kind of thing… We finally received our finalized home study in the mail! So, we have sent off the appropriate documents to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) department to gain approval to bring a child to the US through adoption. We’ve also sent off a large packet of documents that require “apostilling.” An apostille is basically a fancy word for notary of the notaries. The Secretary of State will review all the notaries of various documents in order to confirm that the notary is legitimate. Once we get the apostilled documents back (is supposed to take about 10 days), we will be able to register with India/apply to adopt from India (known as CARINGS registration).

Please be praying that our USCIS approval will come through quickly (average wait time is 8-12 weeks), that our apostilled documents will be returned quickly, and that our CARINGS registration will be approved quickly (average wait time is 2-3 months). Once all of these things have happened, our case manager will start working to match us with a child!

Thank you for your prayers and support! We love you all!