Our family story began in 2011 when we had Remington (Remy). He was born at 28 weeks, and came out fighting! He and I were both very sick for a long time. He's been our biggest blessing to date. Now he's my favorite 6 year old, and starting first grade! You know how plans always work out just the way you thought, right? Ha! That's how our plan for growing our family went. When Remy was 3, I was healthy and felt confident in adding to our family. Over the next 2+ years, we struggled with getting pregnant and then suffered 3 miscarriages. For the first half of 2017, Jason and I had both been independently thinking adoption is our answer, but we hadn't shared that with each other. For me, I always thought we would have at least 2 biological children and possibly adopt later on (back to how plans work, right?), and I was not ready to admit what I thought of as failing as a mom and wife, with not being able to carry a healthy baby. Jason kept it quiet because he knew how much I was hoping to have a successful pregnancy. On our 8th wedding anniversary in June, I blurted it out over a bottle of wine, and he immediately agreed that adoption is God's plan for us.
We are officially "Home Study Approved" and have signed on with Angel Adoption! Now we’re waiting to be “matched” and meet our newest family member. Remy thinks God wants him to have a brother AND a sister, and he's already given them names and writes books for them weekly (ha!)
So here is the hard and humbling part. A typical private adoption through an agency costs $32,000 - $48,000! I spent the last part of summer in shock and searching for more affordable options that could still be a good fit for our family. With Remy's needs, fostering wouldn't be fair to him at this time, because the ultimate goal is for the child to go back with his/her family. The other lower cost options I've found take an average of 3+ years. We are also applying for grants and are planning additional fundraising.
We have created this account in hopes that friends, family, and other caring people may give our request thought/prayer, and possibly contribute toward our adoption fund. We know there are many deserving causes out there. We hope our desire to bring a baby into our loving home might be one of them.
Here's the fun part! We are having a 500 piece puzzle made on Etsy (it’s almost ready) and each time a person donates, we will write that person's name (or family name) on the back of a puzzle piece. This part gives me chills and tear up. I cannot wait to have that puzzle mounted between glass in our new child's room to help us share the story of how many loving hands and hearts were part of our journey to becoming a family of four!
