January 2016 Adoption Update

Oi! I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to post an update on where we are with our adoption. Here's the lowdown:

Fundraising

We've made amazing progress in our fundraising in the last several months! Here are the highlights:

Cider Press/GBC Adoption Fund
$12,520 $13,814!

The generosity of our church family has been amazing and humbling. In October we pressed about 600 gallons of apple cider, and raised close to $10,000 from selling cider, craft items, and other goodies. We are immensely grateful to everyone who volunteered at and attended this event! 

The rest of the money in our account in the GBC adoption fund has been generously donated by many members of the church body. Thank you!

Premier Designs Jewelry Party
$220

My friend and Premier Design jewelry lady, Abi Liezen, threw us a "Blingin' Home Baby Bock" jewelry party in November. It was a lot of fun, and I'm extremely grateful to everyone who attended and bought jewelry, and to Abi for her support!

Other Donations
$6,000

We also received more donations from family members and friends outside over church, which have added greatly to our funds as well. I can't say it enough: the generosity we've experienced throughout this process has been deeply humbling. 

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All told, after what we've already had to spend on home study and agency fees, we have about $23,000 over $24,000 available for our adoption right now. This puts us a lot closer to our goal, although there's still a ways to go. We actually won't know the official total until we get matched with a birth family and child, but we estimate needing at least another $10,000. 

The Waiting Game

We get A LOT of questions about where we are in the adoption process. Right now, it's really just a waiting game from here on out. We are currently waiting for our profile to be viewed and selected by the right birth family. That could happen tomorrow, or it could be many many months from now. The only control we have over this part of the process is deciding which families see our profile. We make these decisions prayerfully, based on whole lot of factors, including where they live, medical information, and if the situation fits our adoption budget. When we see a situation that might be a good fit, our profile is presented to the birth family along with profiles from other potential families. The birth family is able to choose who will parent their child.

As far as what happens next once we're matched...

If a birth family selects us, how fast things move after that point will depend on when the baby is due. We could have several months to prepare, or just days or hours! In cases where the baby isn't due right away, we may travel to visit the birth family before the baby arrives, just to get to know each other and make things more comfortable. It's important for us to get to know and build trust with the birth family. This will help ensure that our future child has the opportunity to have a healthy and loving relationship with their birth family if they desire. We will mostly likely be able to share general information with our friends and family once we've been matched, such as the gender and approximate due date of the child, but sensitive information about the birth family will remain private.

When it's time for baby to arrive, we will travel to be there either at the birth, or after (depending on birth family preferences and our own ability to leave at a moment's notice). In most states, the birth family will have at least a few days to sign the final paperwork. We won't be able to announce a name or share pictures of the baby until after consent, because it's not our right to do so before that point. Once the consent is signed, baby will released from the hospital, and we'll get legal permission to travel home!

Photos by Thomas Slawson, Kelsey Willard, and Lynsey Bock