Category: Adoption

Happy New Year, everyone! It’s been a couple of months since the last update, so we thought we’d take a moment and bring everyone up to speed.

So what do you want first? The good news or the bad news? Well really, there’s no bad news per se, but we were told just before the holidays that adoption referrals tend to slow down a bit around the holidays, so it has been a bit of a waiting game as of late. We expect them to begin increasing more and more in the next couple of months, so we’re biding our time learning patience and getting on with life.

Some great news is that people’s generosity continues to astound us! Our fundraiser is now over $25,000! We’re so humbled by this outpouring of kindness; more than words can possibly express.

Other than that, we don’t have much more to tell you at the moment, but we are here if you have questions or thoughts.

In the meantime, would you pray for more referrals to come through (both for us and for other waiting families), and also for other adoption opportunities that may lie in different directions that we aren’t aware of? And as always, if you become aware of a potential situation that you think might be a good fit for us, please let us know!

We hope you’re all healthy and doing well! We miss seeing you all in person.

With love,

Peter and Bethany

Look what happened!

Our fundraiser has reached almost $15,000! We are amazed and profoundly grateful for so many people coming alongside us in ways both monetarily and especially in prayer. We’ve had friends, family, neighbors, old acquaintances and some kind people we don’t even know show up to support us in one or both ways, and we’re so thrilled that we aren’t alone in this process.

Speaking of The Process, some have asked us how this whole thing works. The adoption agency we’ve chosen to work with is a little bit different from the typical “next in line” kind of adoption that some might be familiar with. So let’s do a quick breakdown of how this twisty maze called adoption will work in our case.

Here’s how the process works:

Step 1:

We complete all of the required training, state-mandated clearances, background checks, home study, etc. This takes several months and has all been completed!

Step 2:

The adoption agency seeks out and finds birthmothers that are interested in adoption (through both direct outreach and advertising). This is an ongoing process.

Step 3:

When the agency finds a new situation they inform us, along with all other potential adoptive parents. They send a very brief outline of what the agency knows about the birth mom’s circumstances, which includes some basic, limited background information on the birthmother’s health and medical/drug history, baby’s health, reason for choosing adoption and all associated fees. It is by no means exhaustive, but at least gives us some insight before we move forward.

Step 4:

If we decide that the situation looks like a healthy option for us, we ask the agency to send our Profile Book to the birthmother. It includes pictures and information about us and our backgrounds. She will receive a profile book for each couple that is interested in adopting her baby.

Step 5:

Now that the birthmother has received a number of profile books, she will choose between one and three couples to meet with, to see if everyone agrees that the situation is a good match. The initial information that we received about the birthmother is sometimes only as reliable as her word, so this gives us a good opportunity to consider the situation fully before committing.

Step 6:

If we are chosen, we then pay the balance of our fees and come alongside her as she moves through appointments with her doctor and eventually through birth.

Step 7:

We take home our newborn baby!

Currently, we are at the point where we are beginning to receive potentially matching situations that we can apply for. Again, all of this hinges on the birthmother choosing us from among many other hopeful couples.

As you can see, the journey is one that really relies on a lot of faith, hope and trust, which is why we are so eager to have others follow along with us in prayer.

So what can you be praying about right now?

We will begin posting exactly how you can pray for us at each stage of the process. For now, please pray that we would be wise in our discernment of each situation and that our trust would be fully in God as we continue to step forward into this.

Here’s what we still need

Our whole plan to enlist support revolves around the Puzzle we’re building. Right now, just over 80 of you have come alongside us. Originally we thought of a 500-piece puzzle, and we’d still like to do that, so we clearly need more people to add to that list.

We know that not everyone can or will donate to a fundraiser (and that is completely understandable!), but we are so eager to have more who are willing to pray for us, so we are asking for more people to partner with us in prayer.

If you would like to be one of those people, please send us an email letting us know you’re willing to pray for us throughout this journey and we will add your name to a puzzle piece! Also, if you have friends who have said they would join us in prayer, please send us their names as well!