Well, first of all, we wanted to thank all of you who supported us by attending our spaghetti dinner fundraiser or sending a donation! We really appreciate all of you! You should have all received a thank you card in the mail! It was such a blessing to have so many of you come to show your love and support! For those of you who couldn't attend, we really appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers!
Now for the update...as we've said before, we have been praying about this journey for quite a long time now. It's funny how, when you think you know what God is telling you to do and what path to take and you start making the preparations for that, sometimes He reveals a different road He wants to lead you down. Well that's what happened to us. We thought God was leading us towards private adoption but the more we keep praying about it, the more we feel that He wants us to look into public adoption. I have been in contact with Summit County Children Services and we are scheduled to start their training classes for their foster-to-adopt program on Wednesday the 14th of November. This is going to take us double the time that it would take most people because Todd has to make up all the Monday and Wednesday classes on Saturdays during the next session which starts in January. I've also contacted the Christian Children's Home of Ohio about their adoption program but I'm still waiting to hear back from someone. I've found that it takes at least a few days for someone to call you back usually because they are so busy! What I love most about the Children's Home is that, along with a foster-to-adopt program, they have a plain old adoption program. If you go through the county, you must foster first as far as I understand.
We are still keeping the door open to private adoption just in case that's where we end up after all, but right now it's on hold. The nice thing is that all the steps we have to go through to adopt, whether public or private, are the same. If we take these steps through the county first, they will transfer over to the private agency we would be using and will save us a little bit of money. We would really appreciate all your prayers in trying to descern where God is leading us! Some how I thought adoption would be less emotionally draining then dealing with infertility, but I was wrong! I don't know which is worse. I'll admit it...I'm a control freak! I have no control over any of this adoption stuff and that's very hard for me! Yet another area of my life that God is trying to teach me to give to over to Him! Add this to the list of other crap we have going on in our lives right now and I'm feeling very out of control and it's making me even more emotional then I usually am. (Sorry honey!!) :) I know God is in control, but it's hard for me to let go 100% and trust that He knows what's best! I would really appreciate all the prayers I can get for my emotions while we wait for God's perfect timing!
God Bless!
Megan
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Spaghettie Dinner Fundraiser
Well, the first fundraiser for our adoption has been planned! We are having a spaghetti dinner on September 22nd from 5:00 to 6:30. You can arrive any time between 5 and 6:30 and you DO NOT have to stay the whole time!!! If you want to just eat and leave, that's perfectly fine with us!! As of now, we are holding it at Wooster Grace Brethren Church in the North Fellowship Hall (The entrance for Wooster Christian School). We are awaiting approval to use that room, but there shouldn't be a problem. Here is what will be on the menu:
Spaghetti with meatballs
French Bread
Salad
Applesauce
Cupcakes :)
We are selling tickets that you may purchase any time between now and the 22nd. If you would like to just wait and pay at the door, that's fine too. However, if you are planning on coming, we need to know asap so we know how much food to purchase and make! The adult tickets will be sold for $10. Children 3 - 10 are just $5 and children 2 and under will be free! You, of course, are more then welcome to give more if you would like to! :) You are also welcome to bring as many friends and family members as you would like! Again, we just need to know at least 2 days beforehand how many you plan to bring!
Our plan is to be able to start our home study in October, and as we've said before, that step alone costs $4,100. We are hoping for at least 200 guests at this dinner to help cover that initial cost. We really appreciate everyone's help, support, and prayers with this dinner and through this whole adoption process!!!
We will see you on the 22nd!!!
Spaghetti with meatballs
French Bread
Salad
Applesauce
Cupcakes :)
We are selling tickets that you may purchase any time between now and the 22nd. If you would like to just wait and pay at the door, that's fine too. However, if you are planning on coming, we need to know asap so we know how much food to purchase and make! The adult tickets will be sold for $10. Children 3 - 10 are just $5 and children 2 and under will be free! You, of course, are more then welcome to give more if you would like to! :) You are also welcome to bring as many friends and family members as you would like! Again, we just need to know at least 2 days beforehand how many you plan to bring!
Our plan is to be able to start our home study in October, and as we've said before, that step alone costs $4,100. We are hoping for at least 200 guests at this dinner to help cover that initial cost. We really appreciate everyone's help, support, and prayers with this dinner and through this whole adoption process!!!
We will see you on the 22nd!!!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Interview #1
As we said in our first post, yesterday we had an interview with our first adoption agency, Building Blocks Adoption Services (BBAS) in Medina. We were able to have a nice long talk with Denise, the founder and director of the agency. She was really nice and very informative! She answered all of our questions, even the ones we didn't know we had! :) Even though I did a ton of research beforehand, she explained the fees that we will have throughout the process and the procedures we will have to go through so that we would have a better understanding of possible scenarios that we could encounter.We really liked the agency a lot and we will probably end up using them, but we are going to interview other agencies just to be sure we are making to right decision for us.
I'll tell you about the whole process in this paragraph...you can skip it if you don't care. :) First of all we have to start with turning in our application to BBAS. Once that's approved, we have to pay $4100 for the agency fees and the home study fee. For the home study, they are not only looking to make sure that our home is a clean and safe environment for a child, but that we are healthy and financially stable and can provide for him or her. The home study can take up to 6 months. After our home study is approved by the state, we will work with someone at BBAS to make a profile about us and to work out what our budget will be for the adoption (some adoptions cost more then others). After we have completed both of those two things, BBAS will start sending us profiles of birthmothers that meet our budget and criteria. BBAS will send our profiles to the birthmother's that we have approved of and out of all the profiles she receives, she will have to narrow it down to just a few. Then she will interview the perspective adoptive parents either in person or on the phone, whichever she feels comfortable with, and make a decision from there. Once a birthmother chooses us, that's when the other fees start to add up! On average, the adoptive family can expect to pay $20,000 or so. However, it varies depending on the birthmother's living expenses and what state she lives in. For example, Ohio has a cap of $3,000 that the birthmother can turn in for living expenses, while California has no limit to the amount of expenses we could have to pay for. Also, depending on where she lives in, we would have to pay the fees for the adoption agency that she is working with. On top of those costs, if she isn't on Medicaid and she has her own private insurance, we would have to pay for her co-pays, her deductible, and any other medical bills, due to the pregnancy, that she incurs. In the end, we could pay between $13,000 and $35,000 total. The nice thing is that we can set the amount that we can afford and they will only send us profiles for the adoptions that are in our budget. After the baby is born, the mother has 72 hours to relinquish her rights, if she lives in Ohio. This varies by state as well. After the 72 hours, she has up to 6 months until the adoption is finalized to appeal her decision. However, she must prove to a judge that she was forced, persuaded, or coerced into signing over her rights. The state of Ohio doesn't make it very easy for the birthmother to change her mind after those initial 72 hours are up and she has signed the paperwork. During those 6 months while we are waiting to finalize the adoption, we will have 7 post-placement visits to make sure everything is going well for us and the baby. If those 7 visits go well, we can finalize the adoption! Then, finally, the adoption process is over!!
It's a long, expensive, and emotional process, but it will all pay off in the end!! A lot of people have asked us how they could pray for us. First of all, you can be praying for God to provide us with the initial $4100 for us to get started. Secondly, please pray that we will allow God to lead us to the baby that he has already chosen for us. That's hard for me because I want a girl, but God may have already planned for us to receive a boy. :) Thirdly, that God will give us patience through out this time in our lives. And lastly, PLEASE be praying for the birthmother of our baby. We don't know who she is yet, but God does! You can pray that she takes care of herself and the baby while she is pregnant..that she eats healthy and stays away from smoking, drinking, and drugs!
We appreciate all your prayers and support through this time in our lives!!! We are starting to plan our first fundraisers so we will keep you all posted on that!!
Megan
I'll tell you about the whole process in this paragraph...you can skip it if you don't care. :) First of all we have to start with turning in our application to BBAS. Once that's approved, we have to pay $4100 for the agency fees and the home study fee. For the home study, they are not only looking to make sure that our home is a clean and safe environment for a child, but that we are healthy and financially stable and can provide for him or her. The home study can take up to 6 months. After our home study is approved by the state, we will work with someone at BBAS to make a profile about us and to work out what our budget will be for the adoption (some adoptions cost more then others). After we have completed both of those two things, BBAS will start sending us profiles of birthmothers that meet our budget and criteria. BBAS will send our profiles to the birthmother's that we have approved of and out of all the profiles she receives, she will have to narrow it down to just a few. Then she will interview the perspective adoptive parents either in person or on the phone, whichever she feels comfortable with, and make a decision from there. Once a birthmother chooses us, that's when the other fees start to add up! On average, the adoptive family can expect to pay $20,000 or so. However, it varies depending on the birthmother's living expenses and what state she lives in. For example, Ohio has a cap of $3,000 that the birthmother can turn in for living expenses, while California has no limit to the amount of expenses we could have to pay for. Also, depending on where she lives in, we would have to pay the fees for the adoption agency that she is working with. On top of those costs, if she isn't on Medicaid and she has her own private insurance, we would have to pay for her co-pays, her deductible, and any other medical bills, due to the pregnancy, that she incurs. In the end, we could pay between $13,000 and $35,000 total. The nice thing is that we can set the amount that we can afford and they will only send us profiles for the adoptions that are in our budget. After the baby is born, the mother has 72 hours to relinquish her rights, if she lives in Ohio. This varies by state as well. After the 72 hours, she has up to 6 months until the adoption is finalized to appeal her decision. However, she must prove to a judge that she was forced, persuaded, or coerced into signing over her rights. The state of Ohio doesn't make it very easy for the birthmother to change her mind after those initial 72 hours are up and she has signed the paperwork. During those 6 months while we are waiting to finalize the adoption, we will have 7 post-placement visits to make sure everything is going well for us and the baby. If those 7 visits go well, we can finalize the adoption! Then, finally, the adoption process is over!!
It's a long, expensive, and emotional process, but it will all pay off in the end!! A lot of people have asked us how they could pray for us. First of all, you can be praying for God to provide us with the initial $4100 for us to get started. Secondly, please pray that we will allow God to lead us to the baby that he has already chosen for us. That's hard for me because I want a girl, but God may have already planned for us to receive a boy. :) Thirdly, that God will give us patience through out this time in our lives. And lastly, PLEASE be praying for the birthmother of our baby. We don't know who she is yet, but God does! You can pray that she takes care of herself and the baby while she is pregnant..that she eats healthy and stays away from smoking, drinking, and drugs!
We appreciate all your prayers and support through this time in our lives!!! We are starting to plan our first fundraisers so we will keep you all posted on that!!
Megan
Thursday, August 23, 2012
The Journey Begins
As many of you know Megan and I have been trying to conceive for a few years now with no results and so we have decided to pursue adoption. After much consideration and prayer we have decided on a private domestic adoption. Now that we have made that decision we are looking to find the adoption agency that will be the right fit for us. Tomorrow morning at 9am we will be meeting with first agency in Medina, OH.
Since we are doing Private adoption there is significant cost involved. The cost for us is an intimidating $20,000. We are currently saving money for this but we will also be doing fundraisers to help offset the cost. We will be posting those fundraisers shortly and ask for your prayers and support in this next step we are taking to become parents.
We started this blog so that everyone can follow in our journey to start our family. We hope that you will check back often and keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
Todd
Since we are doing Private adoption there is significant cost involved. The cost for us is an intimidating $20,000. We are currently saving money for this but we will also be doing fundraisers to help offset the cost. We will be posting those fundraisers shortly and ask for your prayers and support in this next step we are taking to become parents.
We started this blog so that everyone can follow in our journey to start our family. We hope that you will check back often and keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
Todd
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