Sorry it's been so long.....

Hello Everyone,
Sorry it has been so long since our last update. We could say all kinds of things why we haven't posted - but the long and short of it is, we just didn't know what to say.

We went to Lutheran Social Services. We were so excited to go. We drove 3 hours round trip to sit in a little room to watch a webinar. It was very strange. We stayed and talked to the representative in the office for a while - and to put it kindly, she just didn't have a very good "sales pitch." We drove home in silence, just not knowing what to say. That is all we'll say about that.

Then, we went to another adoption agency. It's the same story with all of them. 'Pay us an outrageous amount and we'll find you a baby.' Only, this agency admits that they have more adoptive parents than they have pregnant women. They even had a couple come in with their adopted child. It was a sweet story, but very odd. The Adoptive Parents provided the Birthmother with a cell phone and established a "fake" phone number for themselves so they can call/text the birthmother whenever they have a question. The fake number has an area code of another city so the birthmother would think they live there. So, as they stated it, if she ever tried to find the kid, she'd start in the wrong place. It was so creepy to think about hiding from the birthmother in that way. Maybe it was the way they talked about it....but it was very odd. Again, maybe it was just a bad sales pitch.

We haven't given up hope. There's more.

There are all kinds of options out there. One of them is surrogacy - or more appropriately called "gestational carrier". It's our gene pool...we just find a carrier to "incubate" it. We have found a carrier, and are currently looking into this possibility. We met with a doctor's office yesterday and found out a ton of information. I'll try to spare you all the details of intimate medical stuff, but at the same time give you enough to understand what is going on. First, they are going to run some tests to see if I have enough eggs for this procedure. The appointment for that is at the end of January, and we should know by early-mid February if this is worth pursuing. I promise to update you when we know more.

Lutheran Social Services

We got some great advice from some great people (thanks, Dad) and some encouraging words. We really appreciate all of the information we can get, so keep the stories coming.
This week, we looked into an agency called Lutheran Social Services. I was skeptical at first, since we are not Lutheran. So, I did more research. I found out that LSS has been in opeation since the 1800's and has been finding forever homes for children since then. Wow. That's quite some time..and quite a good reputation.
We contacted them and discovered that they have a program very similar to the one we were with at All God's Children International. So, we had a conference call this week with Kimberly. She gave us TONS of information in our 1 hour call.
So far, we like almost everything we hear, so we are going to attend an orientation session at the beginning of August, and will hopefully find even more things that we like.
With this program, we will be adopting out of the foster system. They have many children seeking a forever home. We can't wait to see how this all turns out. So far, pretty exciting!
We appreciate your prayers and words of support.

It's nice to have Options....isn't it?

After hours and hours spent surfing for agencies, we sent out for some more information. We have about 10 brochures on our kitchen table that need to be read. I skimmed over them, and they all pretty much say the same thing. "Give us $ and we'll match you with a birthmother and you'll be a family in no time." The difference, as far as I can see, is the amount of advertising one agency does over another. And, when I say "advertising" I mean that they are advertising to birthmothers. Some agencies talk a lot about how much advertising they do to find the right birthmother match. And, some agencies talk about how quickly they match. Yet others don't mention how quickly they operate, they just talk about how happy we will be as a family.

Oh - one of them was particularly interesting. This agency does only "open" adoptions. An open adoption can be anything from a photo/letter once/year to regular visits with the birth parents. This agency must be all about the regular visits, because they included a letter from the adopted parents...who say how happy they are, etc etc. A letter from the birthmom...who says how great everything is because her son is happy and well-cared for, etc etc. But, the letter from the birthdad sort of blew my mind. He says how he visits all the time, can't wait to see his son, is considering moving nearby so he can see him more often, and even said his son "has four parents that love him very much". wow. I think I can handle the photo/letter once/year...but sharing parenting with the birthparents? I'm not sure I can do that.

So, the search continues. We realize we just need to pick one and go with it. If you know anyone who has adopted and they would recommend their agency...and they can help us in Texas, then please tell us about them. We'd love to hear their story. Thank you!

Monetize by Google

After posting yesterday, I closed my eyes for a moment and asked God to help us find a way to fund our adoption.  Laptop still on my lap, I opened my eyes and saw the word, "Monetize" on my screen.  It's Google AdSense. I figure it's worth a try. Even if it's just pennies, it's worth a try, right?
I have NO idea how it works, so I'm stumbling through the process here. Please bear with me. I'm sorry if it "clutters" the blog.

I'm not allowed to click on the ads............and I'm not allowed to ask you to click on it....... But, if you are genuinely interested in the ads and want to do so, I'm not going to tell you not to do it. (wink wink) It is, after all, the way that google knows to send us money!
We'll be working on some more fundraisers soon. Can't wait to see where all of this takes us. It should be interesting!

Moving on

It was a very difficult decision, but we have decided to stay on the domestic route with our adoption.  With this, we are not going to be able to use All God's Children International.  We signed our termination contract just a few days ago, and they are kind enough to refund a small portion of what we paid.  Though it was small, it was still kind, considering they do not refund, as a policy.  They made an exception for us.  The remainder of it we'll write off as  "failed adoption" on taxes.  Painful words. 

But, we are moving on. We looked into that agency that I mentioned in our last update.  They were simply too expensive.  So, we keep looking.  And praying.

Funding will be our biggest obstacle....so we'll be getting creative soon! :) 

We appreciate your prayers and support.