It's official! We are adopting a baby! Soon!
Here's the scoop:
We have chosen an agency in San Antonio: Abrazo Adoption Associates. We will attend their orientation/training on April 30-May1. On May 11th, we will turn in our paperwork and give them a deposit. Within days (but probably months) we could be matched with a birth mom and be bringing home baby!
We are raising funds for our adoption and we need $24,0o0 by May 11th!
Wow, right!?
If you'd like to donate, you can do that in 1 of 2 ways:
1. Click on the Donate button on the top left of the blog homepage and give with your credit card through our PayPal account.
2. Mail a check (made out to Leigh and Felipe Adams) to our home address: (deleted for now)
I'll be blogging a lot (hopefully) throughout the process so stay tuned for more info. We will be having several fundraising events, so stay tuned for that as well.
For now, here are some answers to FAQ's:
1. What’s all the money for? Why is it so expensive?
Well, in short, adoption is a business. Here is a list broken down: the orientation/training cost, the application fee, the home study, the agency fee (the agency will put hours and hours of work into our lives and into the lives of our birth mom and our baby), the medical costs and assistance to the birth mom (for the most part, the typical birth mom giving her child to adoption has little to no support system and the agency does a lot to help her through this time of crisis in her life), and several different types of legal fees. I’ve come to feel that this is a business that we as Christians should be a part of… whether the numbers sound astronomical or tiny… we need to be in there. And as a community, we can do this. We can adopt babies. Think of it this way… if 240 people give $100, we’re done!
2. When will you get a baby?
The average wait with our agency is 6-12 months. Though, it’s possible to be matched with a birth mom within days of turning in all paperwork and money. She will be at least 7 months pregnant when we get matched with her. So, we don’t really know is the answer.
3. Will you meet and get to know the birth mom?
Hopefully. That’s up to her. We would like to. We are learning a lot about this. Adoption has taken a turn in the last 25 years from mystery and unknowns into a place of honesty and truth. We like that and hope that our child will benefit from it. I'll write more about this later.
4. Do you get to choose boy or girl?
We could. But we are not going to. You didn't get to choose! And God will give us exactly what we need :)
5. International or Domestic?
It's probably clear by now, but domestic. Probably a good ol' Texas baby!! For our first baby, we want the whole experience of a newborn. And we have a heart to bless girls in crisis pregnancies. All that to say, we are growing to love adoption in any form. But for now, we'll be sticking close to home.
6. So, will you get the baby from the hospital?
That's our hope. There are a lot of factors involved with parental rights of both the birth mother and father. As long as they are in agreement to give their child to adoption, then yes, that's usually how it goes.
I'll write more later! Please pray for us and our little one! He or she is probably a little bean already! And please pray for our birth mom and dad. We all need it! Thanks everyone for lovin' on us!
