Joseph grew up helping his dad care for adults with physical and mental disabilities and brought up the desire to parent a child with special needs, particularly Down syndrome, when Joseph and I (Chloe) started dating.
But every time it came up in conversation, I shut it down. I figured it was something we could talk about after we got married. But when the topic came up again early in our marriage and again after a year and a half of secondary infertility, I continued to avoid the topic. I thought that kind of dream was full of too many unknowns.
After five years of marriage and the births of our two daughters, the subject of adopting a child with Down syndrome kept coming up in my prayers and I couldn’t shake it. There weren’t many times where I’d heard God’s voice audibly, and this was one of them.
Every time the topic had come up in the past, I had been the one to avoid the topic or say no altogether. Now I wanted to bring it up, and I wanted to do more than just talk about it.
Over the next few weeks, while I waited for an opportunity to sit down for a conversation with Joseph, there were so many times that friends brought up adoption or Down syndrome in conversation with us, seemingly out of the blue. All of those affirmations finally gave me the courage to bring up the topic with Joseph during a date night.
We talked. We prayed. We kept talking and kept praying. Months passed.
Then, after countless conversations, research, prayer, spiritual direction, and even more prayer, God’s desires became obviously clear. We started taking some next steps. We chose an adoption agency to partner with, filled out mountains of paperwork, grew in friendship with families of children who have Down syndrome, and got involved in our local Down syndrome community.
Our family is beyond excited to grow our family through adoption. But adoption is more than just bringing a new baby home. While there is joy and excitement, there’s also grief and loss. So not only do we have a desire to welcome a baby with special needs into our home, we also want to welcome their mother and/or father into our family too, whatever that relationship will look like.
We believe that the Lord has called our family to the mission of special needs adoption and we want to invite you into that mission with us. First, we ask for you to pray for everyone involved in the adoption process.
But we also ask that you consider supporting us financially. Our expected total cost for domestic adoption is around $35,000, which goes towards things like agency fees, birth parent expenses and counseling, legal feels, and travel expenses. We have some savings set aside for our adoption expenses, but we want to fundraise for the remainder as a tangible way to invite you into our adoption process.
STRIPE charges an online processing fee (2.2% +.30 USD per transaction)*. Your donations will be decreased by this amount. You may also send a check payable to “Lifesong for Orphans”. In the memo line please write “Langr 10324”, to ensure it is credited to our account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 9, Gridley, IL 61744.
Lifesong has been blessed with partners who underwrite all U.S. administrative and fundraising costs (TMG Foundation and other partners). That means 100% of your donation will go directly to the adoption.
- In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong for Orphans. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.
- Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. Individual donations of $50 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request.
- *3.5% fee for donations given with an American Express card