“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
Life does not always seem fair or to go the way you plan for it to go. My wife and I wanted 2-3 children and in July 2016 when we found out we were pregnant for the first time, we were ecstatic. Unfortunately, things did not go the way that we wanted them to and the Good Lord needed the baby more than we did, apparently. The excitement turned to despair but we didn’t lose hope. We were determined to have a child. After no luck of getting pregnant again, we turned to medicine and attempted to get pregnant through IUI. But even after several treatments, this was not working either. We were given the option of IVF but after much thought and prayer, we felt that this was not what we were called for and felt like adoption was the path for us.
So in 2019 we began working towards adoption, first through foster care with the intent to adopt, but we were quickly informed that was not the path that the system preferred foster parents to pursue (nice way of putting what we were told). So we then began looking at domestic adoption opportunities. We talked with a couple of agencies and then COVID happened and everything seemed to just stop. Nothing was really going the way we wanted, even after COVID began to slow.
In 2022, our Exchange Student son and his girlfriend came to visit and go on vacation with us for a few weeks. After this visit, we began to talk again about the adoption and what we were feeling and we were both getting very tired with the situation. We both agreed maybe this was not God’s plan for us and so we decided to call it quits.
And see, that was exactly the problem! The whole time we were doing what WE wanted to do and during this time HE was doing what HE wanted to do! We changed church membership (to a church my wife swore she’d never go to) in 2017, we both had a change of jobs, and all this led to HIS plan. It was at this time that we let go and HE took control of the situation. Two weeks after we gave up, we were trying to plan vacation, we had just been to Denmark the previous year to visit our exchange student and his family so we did not want to go overseas and so we started making our plans.
That night, at about midnight, my wife received an email from one of the adoption agencies we had talked to once and in that email the representative told us that they knew we were looking for domestic and not international, but that they had a little boy’s profile that they felt matched us and wanted to talk to us about him. We agreed to talk with little expectations that it would lead anywhere and so we did. After talking to them and then taking some time to talk about it together and pray about it, we accepted the call to adopt this little boy.
So much about this situation scared us in some ways but in the end we had a peace about what we were doing. Everything went smoothly, finances came together, governments got paperwork done, and before we knew it, we were overseas picking up this precious little boy! Over the past 2 years that he has been home with us, we now see how much God was working in our lives to lead us to this point. The church and job changes led to all the people we needed in our lives to make things happen…his pediatrician, educators, and our bosses who let us go overseas for a month away from work and still be able to pay the bills!
Well, if you remember, it was our dream to have 2-3 children…1 just isn’t enough. Much of that is because we don’t want him to be an only child, having to deal with issues as we get older, on his own, and not having someone to help carry the burden that comes with aging parents. That, and we just felt he needs someone to play with, to grow with, and to share with. Well, now is that time that we have a chance to provide a sibling for him and another child for us! As he and I were away at kid’s camp for church this summer, our adoption representative reached out to my wife with the profile of a little girl asking if we might be interested…funny thing, 2 weeks before this, our son told my wife “this is boring, can you put a baby in your belly!” So here we are again on an adoption journey! This time everything seems much easier, but it’s because we’ve been through it before. The biggest hurdle for us this time is the finances.
Somehow, this one seems to be costing us more and the funds we once had to throw into an adoption are not there like we had with the first adoption. So we are working hard to find ways to help us raise the funds that we need. A HUGE thank you to LifeSong and Hearts of Compassion, we have this wonderful matching grant opportunity through Lifesong’s crowdfunding platform. So, we appreciate them greatly and appreciate you for any donation that you can send our way. Between Lifesong and Hearts of Compassion, up to $9,500 of donations will be 100% matched! And any donations given are tax deductible!
Whether you can give or not, we would greatly appreciate your prayers as we navigate this new journey, that governments complete paperwork in a timely manner, and things moved smoothly to bring little girl home!
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It was recommended to us that we should outline our expenses and how your donations will be used as we go through the adoption process…so here is the idea of all expenses we have throughout.
Fees Due to Adoption Agency – $16, 380
These fees include our home study, program fees, handling post adoption reports, and any other fees from our adoption agency.
International Fees – $21,960
Includes all fees that are paid to international entities to include dossier & post adoption report translation, foreign support service fees, and a small orphanage donation.
Other Fees – $1,715
These include USCIS (immigration) and other small fees needed to complete documents contained above (such as getting our notarized documents apostilled for the dossier).
Travel Expenses (all estimates) – $19,500
This includes all airfare over and back home, lodging & food, and miscellaneous expenses that could include a pad for airfare (too far out to really know what that cost may be), items that our adopted child may need such as toiletries, clothes, and anything else that may come up and also covers any other unexpected expenses during travel.
Total Estimated Expenses – $59,555
There will also be other expenses that we will incur after we get home, such as court fees to get MS Birth Certificate, getting her clothes and other items to get her settled at home. Court fees are approximately $2,500...medical and other purchases are hard to estimate as we don't know what all we will have to do for her or have to get for her until she is home.
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 “Sullivan 11908”, 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