Jacob and I met in 2012 at Passion Conference in Atlanta, GA. Neither of us were at that conference looking for a relationship, but God formed a friendship in those days that continued long distance and eventually developed into much more. We began dating later that year and in our many Skype dates we discussed dreams for our future. I remember being nervous to tell Jacob I wanted to adopt someday. I don’t know why I was nervous because he quickly responded that he wanted to do that someday too. We knew we wanted to try and have biological children as well, but regardless adoption was going to be part of our family’s story. Fast forward a few years, we were married and started trying to have a baby. This became a challenge for us and, while we were never given a true reason, it was evident that I could not become pregnant naturally. We were diagnosed with unexplained infertility. This eventually led us to pursuing IVF. We were blessed to have our daughter Mia in 2017. She is truly a miracle and we are so grateful that God blessed us with her. We desired to grow our family futher and in the 3 years to follow we experienced a miscarriage as well as a failed round of IVF that resulted in one viable embryo which did not implant.
It was after this that we both took a step back and began exploring why God was allowing this heartache for our family, and what He could possibly be doing to redeem this story. It was then that we both came to the realization that He was reminding us, and calling us, to pursue adoption. That the dream we had early on was ready to be made reality.
We started researching, and then God moved our family to Louisville, KY in 2021. So, while we were both very ready to jump in feet first to adoption, we felt God asking us to wait and be still and spend time creating relationships with other families that had adopted and grow our knowledge and understanding of adoption. Over the last year we have done just that, and we have been so grateful for the individuals and families that have been vulnerable with us about their story and adoption journeys and affirmed our desires. About 9 months ago we start the initial steps of choosing an agency, completing our homestudy, and preparing our hearts and home (and daughter) for a new little one. In that time we have experienced and learned so much in regards to traditional infant adoption. We began exploring other avenues of adoption and one that was embryo adoption.
With our IVF background we of course knew that some people end up with more embryos than they end up using, but we never were blessed with this problem so we never had to explore what we would do with those "Extras". We were introduced to Snowflake Adoption though Nightlight Adoption and they helped us open our hearts to this idea. We felt so passionate that adoption was suppose to be part of our family and so it took them a little bit of convincing to allow us to hear them out about how this process is still adoption and we would not be "quitting" on our adoption journey. Once we learned about the heart behind their agency/program and about the beautiful gift embryo adoption could be for our family we knew without a shadow of a doubt this was where God was taking our family.
While this process is different than traditional infant adoption, it still has associated costs and fees that must be paid. Thes go towards the matching process--which helps support the donor families and us, the legal fees when transferring the embryos to our possession from the donor family, and also the medical care that goes into reviewing the embryo reports and transferring them from one location to another. After these fees, we will incur medical fees which will include medications for Christin, ultrasounds and monitoring prior to implantation, and procedures to implant the embryos, as well as subsequent monitoring until the embryo is deemed a viable pregnancy. After 12 weeks, we will be able to transition to our regular OB/GYN and our insurance will begin taking over.
We humbly ask that you would pray and consider supporting us financially. Initially we did not want to ask anyone for donations, but through guidance from some wonderful people, they helped us to understand that by not asking we are limiting people’s ability to act on a prompting that God may be putting on their hearts. And while He does not call everyone to adopt, He may be calling some to support adoption in this way. We are so grateful to those that decide to support us, and we can’t wait to tell our little one all about the love that surrounded him/her before they were ever in our arms.
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 “Stewart 10218”, 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