Thank you for taking time to read our story about our calling to step into adoption. It’s been a long journey, but we are so excited to be in the matching stage. We both felt called to adoption individually before we started dating. From our first conversation about our future family, we hoped and prayed that God would provide a way for us to adopt a child.
Megan’s Calling:
I first heard about adoption when I was 9 when a missionary was speaking at our church. I knew that night that I was called to adoption. Since that time I have taken seriously God’s call to care for orphans and children in need. I tried to do what I could at the stage of life I was in. Growing up I would volunteer to help with the younger kids at church and that taught me how to interact with kids and teach them at their level. When I was in college I joined a team in Trinidad and Tobago to do a VBS program for orphans on those islands. I did this again in Bali and Belarus. Interacting with these kids left such an impact on me – I remember each trip thinking “I would take any of these kids home with me if I could.” It broke my heart that the needs were so great. After college, I was able to serve on the Mission Leadership Team at my church. Being able to serve in this way was also so rewarding because I was able to help mobilize other mission teams from our church, and work closely with our ministry partners that serve orphans and foster children locally and across the globe.
Once Brady and I started dating I remember very vividly the first serious conversation Brady and I had about marriage and our future family. When we started talking about kids Brady asked me “would you ever consider adoption?” and I just remember my heart bursting at the realization that God was giving me a partner in this calling to adopt and it was the best feeling ever.
In January of 2024 my Bible study leader challenged us to pick a word for the year instead of a New Year’s resolution. After praying about it I just felt like my word needed to be “Jehovah Jireh – the God who provides” and I didn’t know at the time why I felt so strongly that it needed to be my word. Five months later is when we felt the Lord say “it’s time” to begin the adoption journey and suddenly my word made so much sense and I knew God had been preparing my heart for this before I even realized. The adoption process can be so overwhelming, discouraging and stressful and we have found ourselves coming back to the phrase, “where He guides, He provides” and that’s what we’re trusting.
Brady’s Calling:
Adoption has been on my heart for as long as I can remember, but it always felt like a distant dream—until I met Megan. Early in our relationship, we talked about it, and for the first time, it felt like a real possibility. The more we shared, the more we realized it was something we both deeply wanted.
We’ve always believed in the power of choosing life, and we feel called to be part of the solution by providing a loving home to a child in need. This journey means so much to us, and we’re excited for what’s ahead!
Our Adoption Process:
Since our relationship began and we established our mutual calling to adopt, we have been praying about the timing to start that journey and have been educating ourselves on best-practices and speaking with other friends that have opted into an open-adoption. Through this season of learning and listening we have really opened up to the idea of a very open adoption and the benefits that can come from it. We feel very blessed that we have been able to take time to learn and also to become parents in the meantime and have some experience with those rhythms.
We had been praying about the right time to start our home study and it seemed like at every check in one of us would not feel at peace that this was the right time. In May 2024 it was like a light switched and God had clearly told both of us that it was time to start. We both felt at peace about it and it seems like God was giving us affirmations from a lot of different areas that this is what He is calling us to do. We pretty quickly started our home study and we’ve been praying about each step and what God would have us do. We feel very thankful that we were accepted as clients of Faithful Adoption Consultants to facilitate the process of matching us with a birth family, and know that there are other Christians praying and working alongside us. We’ve said from the beginning that if God is calling us to do this then He will have to pave the way. So far He has been so faithful and we can’t help but smile and feel so blessed that He might entrust a little girl to our care.
Now that we are at the matching stage this is definitely an area where God is stretching us a bit. Our first thought was to not ask for help financially. After doing some reflection we think this has been a serious pride issue for both of us. We mentioned earlier that our phrase has been “ where He guides, he provides” and we realized we’re really limiting the ways He can provide in this process by not humbling ourselves and asking for help. We still don’t know if this is how He ultimately wants to provide toward the financial needs, but we do feel strongly that God has been waiting for us to take this step and allow our community to support us should some feel called to do that. We appreciate all of the prayers and advice from those who have walked this path before us.
For our Prayer Partners:
-Please pray for the birth mother of our child. Most of the women we have met so far are in very tough, unimaginable situations. Most do not want to create an adoption plan, but feel it’s their only option.
-Please pray that we can be a good partner to the birth mother and also be a positive light in her life – helping her when and where we can.
-Please pray for the health of the child and the trauma that will inevitably come when separating from the birth mother.
-Please pray for the weeks that we will have to be in the baby’s birth state. This will be a very different experience for us, as we’re used to having our newborns at home where we have all of our supplies. We will all be in a hotel for a couple weeks until a judge can release the baby to Indiana. This takes a minimum of 10 business days.
-Please pray for our consultants at Faithful Adoption Consultants. This team is on the clock 24/7 because babies can come at any time. They have a wonderful ministry and we’re so grateful for everyone on their team that has helped us get to this stage.
-Please pray for funds to be available at the time we match. The total cost to get all of the home studies, licensing, legal fees, matching, counseling for the birth mother and travel will be around $80,000. The majority of that will be due when we get matched with a birth mother.
Thank you for reading our story - and thank you to those that have chosen to support us.
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 “Young 11258”, 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.
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