Being able to see people rally around us through this puzzle fundraiser brings us so much hope! We are currently at 532 pieces (see above) and officially a little OVER HALFWAY! Piece by piece, we are closer to bringing Baby M home! We could not be more grateful for your generosity.
Here is a snapshot of the process we are undergoing to adopt. Each of these steps requires a lot of work on our end and paperwork but it is all so worth it.
Get approved to adopt in the state of Alabama – The state performs a “Home Study” that basically says you are fit to raise a child and your home environment is safe to do so…COMPLETE!
Get accepted by an agency or consultancy – An agency is the group who the birthmother goes to so they can handle everything about the adoption. The agency has resources and many couples who desire to adopt. Consultants are a group of specialists who work with many agencies. We personally chose to work with consultants because we can be more exposed to many more cases due to their affiliation with numerous agencies…COMPLETE!
Make an adoption profile book – Create a book with photos and information about your family as the adoptive parents. This book is the only impression by which birth mothers choose their baby’s adoptive family…CURRENTLY WORKING ON THIS STEP!
Have proof of funds – Domestic adoption through an agency/consultancy is expensive. To be active to receive cases of birthmothers, we must show that we have the necessary funds to facilitate the process. This is why we are currently fundraising…CURRENTLY WORKING ON THIS STEP!
Go “Active” – Steps 1-4 are the prerequisite for step 5. After all of these are completed and the paperwork is processed, we will be considered “active”, meaning that we can start receiving birthmother cases. When our consultants share a case with us, we will look it over and pray together to choose whether we want our profile book to be shown to the birth mother.
Birthmother selects her child's adoptive family – The birthmother looks through the books and chooses what she believes is the right family for her baby. If the birthmother selects us, we will be considered matched! If not, then we will wait again for another case to present on.
We know without a doubt that its going to take a village of people to bring this baby home. If all goes as we hope, it is looking like we will be an active waiting couple and ready to start presenting our profile book to expectant mothers in July! A big part of this is completing the puzzle so that we have the funds to say yes to potential matches. Please consider sharing our posts on social media about our puzzle fundraiser and by word of mouth with the people in your life. We have already had numerous people that do not know us donate because of your sharing! We will continue updating y’all on the progress of the puzzle and our adoption adventure!
The good Lord does not do things by halves; He always gives what we need. Let us then carry on bravely. -Saint Zelie Martin