Drops in a Bucket - Adoption Fund

I'd like to introduce you to our beautiful family. We are the Trujillos.

  Anthony was born and raised in Colorado and proud of that to the end (Go, Broncos!) He studied Latin American Studies at BYU and served the people of Buenos Aires, Argentina for two years on a church mission. He loves to read, and most any moment he is not playing on the floor with Lana or cooking in the kitchen with all three of us, you can find him with a book in his hand (or asleep with his face in a book). He bikes to work in our lovely Oregon rain, spends his work days as the most cheerful customer relations person I've known, and comes home to be the most wonderful family man you could imagine (I do not exaggerate). He is the love of my life, my husband of ten years, and my rock. 

I am Hannah. I met Anthony at the university where we studied. I completed my degree in Classical Civilization, which left me with a lingering dream to one day visit Rome. I love to learn new things, to read, to appreciate art (and sometimes pretend that I can create it), and also to write. I keep a blog where I write unbridledly and honestly about the joys and hardships of life. I also have a novel in progress, but it probably won't be finished until my child (hopefully soon to be children) are more grown. I love mothering - the joys more than the challenges, but the joys always outweigh the challenges - it is a wonderful, growing experience, and one I cherish.

  Lana is the light of our lives. She is four years old and she has sugar and spitfire running in her veins. She has such a tender heart, always in tune and concerned for those around her. She also knows her own will and refuses to let anything come between her and what she wants. Since her first heartbeat, this girl has never stopped moving. Trying to make her hold still is like trying to still the ocean waves. We call her our little dancer. She is precocious and observant and growing so fast.

  And then there is a missing piece - a person whose story I cannot briefly tell you, because I do not know it yet. But I know that person belongs with us. As surely as I know anything I know there is another child meant to join our family - through adoption.

   This page is to help us raise enough funds to bring that child into our family, to bring that child home. The goal we've set is $20,000, which is about half the average cost of a domestic adoption today. The cost is not to "buy a baby;" the adoption exchange is sacred and no price can be put upon it. The costs incurred are those for attorneys, courts, and legal work, and the majority of the funds go towards the expectant mother's needs: an agency to provide counseling, therapy, financial assistance for prenatal care, housing, etc. We've set our goal here at half the expected cost, because we're hoping others will be willing to help us raise those funds needed for the expectant mother and baby.

  Although the goal is high, we are asking for donations of any size.  Even the smallest drop in our donation bucket will make a difference. Enough drops, together, will make this bucket overflow.


  The decision to adopt was not one we made easily or lightly. It is something we've felt called to do, and we have sacrificed much coming into that calling.

  We tried for five years to have a child, fertility treatments and all. We lost three pregnancies. At last, we conceived Lana, but due to the fertility treatments and other complications, it was not an easy pregnancy and involved several surgeries and extensive hospital stays. Miraculously Lana and Hannah survived, although Lana was premature and Hannah lost an ovary as the ultimate result of fertility treatments.

  After Lana's pregnancy, I swore to never, for any reason, get pregnant again. We would be a single-child family, and we were happy in that decision. But three years ago, God said otherwise. He began prompting us that there was another child that needed to join our family. Through His own mysterious ways, God made it very clear that there was a specific child waiting to come to us.

  Hannah suffered from both physical and emotional PTSD from Lana's pregnancy. So trying to conceive again was perhaps the scariest leap of faith we've ever made. But we tried, for two years. The stress caused Hannah to crumble into depression and her body into debilitating pain. It became agonizingly clear that her mind and body simply could not, or would not, tolerate pregnancy.

  We seriously considered surrogacy when a close family member volunteered to be surrogate. But we were turned from that path for a number of reasons, including cost, the risks the process posed to Hannah's health, and the fact that our church discourages the practice.

    In anguish we went to the Lord. Everything had fallen apart. We had tried - we had pushed beyond our capacity to try - and still we had no second child. But through a quick series of sacred, spiritual experiences and enlightenment, we realized that maybe we had been going about this whole thing the wrong way, that perhaps I was not meant to get pregnant or carry this child. Maybe this child was one of the lucky ones who has two mothers in this life. Perhaps my job was not to kill myself trying to make my body do what it could not do, but to find the woman who could – who may already be doing it – and then share something special with her by doing something she could not, and raising her child, our child, in our home with infinite love.

   At long last, peace settled in our hearts and we knew this was the answer. It would be proved to us through a quick succession of miracles. Things such as our agency, our attorney, the funds for our home study, and so on would fall into place one by one, proving to us over and over that this is the right course.

  Our adoption profile is now completed and has been live for several months. You can view or share it (link given at the end). We are waiting for the right "match" to be made, so we can continue our adoption journey.

   One thing that has not yet "fallen into place" is the funding for completing and finalizing an adoption.   Although we have the means to care for another child, financially and emotionally, etc., unfortunately that does not add up to the large chunk of money we must give away to help bring that child home. We are praying, saving and doing small fundraisers, applying for grants, and preparing to take out loans if necessary.

 
  This is where YOU come in to our story. This is the part where we lay aside our pride and ask, "Will you help us? Will you help our family? Will you help the expectant mother and child who need us?" There are some things we cannot do for ourselves. This is one of them. We cannot birth this child. We cannot raise all of these funds on our own.

  We have been so tremendously blessed and grateful and humbled by the donations we have received so far! It never ceases to amaze us that people are willing to give away their hard-earned money for this goal. Each donation, no matter its size, brings us to our knees in gratitude.   

  We are setting before you a bucket and asking for a drop. Even just one drop. Because we know that enough drops will fill a bucket; enough drops can fill an ocean. And each precious drop will be cherished, and will become part of something so much bigger.

  So if you can share a little or a lot with our family, please donate. And if our story has touched your heart, will you share it with others you know?  Help us fill our bucket. Help us fill the hole in our family. Help us help  another family, especially a mother and child, who need a secure and loving home where that child can be raised. Help fill our bucket and our hearts to overflowing.

  You can also help by sharing our adoption profile with your social networks. You never know who it may need to reach. The direct link is: http://adoption.com/profiles/hmtrujillo-1278

With love and gratitude,

The Trujillos