Baby Engelkes
Donation protected
Thank you so much for learning more about our adoption journey! We are so excited to share with you how God led us to adoption.
We have always wanted to adopt. I can remember sitting on a park bench while Logan and I were only dating, discussing how we both would love to have adoption play a part in how we grew our family some day. As many of you know, I come from a family with 4 adopted siblings so it was natural for me to want this to be part of my life. It was incredibly exciting and definitely, in hind sight, part of God's plan that Logan was not only on board with the idea of adoption but excited about it! In our own plan we thought we would have children naturally first and then adopt, but God had other plans for our lives.
In 2017 we decided we wanted to try and have a baby. We were incredibly excited when we found out we were pregnant! It was (what seemed to us) to be perfect timing and we couldn't wait to bring a little one into our family and introduce the very first grandchild to BOTH sides of the family. We couldn't wait!
It wasn't long before we knew something just wasn't right. After multiple doctors appointments this was confirmed. We had lost the baby. This was absolutely devastating. Everything we had dreamed of for this child and our family had been taken away in one doctors appointment. The miscarriage required surgery and time to heal before we could start trying again, but as soon as we could, we felt ready!
We continued to try for a few months and experienced another loss, this time a chemical pregnancy. The months went on but with no success. We eventually turned to having medical tests done to determine if something medically was going on. While we were waiting for test results we began having some tough conversations. Maybe it wasn't in God's plan for us to have a child naturally right now. We knew we wanted to adopt at some point so maybe God was pushing us in the direction of adopting FIRST. This was one conversation of many during this time filled with unknowns. After multiple tests the doctors gave us the diagnosis of infertility and reported that it would be incredibly unlikely for us to have a child naturally.
To say this was difficult news would be an incredible understatement. In one sentence the doctor had completely changed every idea and picture we had in our mind for what our lives and family would be. But after months of not knowing, months of hoping, we finally had some definitive answers. Despite the feeling of loss, we knew God was leading us to adoption as the way to grow our family. We immediately began researching agencies and talking with family and friends that had also adopted. As soon as we began this process we both knew, this was the path for us! Although still feeling the pain from loss, we had been given a peace of mind (and excitement!) that could only come from following God's plan.
We have spent the last few months completing mountains of paper work for our home-study, application, and family profile. We knew that adoption was filled with unknowns. This was especially true with the timeline. The agency we are working with averages approximately 2-12 months wait time. This means that from the moment we become an actively waiting family (meaning all of our paper work is done and our profile is being shown to birth mothers) we could get the call at ANY time-day or night- that we have been matched. We have also chosen to be on the "emergency list", this means if our agency has a birth mother that is giving birth and chooses us, we will need to jump on a plane, train, or start driving and be able to be anywhere in the united states in 24 hours to pick up baby Engelkes! While exciting, this will keep us on pins and needles, never knowing when that amazing call will come telling us we are going to get our baby! While this path is completely different than what we expected we could not be more excited for the adventure ahead of us!
As many of you know adoption can be incredibly costly. This brought an entirely new challenge to growing our family. The financial aspect. We knew that when we started the process we would have to trust that God would provide but we would also need to do our part in funding this adoption. We have been saving, applying for grants, and planning fundraisers. But this still left us with a hefty amount to cover. We are continuing to apply for every grant we can find, continuing to save, and trust that God will provide. If you feel led to join us on our financial journey on this page as well, we would be incredibly grateful for any and all support.
We are sharing our story in hopes that our friends and family will keep us in their prayers over the coming months. We appreciate any and all support and appreciate you being part of our journey. We know adoption can be new and sometimes confusing to many people so please feel free to reach out to us with any questions, we are more than excited to talk about it! Any and all updates to our journey will be posted here!
If you would like to join our Journey by supporting us with prayer here are our Specific Prayer requests:
-Prayers for the birth mother as she is making this incredibly difficult decision out of love for her baby.
-Prayers for the health of the baby during this stressful time. Prayers for the health and prenatal care of the mother.
-Prayers for a smooth adoption process, wait time, and the least amount of stress possible during this process
-Prayers for Logan and Brianna as we navigate preparing for a baby without knowing when the baby will arrive
-Prayers that God will continue to provide and allow for this adoption to be possible.
We have always wanted to adopt. I can remember sitting on a park bench while Logan and I were only dating, discussing how we both would love to have adoption play a part in how we grew our family some day. As many of you know, I come from a family with 4 adopted siblings so it was natural for me to want this to be part of my life. It was incredibly exciting and definitely, in hind sight, part of God's plan that Logan was not only on board with the idea of adoption but excited about it! In our own plan we thought we would have children naturally first and then adopt, but God had other plans for our lives.
In 2017 we decided we wanted to try and have a baby. We were incredibly excited when we found out we were pregnant! It was (what seemed to us) to be perfect timing and we couldn't wait to bring a little one into our family and introduce the very first grandchild to BOTH sides of the family. We couldn't wait!
It wasn't long before we knew something just wasn't right. After multiple doctors appointments this was confirmed. We had lost the baby. This was absolutely devastating. Everything we had dreamed of for this child and our family had been taken away in one doctors appointment. The miscarriage required surgery and time to heal before we could start trying again, but as soon as we could, we felt ready!
We continued to try for a few months and experienced another loss, this time a chemical pregnancy. The months went on but with no success. We eventually turned to having medical tests done to determine if something medically was going on. While we were waiting for test results we began having some tough conversations. Maybe it wasn't in God's plan for us to have a child naturally right now. We knew we wanted to adopt at some point so maybe God was pushing us in the direction of adopting FIRST. This was one conversation of many during this time filled with unknowns. After multiple tests the doctors gave us the diagnosis of infertility and reported that it would be incredibly unlikely for us to have a child naturally.
To say this was difficult news would be an incredible understatement. In one sentence the doctor had completely changed every idea and picture we had in our mind for what our lives and family would be. But after months of not knowing, months of hoping, we finally had some definitive answers. Despite the feeling of loss, we knew God was leading us to adoption as the way to grow our family. We immediately began researching agencies and talking with family and friends that had also adopted. As soon as we began this process we both knew, this was the path for us! Although still feeling the pain from loss, we had been given a peace of mind (and excitement!) that could only come from following God's plan.
We have spent the last few months completing mountains of paper work for our home-study, application, and family profile. We knew that adoption was filled with unknowns. This was especially true with the timeline. The agency we are working with averages approximately 2-12 months wait time. This means that from the moment we become an actively waiting family (meaning all of our paper work is done and our profile is being shown to birth mothers) we could get the call at ANY time-day or night- that we have been matched. We have also chosen to be on the "emergency list", this means if our agency has a birth mother that is giving birth and chooses us, we will need to jump on a plane, train, or start driving and be able to be anywhere in the united states in 24 hours to pick up baby Engelkes! While exciting, this will keep us on pins and needles, never knowing when that amazing call will come telling us we are going to get our baby! While this path is completely different than what we expected we could not be more excited for the adventure ahead of us!
As many of you know adoption can be incredibly costly. This brought an entirely new challenge to growing our family. The financial aspect. We knew that when we started the process we would have to trust that God would provide but we would also need to do our part in funding this adoption. We have been saving, applying for grants, and planning fundraisers. But this still left us with a hefty amount to cover. We are continuing to apply for every grant we can find, continuing to save, and trust that God will provide. If you feel led to join us on our financial journey on this page as well, we would be incredibly grateful for any and all support.
We are sharing our story in hopes that our friends and family will keep us in their prayers over the coming months. We appreciate any and all support and appreciate you being part of our journey. We know adoption can be new and sometimes confusing to many people so please feel free to reach out to us with any questions, we are more than excited to talk about it! Any and all updates to our journey will be posted here!
If you would like to join our Journey by supporting us with prayer here are our Specific Prayer requests:
-Prayers for the birth mother as she is making this incredibly difficult decision out of love for her baby.
-Prayers for the health of the baby during this stressful time. Prayers for the health and prenatal care of the mother.
-Prayers for a smooth adoption process, wait time, and the least amount of stress possible during this process
-Prayers for Logan and Brianna as we navigate preparing for a baby without knowing when the baby will arrive
-Prayers that God will continue to provide and allow for this adoption to be possible.
Organizer
Brianna Engelkes
Organizer
Chicago, IL