<div><strong>Update 12/15/24:</strong> We hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! We are definitely looking forward to some time off as we are eager to enjoy some rest and relaxation as well as some time with family and friends! We are still in the waiting phase of our adoption journey but are taking steps to prepare for the day we get the call that we have matched with a birth parent. Our adoption agency updates us monthly with how many matches they have had, which helps us keep track of where we are on the list. Over the summer and into the fall, there were several months in a row where the agency only reported 1-4 matches each month, which was unusually low for them. Fortunately, the last two months they have had 8-10 matches each, so things are looking up as we continue to move down the list and closer to the point where our profile can be shown to birth families. 
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<div>We took advantage of some time off in November and black Friday sales to buy nursery furniture, which should be delivered somewhere around early April. We also have applied for a few different grants. We recently applied for a small grant from a local nonprofit and were fortunate enough to be one of the recipients!  
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<div>As we enter this holiday season, we are incredibly thankful for all of the support we continue to receive from family and friends! We hope everyone has a happy holiday and an amazing new year!
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<div><strong>Update 6/2/24:</strong> We are so appreciative of everyone who has donated to our fundraiser so far! We are incredibly grateful to have such an outpouring of support! We are excited to share that as of April 22, 2024, we are officially active, which means we are now in the queue. To become active, we had to finish our profile book and make a $30,500 payment. We still have about a year before we even begin to possibly have our profile book shown to prospective birth parents and more realistically at least a year and a half before we can expect to potentially match with someone as we have over 100 potential adoptive families in line in front of us. Regardless, becoming active was a huge step for us, and now we are just playing the waiting game while trying to make preparations for a potential match (putting together a nursery, researching daycares, doing some required trainings, etc.). We are continuing to raise and save money as we will need to make another $15,000 payment when we match with a family plus pay for travel expenses (we will need to travel out to wherever our adoptive child is born, which can be anywhere in the US, and we will likely need to stay in that state for up to 2 weeks while interstate paperwork is filed before we can bring them home).
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<div>This has already been quite a process, but we are so excited to be taking this next step. We will continue to keep everyone up to date on our progress. Thank you again to everyone who has already donated. We will continue to accept donations throughout this process for anyone who is still willing to be a part of our village!
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<div><strong>Our Story:</strong>
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<div>We (David and Heather, of course) are super excited to announce that we are in the process of adopting a child. After over 3 years of infertility issues, including two miscarriages, we made the decision to look into adoption. Although it certainly is not the path we expected to take, all we want is to grow our family, and if this is the path that is meant for us, then we are excited to see where it leads! With that said, it is a costly process. After doing substantial research, we found an adoption agency that is right for us (Gladney), but the entire adoption process will cost us over $60,000. As two educators, we simply do not have that money. That is why we are turning to our family, friends, and anyone else who is willing to help. We already have family who have been incredibly kind to gift us money to get us this far in the process, but we also want to be prepared for the moment we do match with a birth parent and know we have the money to not only cover the adoption costs, but also to support our family once we bring the child home. Our final payment we will owe upon matching with a birth parent will be around $15,000, so that is our fundraising goal; however, we also acknowledge that is an incredible lofty goal. We are incredibly grateful for whatever amount and/or support you are willing to provide. We also hope that any donors are willing to share their names, so we can personally and properly thank everyone who is willing to be a part of this road we are on.
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<div>It truly takes a village to raise a child, and we are hoping you are willing to be part of our village to help us start our family!
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Anonymous

Kristi Haddock

Anita Absi

Katie Anderson

Paula Mills

Erin McLean

Heather Johnson

Mark R Cain

Jodi Marion

AFMS Admin Team and Front Office

Jennifer LeTellier

Megan Baker

Kristin McClure

Crystal OMara

Donna Hennesen

keira decker

Jessica Handy

David and Heather Turley Adoption Adventure

David and Heather Turley Adoption Adventure

Still $8,430 to go. Help us build momentum.