Bringing Home Baby Burkett
Donation protected
“Adopting one child won’t change the world. But for that one child, the world will change”
Our dear friends, Emily and Paul, have a dream. And that dream is to become parents through adoption.
Emily and Paul got married in 2010 with hopes of starting a family right away. Soon after their wedding, they received news that they would have an extremely low chance of ever conceiving naturally. Emily and Paul chose to do three rounds of IUI to achieve their dream of becoming a family. Sadly, none of the IUI’s took and each time they received the news they were not pregnant, they were heartbroken. Between the heartbreak and the high cost of IUI, Emily and Paul decided to look for other avenues to become parents. They thought about IVF but given their infertility struggles, they knew there were no guarantees. In addition, the fee for one round of IVF is anywhere between $25,000 and $35,000. They thought about surrogacy, but it is also very expensive. They thought about adoption or fostering but felt in their hearts that adoption was the right choice for them.
From Emily:
“Paul and I deeply want to be parents. We yearn to love someone unconditionally and nourish their minds and souls. We chose adoption because it was clear to us that it did not matter if our child was biological. What matters is that the child is ours.”
In 2012, Emily and Paul were first matched with a birth mother. They were ecstastic! They chose to take out a Home Equity Line of Credit to fund the adoption as suggested by a financial planner as the adoption was slated to cost around $25,000. Things quickly turned sour with this prospective birth mother as the agency informed them she was exhibiting signs of “scamming” and terminated their match. Even though it was the agency’s choice to terminate their match, Emily and Paul were unable to recoup any of the $11,000 they had already provided to facilitate this adoption.
Even though they were devastated this adoption did not work out, and they were out a large amount of money, Emily and Paul decided to press on with their hopes of welcoming a child into their home.
A few months later, Emily and Paul were matched with a new birth mother. Again, they were overjoyed with this news as they were one step closer to becoming parents! Emily had nothing but wonderful things to say about this birth mother. They spoke almost daily and she was thrilled to find out the baby was a girl. Six months into this match, Emily and Paul flew thousands of miles to visit with the birth mother. When they finally arrived at their destination, the birth mother never made contact with them. She didn’t return calls or texts and never met them as planned. Emily and Paul stayed in their hotel, waiting, worrying, wondering what to do next. Their adoption agency assured them everything was still on with the adoption and not to worry. They waited a few more days and with no response from either the birth mother or the agency, they decided to come home. They were disappointed, confused and worried but they had hope that somehow, things would still work out. Finally the birth mother got back in touch with them minimally yet she would contact the agency to make sure her financial needs were being met. Sadly, this birth mother delivered her baby (on Emily’s birthday) and never got in contact with Emily and Paul or with the agency to explain her situation. Emily only found out that the birth mother had delivered through a facebook post days later. Another heartbreak, another gigantic financial burden.
Emily and Paul were at a crossroads. Where do they go from here? Try IVF? Look at other options? Try to adopt again? In their hearts they felt adoption was still the right choice for them and despite another huge heartbreak and financial loss, they chose to continue on their journey to adoption.
Time to start fresh. Emily and Paul consulted with a new agency and were soon matched with a birth mom who was as sweet as could be. Emily really felt this was the “right” match for them. They travelled to meet this prospective birth mom and things couldn’t have gone any better. They were convinced this birth mom was carrying their child and she assured them she had every intention of giving them this amazing gift. Emily spoke almost daily with the birth mom and developed a special bond with her. Five months later, Emily and Paul happily rearranged a month of their lives to be there for the birth of this baby (a boy!) and the child’s transition from birth mom to adoptive parents. They stood by this birth mom’s side as she delivered, cut the baby’s umbilical cord and even roomed with him for four days. All was going extremely well until the birth mother requested to see the baby one last time before she was discharged from the hospital. The following day, the birth mother decided to parent her baby and alerted Emily and Paul of this news via a text that said “It’s over, I can’t do this, go home”. The heartbreak this time was almost unimaginable and Emily and Paul were beyond devastated. They had a car full of baby gear, a room waiting for him at home and a nine hour drive to get there with an empty car seat. In addition to the extreme emotional strain, the financial strain was compounding as well as upwards of another $30,000 was spent.
Friends, this is why we are reaching out to you. Emily and Paul want so deeply to become parents. Their journey has been a rollercoaster and they truly deserve a happy ending. Despite everything they’ve been through, they still feel in their hearts that adoption is the right answer to them becoming a family. We know that their child will be lucky and loved. In addition to financial contributions, any other resources or suggestions are welcome as they want to explore every avenue to become a family.
From Emily:
“We need help. We need a miracle. We want a child so deeply to love and call our own. We are ready. Please find it in your heart to help us in our adoption journey. We will persevere through these tough times. Our baby is out there, somewhere waiting for us. We are not going to lose hope.”
While the goal may seem large, please know that any donation will be appreciated and get the Burkett’s that much closer to their dream of parenthood. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and we hope you are able to be a part of making Emily and Paul’s dream of becoming a family come true!
Love,
Melissa Downey and Jess Downey
Our dear friends, Emily and Paul, have a dream. And that dream is to become parents through adoption.
Emily and Paul got married in 2010 with hopes of starting a family right away. Soon after their wedding, they received news that they would have an extremely low chance of ever conceiving naturally. Emily and Paul chose to do three rounds of IUI to achieve their dream of becoming a family. Sadly, none of the IUI’s took and each time they received the news they were not pregnant, they were heartbroken. Between the heartbreak and the high cost of IUI, Emily and Paul decided to look for other avenues to become parents. They thought about IVF but given their infertility struggles, they knew there were no guarantees. In addition, the fee for one round of IVF is anywhere between $25,000 and $35,000. They thought about surrogacy, but it is also very expensive. They thought about adoption or fostering but felt in their hearts that adoption was the right choice for them.
From Emily:
“Paul and I deeply want to be parents. We yearn to love someone unconditionally and nourish their minds and souls. We chose adoption because it was clear to us that it did not matter if our child was biological. What matters is that the child is ours.”
In 2012, Emily and Paul were first matched with a birth mother. They were ecstastic! They chose to take out a Home Equity Line of Credit to fund the adoption as suggested by a financial planner as the adoption was slated to cost around $25,000. Things quickly turned sour with this prospective birth mother as the agency informed them she was exhibiting signs of “scamming” and terminated their match. Even though it was the agency’s choice to terminate their match, Emily and Paul were unable to recoup any of the $11,000 they had already provided to facilitate this adoption.
Even though they were devastated this adoption did not work out, and they were out a large amount of money, Emily and Paul decided to press on with their hopes of welcoming a child into their home.
A few months later, Emily and Paul were matched with a new birth mother. Again, they were overjoyed with this news as they were one step closer to becoming parents! Emily had nothing but wonderful things to say about this birth mother. They spoke almost daily and she was thrilled to find out the baby was a girl. Six months into this match, Emily and Paul flew thousands of miles to visit with the birth mother. When they finally arrived at their destination, the birth mother never made contact with them. She didn’t return calls or texts and never met them as planned. Emily and Paul stayed in their hotel, waiting, worrying, wondering what to do next. Their adoption agency assured them everything was still on with the adoption and not to worry. They waited a few more days and with no response from either the birth mother or the agency, they decided to come home. They were disappointed, confused and worried but they had hope that somehow, things would still work out. Finally the birth mother got back in touch with them minimally yet she would contact the agency to make sure her financial needs were being met. Sadly, this birth mother delivered her baby (on Emily’s birthday) and never got in contact with Emily and Paul or with the agency to explain her situation. Emily only found out that the birth mother had delivered through a facebook post days later. Another heartbreak, another gigantic financial burden.
Emily and Paul were at a crossroads. Where do they go from here? Try IVF? Look at other options? Try to adopt again? In their hearts they felt adoption was still the right choice for them and despite another huge heartbreak and financial loss, they chose to continue on their journey to adoption.
Time to start fresh. Emily and Paul consulted with a new agency and were soon matched with a birth mom who was as sweet as could be. Emily really felt this was the “right” match for them. They travelled to meet this prospective birth mom and things couldn’t have gone any better. They were convinced this birth mom was carrying their child and she assured them she had every intention of giving them this amazing gift. Emily spoke almost daily with the birth mom and developed a special bond with her. Five months later, Emily and Paul happily rearranged a month of their lives to be there for the birth of this baby (a boy!) and the child’s transition from birth mom to adoptive parents. They stood by this birth mom’s side as she delivered, cut the baby’s umbilical cord and even roomed with him for four days. All was going extremely well until the birth mother requested to see the baby one last time before she was discharged from the hospital. The following day, the birth mother decided to parent her baby and alerted Emily and Paul of this news via a text that said “It’s over, I can’t do this, go home”. The heartbreak this time was almost unimaginable and Emily and Paul were beyond devastated. They had a car full of baby gear, a room waiting for him at home and a nine hour drive to get there with an empty car seat. In addition to the extreme emotional strain, the financial strain was compounding as well as upwards of another $30,000 was spent.
Friends, this is why we are reaching out to you. Emily and Paul want so deeply to become parents. Their journey has been a rollercoaster and they truly deserve a happy ending. Despite everything they’ve been through, they still feel in their hearts that adoption is the right answer to them becoming a family. We know that their child will be lucky and loved. In addition to financial contributions, any other resources or suggestions are welcome as they want to explore every avenue to become a family.
From Emily:
“We need help. We need a miracle. We want a child so deeply to love and call our own. We are ready. Please find it in your heart to help us in our adoption journey. We will persevere through these tough times. Our baby is out there, somewhere waiting for us. We are not going to lose hope.”
While the goal may seem large, please know that any donation will be appreciated and get the Burkett’s that much closer to their dream of parenthood. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and we hope you are able to be a part of making Emily and Paul’s dream of becoming a family come true!
Love,
Melissa Downey and Jess Downey
Organizer
Jess Downey
Organizer
Berkley, MI