Hello! For anyone who may not know us, we are Michaela and Daniel Garcia! Over the past few months, we’ve been researching and praying about the possibility of adopting, and we are happy to announce that we have officially started on our journey! We are going through a lesser-known process called embryo adoption, through a program called Snowflakes (which is under an agency called Nightlight Christian Adoptions), and we need your help. So, first things first:

What is (and what isn't) embryo adoption?

Embryo adoption is a relatively new way of doing adoptions, pioneered by Nightlight in 1997. Before that, the options were either regular adoption (where the child is adopted only once he/she is born) or embryo donation (where an embryo is anonymously donated to a fertility clinic, and then to a new mother). Embryo adoption bridges the gap between these two things, making it possible to adopt an unborn baby from his/her birth parents without it being anonymous. This actually addresses some very real concerns around IVF, since the IVF process often leaves parents with "extra" embryos that are either anonymously donated to a clinic or destroyed once the parents have had the amount of children they want to have. Embryo adoption allows for a third option, where each embryo gets a chance to live and where both the placing and the adopting parents can be involved in re-homing the child. Another concern with IVF is that some fertility clinics will implant several embryos at once in the new mother's uterus, with the mindset that some babies may not survive the transfer, but this can lead to forced abortions if more babies survive than what the mother can handle. Nightlight, which is a Christian agency, has very strict rules that forbid any embryos in their care from being killed, and that restrict the number of embryos implanted in the new mother's uterus to no more than 2 at a time. A final concern, which unfortunately there is no fix for, is that embryos that go through the IVF process tend to have a higher risk of not surviving due to the complexity of freezing, thawing, and implanting them. This is the same reason why some fertility clinics will implant more than 2 embryos at once (which we reiterate we are NOT going to do). Ultimately this means that there is no guarantee that the embryo adoption process will result in a pregnancy or a birth, and even after all this we may end up empty-handed. This is a risk we are willing to take, but it also serves as a reminder that God is the one in control of this journey, not us.

So, why did we, the Garcias, choose adoption?

This is a conversation the two of us have had for a long time, and our reasons have changed over the past several years. Even before we met each other, we've both always had a general desire to adopt, but we didn't know if that would be something that happened only after having biological kids. It wasn't until we discovered that Michaela had PCOS (which is a condition that makes it difficult to conceive) that we felt a deeper desire to prioritize adoption rather than having biological children. We began researching, and as we did, we realized just how much of a need for adoption there is in this world, especially where the other "a-word" (abortion) gets so much more attention. We also realized that our pursuit of adoption was in effect our strongest action against abortion, as it takes the declaration that all life has value and puts it into practice. Ultimately, though, what matters most to us is how adoption reflects God's plan of salvation and what He has done for us. The Bible repeatedly talks about our adoption by God the Father through Jesus. It reminds us that God did not wait to see if we were worthy or if we would love Him back before He bought us with His blood. He loved us without us having done anything first, and without expecting anything in return except our free acceptance of His gift. Likewise, adoption (and especially embryo adoption) leaves no room for a merit-based selection, and we love our future child because God first loved us. I know this is getting long, so let's cut to the chase.

How can you help, and what are we asking of you?

First and foremost, I know this sounds cheesy but we truly want your prayers. If you had to choose between giving us money or prayer, we would ask you to choose prayer. Money passes away, but saints deepening their relationship with the God who created the universe and interceding on our behalf, that makes a real difference. We would also love to receive your words of guidance and encouragement throughout this journey. Words of advice from parents, wisdom from elders, insights from Scripture, all these would be things we would love to receive from you, and on which we will be able to look back in the future with joy. Last of all, we do have a financial goal for this process. Thankfully, as I mentioned before, it is not as expensive as regular adoption, but it is still enough of a sum that we would like to ask for help with it. Our goal is to raise $15,000, which will cover all the fees from both the adoption agency and the fertility clinic.

Thank you so much for reading through this long-winded post, I hope it gives you a glimpse into the passion for adoption that God has given us, but of course please reach out if you want to talk more about it, we would love to chat about it over coffee! To close, here is a short portion of Ephesians 1 that summarizes how we as Christians are adopted by God through Jesus: "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One he loves."

With love,

Michaela and Daniel Garcia