Hello! We’re Mia and Luke. We’ve been together for five years and are planning to grow our family through adoption. We’re excited to tell you more about us and our journey.

Mia has spent her life knowing she wants to be a parent. Some of her favorite parts of studying child psychology were thinking about how to create supportive family environments and seeing cute pictures from classic child psychology studies, like this one from a study on imitation. In the past few years, Luke has also been increasingly excited about becoming a father. He’s looking forward to watching our child grow into themselves over the years and encouraging them along the way. We’re both also looking forward to the silly times playing around the house and neighborhood with our dog, the everyday routines, and the exciting milestones.

Mia’s been planning for adoption since she decided not to have a child biologically due to her chronic health issues. Mia discussed this with Luke early on. Together, we’ve known for years that adoption is our plan. So many children need homes, and thousands are adopted each year. We know without a doubt that together, we have so much love to give, and we’re ready to expand our family.

We are taking the next step in life and asking for your financial support. The cost of domestic infant adoption is much higher than most people expect. Financial commitments involved in adoption include the homestudy process, online advertising, legal fees, travel and lodging once baby is born before we can bring them home safely, and support for the birth mother and baby during pregnancy, such as medical expenses, food, and housing.

We spoke with an adoption agency that recommended we set a minimum budget of $77,000 for adoption expenses. This agency is well known and has a reputation for ethical practices, comprehensive support, and financial protection for adoptive families. This includes financial protection in the case of adoption disruption, which describes situations where birth moms change their minds and decide to parent. Other agencies generally do not provide this kind of protection, although adoption disruptions are common.

We previously decided not to pursue surrogacy because it is too cost-prohibitive; with commercial surrogacy in the U.S. generally ranging from $130,000-160,000. We recently discovered an agency started by surrogates that offers altruistic surrogacy at a much lower cost, $55,000. This agency is small and selective. We do plan to apply to this altruistic surrogacy agency, but adoption is still our primary plan.

The cost of building a family in alternative ways can feel overwhelming, which is why we’re starting this GoFundMe. Our fundraising timeline will influence our timeline for moving forward, as we need these funds available to start the adoption or surrogacy process. Any funds we raise here will go towards adoption or surrogacy expenses and will be saved in a savings account that is dedicated entirely to our “Baby Fund”.

Any amount you give, whether it is $25 or more, will go a long way. Your support will show our future child that they are so wanted by so many people. We are grateful to have you on this journey with us and will keep you updated along the way!