Hello, friends and family! We are André (AJ) and Erika, and we are so grateful you’ve taken the time to hear our story.

From the very beginning of our relationship, we dreamed of building a family through both biological children and adoption. After years of infertility, we felt God leading us to adoption in 2024. We didn’t know what the journey would look like, but we knew there were children who needed a loving home, and we gave our wholehearted “yes.”

Earlier this year, our dream became reality—sooner than we ever expected! From the very first phone call to driving cross-country to meet our child, everything happened in just 20 days. It has been a whirlwind of joy, challenges, emotions, difficulty and blessings ever since.

Because we want to honor and protect our child’s story, we haven’t shared much publicly until now. We believe their journey is theirs to tell when the time is right. But today, we are opening up because we need your help to finish this chapter.

When we began, we applied for every adoption grant available, and several were awarded—enough to cover what we thought our expenses would be. But adoption, while beautiful, is rarely simple. Unexpected twists and circumstances have quadrupled our costs, leaving us with financial needs far greater than we anticipated.

To finalize the adoption and give our child the permanency and security every child deserves, all expenses must be paid in full. We are down to the final stretch—just one more court hearing and then, God willing, we can finalize and celebrate our forever family.

How You Can Help: Your generosity will go directly toward the remaining adoption expenses, bringing us to finalization.

Every gift, no matter the size, helps lift this weight and allows us to focus fully on the emotional, physical, and mental needs of our child.

If you’re not able to give financially, we deeply appreciate your prayers, encouragement, and sharing our story with others.

We don’t take lightly the love and support we’ve already received from our community. It means the world to us to know we aren’t walking this road alone. Thank you for helping us provide our child with a secure, loving, and permanent home.

We look forward to the day we can introduce our newly expanded family to everyone and celebrate this answered prayer with you. Until then, thank you for surrounding us with kindness, generosity, and love.

With gratitude,

AJ & Erika