Hope, Love, and Adoption: Brittany & Justin's Next Chapter!

Our Story

It all began 17 years ago, when a girl handed her phone number to a guy and asked him to “call her sometime…”

Luckily, that guy did call her, and in 2007 we officially started dating! We knew very quickly that we had found someone special, that we had found the one. Throughout dating, we always had the “do you want to have kids” talk and we both agreed it was something that we absolutely wanted in our future. Before taking that step, however, we spent some time focusing on us while experiencing life together! We moved out to California, traveled, got married, and grew our careers! When we finally decided to start growing our family, we realized it was going to be a little more difficult than we thought. So, we decided to move back to Illinois where we could be closer to family and friends. We could focus on buying a home and getting fertility help while being surrounded by those we love.

However, after many years of no success, going through 3 IUI procedures, 4 IVF procedures, and trying to move forward after 2 miscarriages, we knew it was time to take a step back and focus on each other. It was time to focus on the girl and guy that fell in love 17 years ago. We surrounded ourselves with friends and family and treasured every single moment we had with our two beautiful nieces. Having this opportunity to watch them grow up only strengthened our desire to start a family together. When we started talking about adoption, we realized that this desire could be fulfilled through another path! A path that would fulfill our dream of starting a family, but also one that would allow us to provide a household of love for a child who needs one. Then, we found ‘The Cradle,’ and all our hopes came flooding back.

Our journey to starting a family together may not be what we initially expected, but let’s be honest, sometimes the unknown paths are the ones you should have been taking all along.

We Need Your Help

Adoption is a beautiful journey, but it does come with some substantial financial costs. From agency fees and home study fees to additional related expenses, the costs can be overwhelming. We are preparing as best as we can, but we realize that we need a little extra help to make our dream a reality. Any contribution you can make will bring us closer to welcoming a child into our lives, and we look forward to sharing in this journey with you!

With Love,

Brittany & Justin

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A Little Update 12/18/24

We want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has donated thus far. We could not be more grateful for the amazing love and kindness we have surrounding us.

We thought it might be nice to share a little more information regarding this process and where we are at!

We had our first information meeting with TheCradle back in June, and since that time we have been on a whirlwind of a journey as we dive further and further into our Home Study! We have been paired with an amazing counselor who is helping to guide us through this entire process as she learns more and more about who we are as individuals, who we are as a couple, and who we will be as parents. This entire process has been such an eye-opening learning experience and every day (every email we send) we are (this) much closer. We should be ready for our home visits once the holidays are over, and THAT is the best gift we could ask for. <3

If anyone ever has questions about this entire process...please don't hesitate to ask. We are beyond excited to share this journey with the friends and family we have in our lives.