Help Jim & Amy Adopt a Family
Donation protected
Please consider helping Amy & Jim buy furniture, clothing, books & toys for their future adoptive children....this may be a surprise to some of you, read on for the full story!
As many of you know, but likely most of you don't, Amy & Jim have been trying to conceive a family for several years with no sucess. After an attempt at an IVF cycle in September of 2013 failed, it seemed fairly certain that what the doctors had been telling her since she was in her mid-20's was true. With her age working against her, Amy's endometriosis was too severe for her to be able to conceive children.
After a year of both ignoring and then finally accepting this information, it seemed it was time to finally move on. Options available are to get a surrogate (and have two women go thru painful, expensive procedures without guarantees), or to adopt.
Amy and Jim have chosen adoption. They have fairly strong feelings about this. "There are already way too many children in this world that need families, and forcing mother nature to make a child that looks like us just seems unfair to those children that have lost their parents that look like them". Jim & Amy's choice has also moved them beyond the "typical" adoption of a single baby....they have chosen to adopt not one, but a few children as a sibling group, whose parents have given up their legal rights and the children are available for a loving family to raise them.
Right now, in the US, there are more than 390,000 children in foster care. Of that total, over 100,000 of those children have had their parents rights terminated and are available for adoption. As often as possible, the State DCS tries to keep children of sibling groups together, though, as you can imagine, it is harder to find a family to adopt 2, 3, 4 or more children all at once. But this is exactly what Jim & Amy have decided to do. And this is happening quickly, and they need some help.
If you are well aquainted with Jim & Amy, you know they rarely ask for help, and are generally the first people out there offering it up when they can. This process is happening quickly, and having no children of their own, there have been no baby showers and there are no hand-me-downs available. They are asking now for help. Just to get started.
Amy & Jim are interested in adopting a sibling group of 2-3 children. Right now they are in the home study process. They hope to have this submitted by the end of December and an approval by the end of January. Once they have an approval they can start inquiring about children available.
This is where the "quick" comes in to play. They have to have sleeping arrangements (bedrooms set up) when they go in to review the children. They cannot be approved without furnished bedrooms for the children to live in. Since they are looking at potentially 3 children, this means 3 beds, 3 mattresses, 3 dressers & bedding. They have been looking for furniture to refinish, ikea, target, Amazon. No matter which way they turn, the cost will be around $2000. (new, comfortable mattresses are a must)
Once they know who the children are that they will be adopting, there will be travel to do home visits, as well as providing the children with the things they need at home that they don't have when they do finally move in. New clothing, things to make the transition comfortable, childrens books, a homework area, and of course toys and learning toys/activities (shared computer?). While they know raising children is expensive, the additional $2000 to reach their goal will at least help them get started.
They look forward to updating you as the process continues. Due to HIPPA rules, they will not be able to share who the children are until they are legally adopted. But, they certainly can tell you about them. ;-)
Thank you for your help to jumpstart Jim & Amy's instant family.
As many of you know, but likely most of you don't, Amy & Jim have been trying to conceive a family for several years with no sucess. After an attempt at an IVF cycle in September of 2013 failed, it seemed fairly certain that what the doctors had been telling her since she was in her mid-20's was true. With her age working against her, Amy's endometriosis was too severe for her to be able to conceive children.
After a year of both ignoring and then finally accepting this information, it seemed it was time to finally move on. Options available are to get a surrogate (and have two women go thru painful, expensive procedures without guarantees), or to adopt.
Amy and Jim have chosen adoption. They have fairly strong feelings about this. "There are already way too many children in this world that need families, and forcing mother nature to make a child that looks like us just seems unfair to those children that have lost their parents that look like them". Jim & Amy's choice has also moved them beyond the "typical" adoption of a single baby....they have chosen to adopt not one, but a few children as a sibling group, whose parents have given up their legal rights and the children are available for a loving family to raise them.
Right now, in the US, there are more than 390,000 children in foster care. Of that total, over 100,000 of those children have had their parents rights terminated and are available for adoption. As often as possible, the State DCS tries to keep children of sibling groups together, though, as you can imagine, it is harder to find a family to adopt 2, 3, 4 or more children all at once. But this is exactly what Jim & Amy have decided to do. And this is happening quickly, and they need some help.
If you are well aquainted with Jim & Amy, you know they rarely ask for help, and are generally the first people out there offering it up when they can. This process is happening quickly, and having no children of their own, there have been no baby showers and there are no hand-me-downs available. They are asking now for help. Just to get started.
Amy & Jim are interested in adopting a sibling group of 2-3 children. Right now they are in the home study process. They hope to have this submitted by the end of December and an approval by the end of January. Once they have an approval they can start inquiring about children available.
This is where the "quick" comes in to play. They have to have sleeping arrangements (bedrooms set up) when they go in to review the children. They cannot be approved without furnished bedrooms for the children to live in. Since they are looking at potentially 3 children, this means 3 beds, 3 mattresses, 3 dressers & bedding. They have been looking for furniture to refinish, ikea, target, Amazon. No matter which way they turn, the cost will be around $2000. (new, comfortable mattresses are a must)
Once they know who the children are that they will be adopting, there will be travel to do home visits, as well as providing the children with the things they need at home that they don't have when they do finally move in. New clothing, things to make the transition comfortable, childrens books, a homework area, and of course toys and learning toys/activities (shared computer?). While they know raising children is expensive, the additional $2000 to reach their goal will at least help them get started.
They look forward to updating you as the process continues. Due to HIPPA rules, they will not be able to share who the children are until they are legally adopted. But, they certainly can tell you about them. ;-)
Thank you for your help to jumpstart Jim & Amy's instant family.
Organizer
Amy Lyman Sweetman
Organizer
New Albany, IN