Help the Siesel Family Adopt!

Hello,

My name is Jaimie and I am fundraising for my dearest friends, Amy and Billy. They have nurtured and loved Momo for the past two years and are now able to celebrate his adoption. As a witness to their story I can tell you that this celebration happened because of their perseverance, dedication and willingness to invest everything they could into Momo's well-being. The legal fees are a heavy burden and I am hoping that we as a community can help to ease it.

I have asked Amy to write the story of their journey. Please take a few minutes to read it and share with everyone. Donate if and what you can.

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752 days in foster care. 740 days as our foster child.

I will never forget the call. It was a typical Friday morning in October 2021 when I saw the social worker's name on my phone. That call would change our lives forever.

“We have a baby in the hospital. He’s very tiny and he has several broken bones... would you be interested in taking him in?” the woman asked. In that moment I already knew my answer but I picked up the phone and called my husband. As fate would have it, the baby was at the children’s hospital where my husband, Billy, worked. “I’m going to see him right now,” Billy said. “I’ll call you back.” It was only minutes, but it felt like hours later when Billy said words I will never forget, “Amy, I think we need to take this one.”

For the next ten days Billy went to visit him every day. I was desperate to know more about the baby that would soon come home to us. Billy would send pictures and I would pray over a tiny infant I’d never met but felt strongly connected to. Twelve days after he entered the hospital, Billy brought that tiny baby home. He was fully wrapped in bandages to immobilize him as his fragile bones healed. He was three months old but the size of a newborn. He was an angel and we loved him instantly.

It wasn't ideal. I was four months pregnant when that precious angel arrived at my door. We had planned to step away from foster care when we found out I was pregnant. I felt God pulling me to foster care despite the circumstances so we decided emergency placements were what we could offer. We agreed to stabilize our sweet foster baby over the next two to four weeks until a long term placement could be found. The sleepless nights were harder. It had been six years since I had a baby. I felt insecure about my ability to care for a developmentally one month old baby with special needs. However, there was no time to dwell on those thoughts. I had to jump in with both feet to take care of our angel. Two weeks turned into a month and a month turned into three months. Stability, love, nutrition, safety. Every day we provided these four pillars to a baby who had only begun to live and yet had been through so much in his short life. He grew stronger and happier and we adored him.

Man makes his plans but God directs his path. After three months in our care, we were told the state would not pursue reunification with the biological parents. Our little foster angel would go up for adoption. My belly was growing bigger by the day and the reality of another baby was suddenly unavoidable. Billy and I sat down to lunch one January afternoon and finally faced the question. Could we possibly take on two babies when we already had a six year old? Could I physically, with handicaps of my own, take care of two babies? Most importantly, what would happen to the baby if he didn’t stay with us?

There wasn’t much to discuss. We knew what our foster angel needed. His safety was our primary goal and the chance that he could have contact with his abusers was our greatest fear. It was clear that if he was adopted by anyone close to or within the family, that he would be exposed to the people who abused him. We knew he needed to stay with us and we were willing to fight to keep him safe. We also knew we needed to trust that God had a plan and he would give us the strength for what was ahead. Our angel had not come to us by accident. It was divine orchestration that brought us together and therefore a reminder that God would be faithful through the journey.

We shifted our hearts and minds to adoption. Little did we know what lay ahead. There are times you see dark clouds looming, ominous and threatening, and you prepare to take cover. This, however, was like a tornado that comes suddenly and without warning, hell bent on destruction. The biological parents found a loophole which allowed them to legally arrange an adoption. A sunny unsuspecting day in March became a dark storm we couldn’t flee. By the time we arrived at the courthouse, a private adoption had already been granted. In thirty days

our foster angel would leave us.

The grief was unbearable. I was one week away from my due date. The stress was like a mighty wind; a pressure so immense you cannot stand. It was the darkest night of our lives. We cried out to God. On our knees we pled for our son’s life and God’s ultimate plan. We were encouraged to seek legal counsel. We hired a family law attorney who filed an affidavit expressing our concerns to the court. Two months after the private adoption was granted, and one day after the affidavit was filed, the prospective adoptive parent backed out of the adoption. We only spent one night away from our child, and he never left our placement. Even through the storm, God had been faithful.

It wasn’t a smooth road after the adoptive placement backed out. The road to God’s work is rarely straight or without bumps. In fact it was over a year and a half later that we would see resolution. Without a lawyer the process would have taken years to resolve and forced us to go before a committee to decide our foster angel’s fate. Fortunately, in September 2023, our lawyer filed a motion with the court that finally removed the barrier to adoption. On November 3, 2023 we will officially adopt our son, Vincent Moses Siesel.

We chose the name Vincent which means “to conquer or prevail.” We affectionately call him, Momo. We have seen incredible transformation over the last two years as we’ve watched a baby grow into a toddler. From infancy, we have watched him fight for each physical milestone with the help of therapy. Momo has prevailed over his start in life with each bond formed between his family, therapists, and teachers. With continued love, support, and treatment (that we are committed to provide) he will conquer much in life. He already has.

The truth is, we have also changed over the last two years. We are not the same people we were before Momo came to us. We have been stretched beyond what we knew we could bear emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially. We knew we needed to fight to keep Momo. We knew the only place he would be truly safe, wholly cared for, and fully loved was in our home.

WHAT IS A LIFE WORTH? The legal fees we have incurred in our fight for Momo have been astronomical. We were forced to hire private counsel over a year and a half ago and the total in legal bills is $27,000. The state will pay $1,000 to cover legal fees for the actual adoption day, leaving us with $26,000 in legal fees as we fight for Momo's future. It is a travesty that a price ever be put on the welfare and permanency of a child. The life of a child is invaluable, so no matter how long it takes to pay down, it will have been worth every penny.

If you would like to make a donation to help with the legal fees incurred to save Momo, ANY amount is appreciated. We know that whatever you give, God will multiply. Thank you for joining us in this incredible mission. We give all the glory to God for allowing us to be a part of Momo’s story, and we thank you for becoming part of it as well.

God bless you.