Fugate Embryo Adoption

Hello to Friends, Family, and loving community!

Our family is beginning an exciting new adventure that we have long dreamed of, and we’d like to share about it and ask you to consider helping us follow what we believe to be God’s leading in our lives.

Nate and Holly have always been united in our passion for caring for the unborn. This call on our hearts has taken on many forms over the years. Holly has worked with the pro-life apologetics organization Justice For All. Nate has been instrumental in guiding the United Methodist Church’s position on abortion to a clearer and more life-honoring place. He has also championed the support of mothers in crisis pregnancy situations throughout the Western PA United Methodist Church. We have taught pro-life rhetoric workshops together and continue encouraging church members to stay vigilant in defending those children who cannot speak for themselves. We’ve long known, however, that this conviction–that we need to support the sanctity of unborn life–would not stop with these endeavors. We are convicted that our family is called to take a chance on giving a life to a child in need, and that now is the time to do so.

God has blessed us greatly with our loving and healthy family. Our two sons, Israel and Victor and our daughter Evangeline are all delightful, creative, strong-willed little people with bright futures. We have been blessed with a wonderful and stable home, and we feel called to share that good home with another child who does not have one. That is why we are now pursuing an adoption. Specifically, we are in the process of an Embryo Adoption.

If you’ve never heard about embryo adoption before, you’re not alone! It’s a fascinating and hope-filled concept to learn about, and we’re excited to have the chance to explain a little about the process (if you’re familiar with embryo adoption, you can skip the next two paragraphs):

There are currently thousands of early-stage embryonic human beings frozen in cryogenic storage around the United States. These are usually the results of In-Vitro Fertilization attempts. Couples who have completed their childbearing with IVF often have remaining embryos that they are not prepared to bear themselves for any number of reasons. Embryo adoption gives them an ethical solution to the problem of how to care for these children who have already been created but are now trapped in time, unable to grow up.

Through the adoption process, embryos are thawed and inserted directly into the adoptive mother’s womb, giving the children a chance to implant and develop through the normal stages of pregnancy. This is a dangerous process for an embryo, and many don’t survive, but currently, it is the only medically available option to give these children any chance at growing up. It’s their only chance to have a life and a family. If all goes well, the child will develop normally in the womb, be born into the adoptive family, and is legally their child forever.

We’re committed to doing our best to care for at least one of these children who are precious in God’s sight. We will love them and value them as a full member of our family for as long as they are with us, whether that is for a few minutes or 100 years.

We'll need some help to see this calling through, and we’re inviting you to join us in giving this baby a chance at life. Thankfully, this approach to adoption is much more financially feasible than most other domestic adoptions are, but it is certainly still more than a clergy family of five can afford. The expenses are primarily due to the complicated medical processes that insurance does not cover. Additionally, the NEDC* requires a formal adoption home study to be conducted through an outside licensed adoption agency to ensure that prospective parents are vetted with proper caution. We’re stepping out in faith that God will provide for us through the significant financial challenge this presents to our young and growing family. Perhaps you will be a part of his providence towards us! Please prayerfully consider giving a gift towards our support. We look forward to sharing with our child how much they were loved and supported by their community!

Sincerely and Gratefully,

The Fugate Family

*The National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) in Knoxville, TN, is the leading embryo adoption organization in the U.S. As of this autumn, they have seen 1,263 babies successfully born into adoptive families. Their rates of successful transfers and pregnancies are the highest in the world. They maintain Christian values of respecting the life of every embryo that passes through their care and they are meticulous in matching adoptive families with donor families for the best discernable outcomes for each child’s future.