
Rodriguez Family Adoption Fundraiser
Donation protected
Hi, we are the Rodriguez Family! We live in Knoxville, TN. Let me introduce ourselves:
My name is Gabriel. I work in the finance department at Dollywood and I enjoy disc golf and playing drums at our church, Northstar
My wife is Madison. She is a stay at home mom and pencil portrait artist. She enjoys spending time with her horse and going on walks at parks around Knoxville.
Our son is named Emerson. He is named after his great grandpa, Emerson Smith. He loves playing with cars and trains, is a music lover like his dad, and is an animal lover like his mom. :)
Over the last 2+ years we have been trying to grow our family in the hopes of getting pregnant with our second child. Unfortunately, we have been dealing with male infertility issues and we have not been successful. Our hearts are desperate for another child and Emerson would be a fantastic older brother. With natural pregnancy not happening, we have started looking at the adoption process.
Currently, adopting children in Tennessee is a long and expensive process. Right now, the cost of adopting is almost a year’s salary. In our stage of life, we are not able to afford that. However, we found a Christian agency who facilitates in something called Embryo Adoption. Never heard of that? Neither had we. Let me explain.
During the process of IVF, medical staff harvest a number of eggs from the woman and fertilize them and freeze them. Then, they use these frozen embryos to assist the woman in getting pregnant. Once the family has decided to no longer get pregnant anymore, their embryos are discarded or used for medical testing.
As Christians, if we believe that life begins at conception, then these embryos have the same life value as an embryo in the womb. So an organization like the National Embryo Donation Center encourages families to donate these embryos so that they can have a chance at life. Madi is still able to carry a child and we believe this path of adoption would be perfect for us.
For us, this type of adoption meets a need to preserve life for these medically fertilized embryos and it is more affordable for a family in our current stage of life.
These adoption costs, though less than traditional adoption, are still fairly high and a lot of them are upfront. So we are reaching out to our friends, family, and community to ask that you prayerfully consider partnering with us as we seek to grow our family. We have been in prayer for the last 2 years seeking God for guidance for our family because we believe that we are not done with just 1 child. We believe God has been directing us to this cause of adopting embryos.
We are happy to help answer any questions you might have. We are so thankful for our loving friends, family, and community and we can’t wait to keep winding down this adoption journey.
God Bless
Organizer
Gabriel Rodriguez
Organizer
Knoxville, TN