Ricky and Lauren's Adoption Fund
Donation protected
We are so excited to share with family, friends, and the world that we’re adopting!
As many of you know we were high school sweethearts who have been together since 2000! Even back then we always knew we would want children. By 2011 we were married and we were ready to start our family. After trying to conceive naturally and failing we turned to infertility treatments. After two unsuccessful attempts of in vitro fertilization we needed to take a step back, deal with those costs, and re-evaluate where to go from there. Our drive to be parents only grew stronger and we knew that adoption was where the road led next. Though this would be a costly and challenging path, nothing would stop us from becoming parents.
In the beginning of 2017 we started the long and exciting journey of the adoption process. Once we started the process, we learned a ton more about adoption- the true costs, the amount of paperwork, the love from the birth parents, the community that supports us, and this all made us even more excited. We managed to complete our home study by July and we were ready for the next steps.
Like all roads there has to be at least one bump. Ours came in the form of some news we found out when we had to complete the physical. During this doctor’s visit we learned Ricky had a heart murmur. Normally this is nothing to fear, but when the doctors took a closer look they let us know it had caused an aneurysm in his heart. The heart surgeon said “After I fix your heart, you better thank the baby you adopt, because it saved your life”. Since there were no symptoms Ricky would have had no way of knowing anything was wrong until it was too late. He ended up having emergency open heart surgery only a month after the physical.
This cemented adoption for us. We knew we were meant to take this path. After Ricky’s recovery, we finished our profile for the birth parents and have been placed on a waitlist! Now comes the anxious waiting period. Most of you know that we are not typically people who ask for help from others, however, as we continue to prepare to meet our baby, we are looking for support from our community of family and friends.
We thank you in advance for taking the time to read our story and helping us get one step closer to bringing our baby home.
As many of you know we were high school sweethearts who have been together since 2000! Even back then we always knew we would want children. By 2011 we were married and we were ready to start our family. After trying to conceive naturally and failing we turned to infertility treatments. After two unsuccessful attempts of in vitro fertilization we needed to take a step back, deal with those costs, and re-evaluate where to go from there. Our drive to be parents only grew stronger and we knew that adoption was where the road led next. Though this would be a costly and challenging path, nothing would stop us from becoming parents.
In the beginning of 2017 we started the long and exciting journey of the adoption process. Once we started the process, we learned a ton more about adoption- the true costs, the amount of paperwork, the love from the birth parents, the community that supports us, and this all made us even more excited. We managed to complete our home study by July and we were ready for the next steps.
Like all roads there has to be at least one bump. Ours came in the form of some news we found out when we had to complete the physical. During this doctor’s visit we learned Ricky had a heart murmur. Normally this is nothing to fear, but when the doctors took a closer look they let us know it had caused an aneurysm in his heart. The heart surgeon said “After I fix your heart, you better thank the baby you adopt, because it saved your life”. Since there were no symptoms Ricky would have had no way of knowing anything was wrong until it was too late. He ended up having emergency open heart surgery only a month after the physical.
This cemented adoption for us. We knew we were meant to take this path. After Ricky’s recovery, we finished our profile for the birth parents and have been placed on a waitlist! Now comes the anxious waiting period. Most of you know that we are not typically people who ask for help from others, however, as we continue to prepare to meet our baby, we are looking for support from our community of family and friends.
We thank you in advance for taking the time to read our story and helping us get one step closer to bringing our baby home.
Organizer
Ricky Paolella
Organizer
Davenport, FL
