Selah Jo Adoption Fund

Hi everyone! This is Jessica Hocking, Nikki Dempsey’s cousin. On behalf of our family, I would like to start a GoFundMe for Nikki and Taylor Dempsey as they work to pay off their adoption costs for sweet Selah. As many of you know, Nikki and Taylor have had Selah since the day she was born. Selah’s bio-mom was not in a position to raise Selah and subsequently gave her to Nikki and Taylor to raise as their daughter. She legally signed over her rights to Selah while also legally committing to having no knowledge of the biological father. The adoption process was moving ahead according to the Tennessee timeline, when only days away from finalization, a man stepped forward declaring himself to be the biological father and demanded custody of Selah. She had been with Nikki, Taylor, and Nano for 9 months, completely bonded with her immediate family and the extended family all around her. It quickly became clear through his own statements that the biological father was more interested in “not backing down from a fight” than he was in having a parental relationship with Selah.

This past Thursday, October 26th, 3 years and 2 months after they held her for the first time, a Tennessee judge ruled what we had known all along–Selah Jo is a Dempsey, and Nikki and Taylor had created a family, the judge was simply making it legal.

Because of the unexpected court battles, adoption costs jumped from the typical $8000 dollars to just over $90,000. Nikki and Taylor have paid over half of that already with their own savings, grants, and help from family. They have $40,000 to go. Their attorney, who was an amazing advocate for their family, has been unbelievably gracious in accepting a payment plan, but Nik and Taylor are stretched thin. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we, as their friends and family, could join together and help get this bill paid! Nikki and Taylor are so grateful to their attorney and the time, effort, and heart she put into their case, they would love to honor her by paying off their debt as quickly as they can.

That’s where this GoFundMe comes in. Would you please consider contributing to the Selah Jo adoption fund? Sweet Selah is our girl! And as the judge declared through his own emotion in court on the 26th, “This is a very, very happy day and a great result for this precious child.”

Thank you so much,

Jessica