After years of navigating the heartbreak of infertility, my wife and I were overjoyed to welcome our twins—a boy and a girl—into our lives through adoption in October 2024.

Adoption was never going to be easy or inexpensive, domestic infant adoption in the US is typically anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 dollars. Regardless we went into it with open hearts and careful planning. We expected legal and emotional hurdles. We prepared financially. What we didn’t expect was for the agency we trusted to disappear before finishing the job.

We have had to separate ourselves from the placing agency we were working with due to unethical practices and financial mismanagement. This agency has not only failed to provide the services we paid for—it also mishandled our funds. We are now left trying to pick up the pieces while navigating an already complex adoption process, all while parenting two little ones.

We still need to finalize the adoption; we’ve had to hire a new attorney and essentially start a major part of the legal process over. We’re facing duplicated fees for work that should’ve been completed already. We have completed and received multiple grants that helped to cover original adoption costs. Unfortunately, another blow was being awarded 10,000 dollars in grant money and having it mismanaged by the unethical placing agency. With the help of the grant foundation, we were able to have some of that money returned to us, but the situation still resulted in lost funds.

We are so pleased with the new law firm we are working with and are so excited to have a finalization date insight! Unfortunately, while the finalization process is still happening it is state law to have a social worker come to our home once a month to check on the twins. Though we like our social worker very much, her visits cost us 500 per month which has been an unanticipated additional monthly cost.

We’ve been incredibly lucky to have the support of our families, coworkers, and friends throughout the years leading up to this moment. They've helped carry us through infertility, the adoption process, financial support and now this unexpected detour. We also have a truly compassionate and experienced team helping us navigate this new chapter—they are the ones who encouraged us to create this page and ask for help.

Despite everything, there are so many things we hold onto:

– We have two incredible children who fill our days with laughter and light.

– We’ve built a respectful, positive relationship with their birth parents, and that connection continues to grow in a meaningful way. Their birth mom, in particular, holds a deeply special place in our hearts—her strength, love, and resilience has changed our lives forever. They are and always will be an important part of our family.

For now, we are focused on finalizing this chapter with patience, and the support of our community. We’re setting a goal to raise $20,000 to help cover the financial losses from the agency that failed us, home visit costs, and the new legal costs needed to finalize our twins’ adoption. Every contribution helps us take one step closer to closing this difficult chapter and focusing fully on raising our children.

If you’re able to donate, we can’t thank you enough. If you’re not in a position to give, sharing our story is just as meaningful.

Thank you for reading this, for caring, and for helping us move forward. With hope and gratitude,

Britt, Emily and the twins

*We are not able to share photos of the Twins until after finalization, but we promise to flood socials with pictures as soon as we are able.