<div>Baby Hawkins coming 2026!! Due date TBD - We’re adopting!!

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<div>If you’ve known Josh or me for any length of time, you’ve probably heard us talk about our desire to adopt. The time is finally here, and our family could not be more excited to welcome another baby into our home. This has been years in the making, and stepping into this next season feels both surreal and deeply joyful.

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<div>Josh and I have both individually felt the Lord call us to adoption since high school. We even talked about adoption on our first official date. It has been a steady prayer throughout our marriage, and it was always a matter of <em>when</em> we would adopt, not <em>if</em>. The when is now.

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<div>We’ll share more about our hearts for adoption, the costs, and the process as we go. Here is an overview of where we are and what’s ahead.

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<div><strong>Overview</strong>:

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<li>We are doing a U.S. private infant adoption.

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<li>Our local agency only works with Texas moms.

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<li>We are open to both a matched adoption or a drop adoption - meaning we could either match with a pregnant mom or get a call/email/text about a baby and a mom who chose our family in a hospital anywhere in the state of Texas.

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<li>We are praying for an open adoption with a long-term relationship with the birth mom and, hopefully, the dad too.

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<div><strong>Financial Breakdown: </strong>

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<div>Total Cost: $67,600

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<li>Application and Home Study Fee: $3,500

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<li>Background checks: $600

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<li>Adoption Program Fee: $9,500
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<li>Matching &amp; Placement Fee: $54,000

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<div>The Matching and Placement Fee includes legal fees, placement services, pre- and post-maternal care for the birth mom, including counseling services for both birth parents, sometimes living expenses, and medical expenses, and more.

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<div><strong>Due date for funds:</strong> within 72 hours after being matched or the day prior to placement, whichever comes first.

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<div><strong>Timeline:</strong>

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<li>We began researching adoption paths in January 2024.

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<li>We interviewed both a national and a local agency from June to August 2025.

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<li>We chose to partner with a local agency in North Richland Hills and began the application process in September.

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<li>We passed our background checks in October and became approved "eligible adoptive parents" in Texas!

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<li>Our goal is to complete our home study by the end of January.

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<li>We have saved $15,000 for adoption, and we will start applying for grants once our home study is approved to further help cover the cost.

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<li>We plan to be an "active waiting family" in March-April of 2026.

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<div>We are so grateful for every bit of encouragement and prayer we've already received over the last few months. The best is yet to come, and I plan to share updates while we wait for the baby we've always known we'd meet. Baby Hawkins #4 coming soon.

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Anonymous

Amanda Culver

Aislinn Blankenship

Jessica Pope

Annika McKinney

Melody Allen

Erin Veronica Runkle

Nancy Johnson

Megan Farris

Ken Whisler

Allie Faulkner

Brett Sickles

Karen Lawson

Ally Joven

Lauren Piner

Katherine French French

John Wilson

Deborah Shelstead

Kelsey Durant

Support Our Adoption Journey-Adding a Hawkling to the Kettle

Support Our Adoption Journey-Adding a Hawkling to the Kettle

Still $4,965 to go. Help us build momentum.