We’re adopting!

As most of you know, Ryan and I have been trying to conceive for almost 4 years now, with no success. After 4 miscarriages and many tests, ultrasounds, blood work, medications, lifestyle changes, supplements, and everything else in-between, we are still left with no definitive answers or “fixes” to our unexplained infertility.

We have decided to go the adoption route instead of putting ourselves through any more physical, emotional, and mental anguish trying to conceive on our own with no answers or success. If you know Ryan and me even somewhat well, you know we are not usually ones to ask for help. After many friends and family convincing us to start a GoFundMe, we finally decided to give it a go.

Although adoption is a beautiful thing, it is insanely expensive. The cost of adoption depends on where you live, where you’re looking to adopt from, and what all is involved. (We are more than happy to answer any questions you may have about all the details involved in this; we just wanted to keep this as short and sweet as we could!)

We decided to adopt locally as it is the most “affordable” option. The adoption agency costs are around $25,000. On top of that, there are medical costs we would be responsible for pertaining to the baby and birth mother at the time of birth, as well as the adoption attorney fees and many other miscellaneous expenses. In total, we are looking at roughly $53,000 in costs.

Ryan and I have been working extra hard to save up by working lots of overtime, selling anything we reasonably can, and doing side hustles like bake sales, making and selling things, and cutting back on things we don’t need. Fundraising can get us to our goal faster than we can get there on our own. Adoption can take up to a year start to finish if everything goes perfectly smooth. We were not given a definite time frame as it could take anywhere from a few months to a few years depending on when we get picked, the court system, and getting through numerous background checks among other things. (Again, if you have any questions about this process, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We are more than happy to answer them.)

We truly appreciate everything you all have done for us so far in supporting us on this journey and we appreciate you taking the time to read about our story, sharing it with your friends and family, or being so kind and donating. Truly anything helps and we are so, so, so grateful to be surrounded by such loving and supportive friends and family and we can’t wait to have a little one to bring into this amazing village and share the love with!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Ryan and Amanda