Hello our dear family and friends,

We met in 2011 when Brennen was 14 and Tiffany was 15. We started dating one year later. We dated for over three years, making our way through high school, walking through Tiffany’s mother’s accident, and coming to Christ together. At the end of those three and a half years, we got married on July 4th, 2015. We were surrounded by loved ones who celebrated with us and sent us off on a new adventure: wedded life together.

The adventure began in Florida. We started driving south the same night as our wedding, and after a few days we arrived at our first home, a two-bedroom condo nestled among alligators, the elderly, and lots of humidity. Brennen studied, Tiffany worked, and we made a lot of friends and memories. However, it turned out that this would only be a pit stop for us. We left after one year and made our way to Grand Rapids, MI.

We didn’t really know anybody there, but Brennen had made contact with a local pastor before we left. This connection turned out to be vital. After two long days that included a trailer fire, accommodation troubles, driving separately, and a stressed out cat, we made it to Grand Rapids and were welcomed by the pastor and his wife with kind smiles and a room to stay the night. We joined their church and ended up living in Grand Rapids for three years. During this time we made even more lifelong friendships, Brennen got his Bachelor's degree, and Tiffany found a job that she still has to this day. We also added a puppy, Winchester, to the mix. He was, and still is, the best boy. Overall, it was a full, but also challenging, season for us both. Even so, we got through it by God’s grace and began looking toward what might be next.

Ever since Brennen came to faith in high school he wanted to go into ministry. With his Bachelor’s degree complete it was time to start looking at seminaries, which Tiffany can tell you was a loooooong conversation. “Should we stay local or go elsewhere?” “Will we fit in better at this school or that school?” “How in the world can you talk to so many admissions representatives each week, Brennen?” Thankfully, we gained clarity after our pastor and a fellow congregant encouraged us to visit a seminary out in California.

We never thought that we would move so far away, but as soon as we visited we knew that this would be our next step. And so, once again cheered on by our loved ones, we went off on a new adventure. California turned out to be the longest we’d lived somewhere as a couple (so far), and we experienced both incomparable highs and lows while there.

We made so many friends and were able to develop a rich community of support and love. We went to so many natural parks and simply enjoyed the wonders of God’s creation. Brennen absolutely loved school--the professors, his classmates, and of course the sunshine. Tiffany loved turning our little apartment into a home. And of course we both loved going to get coffee each week.

It truly was an amazing time, and it was during this time that we started trying to have a child. It only took a few months before Tiffany surprised Brennen with the news that we were going to have a kid. We were overjoyed. Unfortunately, shortly after the COVID-19 shutdown, we experienced our first miscarriage. We went to the hospital, but Brennen couldn’t go in due to COVID restrictions. Tiffany suffered in a hospital room alone, while Brennen suffered in the parking lot, separated by space but joined in a shared pain.

We were absolutely devastated and cut off from the rest of the world. Loved ones wept with us, and dear friends brought us meals. It was a dark time, but we were determined to try again, and by the Lord’s grace we were able to get pregnant again. Unfortunately we experienced another miscarriage, and then another, and then another… four children we would never get to meet. And then, for reasons unknown, we were unable to conceive again, which has remained the case to this day.

Even so, we have never given up hope that the Lord will bless us with the family He wants for us, whatever that may look like. This is what has led us to this moment, and it’s likely what led you to this page. We have always wanted to adopt, and these events have merely moved up our timeframe. It’s a beautiful privilege to partner with a birthmother and honor her desire to love and care for her child through the adoption process. We want to welcome a child as our own to raise, love, encourage, nurture, and delight in.

This partnership, however, is expensive (and understandably so). Neither of us have chosen the most profitable of careers (duh), but our hope is that this won’t be a hindrance to starting a family.That is why we made this page. Just as we hope to partner with a birthmother, we also humbly ask you to consider partnering with us to make it possible. It’s no small ask, we know, but we appreciate any level of support and partnership you may feel inclined to provide.

That said, we truly mean it when we also ask that you support us through prayer. Just like our invitation is no small ask, the process of adoption is no small task. It’s weighty, it’s emotional, but it’s also a tremendous opportunity. We need your prayers and support in all of their forms, and we appreciate the incalculable ways that so many of you have already supported and loved us through some of our darkest moments.

We love you all, and we look forward to one more new adventure: Becoming mom and dad to a most precious child.

Sincerely yours,

Brennen & Tiffany Winter

Where we are currently at in the process is we are completing our formal application. The basic steps from here look like:

- Formal application approved

- Gather all of the paperwork & prepare for the homestudy

- Complete the homestudy

- Get homestudy approval

- Get matched with a birth mom

- Temporary custody of the child/birth parents sign over rights

- Adoption finalized

This is a very simplified step by step of what we can expect if things go smoothly. We will do our best to keep you updated along the way with where we are at but there will be many details we will not be sharing in order to protect the birth mom’s privacy and story along with our future childs.

*If you would like to donate to our adoption fund but do not want processing fees taken out please feel free to reach out to us. If you don’t have either of our numbers you can email me at [email redacted]

** We will be updating our goal amount if we receive other donations outside of Go Fund Me.

We also wanted to create a fun memento for our adoption journey that others could enjoy with us, so Brennen and I both designed a t-shirt. Here you can find the link to our t-shirt fundraiser: Winter Family T-Shirt Fundraiser