Adoption - The Nason's Journey

Have you ever found yourself at a crossroad of an incredible, life changing opportunity – and known, without a doubt, that you are in the right place, at the right time and above all, that it is the right thing to do – but you have absolutely no idea how you are going to make it happen?   Well, this is where we stand in our blessed journey of parenthood.

My wife Carla and I have been selected as potential adoptive parents to a beautiful baby boy – expecting to make his arrival this July.   Although he hasn’t been born yet, we KNOW he is beautiful, and we are emotionally & spiritually confident that this child is meant to become part of our family.   He will be welcomed into our family not only by two doting parents, but his older sister, who was adopted six years ago. 

As you probably know, adoption in the United States is a costly process.  No matter the need of a child or the love waiting in the wings by eager parents, in the end it boils down to being able to afford to adopt.  After extensive and thoughtful discussion, we decided to bring our story public and start this campaign – in hopes of raising enough to cover some, if not all, adoption costs.

So who are the Nason’s and how did we get here to this crossroad?  Well, our adoption story begins nearly sixteen years ago…

Back in 1999, we were living in Kingman, AZ and began discussing starting our family.  Carla had a small feeling that she may have difficulty getting pregnant, and she began medical evaluations to see if pregnancy was an option. 

Unbeknownst to us, God was already at work, laying the groundwork for parenthood in our lives.  It would all center on a relationship with a family, while we lived In Kingman, which would in the future, bring us full circle to this crossroad.

Carla was eventually diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  This is a hormonal disorder that prevents her from producing and releasing mature eggs for conception.  It is treatable and many patients have eventually conceived.  She began fertility treatments and we started our journey. 

The journey led, initially, to countless disappointing infertility treatments, becoming foster parents and finally, with the adoption of our precious daughter, Kayla.  Kayla is the light of our lives and truly a God-given gift.  A couple of years ago, Kayla asked us for a sibling; a baby sister, to be exact.  Knowing that adoption would be our only resource, we began to discuss the process again. 

Every time we would start the actual process however, something happened to derail our progress.  Carla lost her mother, and we needed to allow her time and space to grieve.  A year later, she had gastric surgery and eight months after that, had to have her gall bladder removed.  Then, Shawn accepted a position with Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and we relocated our family from Texas.  We had pretty much abandoned the idea of a sibling for Kayla.  But, God had different plans…

Upon moving to Cincinnati, we began our search for our new church home and found it in People’s Church.  Our first Sunday there, we knew we were home.  One particular Sunday, the church did a presentation on their ministries supporting foster care and adoption.  Carla and I looked at each other in disbelief.  (In hindsight, we don’t know why we were shocked because this is the way God has always worked in our lives.)  We knew that it was time to start the process again.  We didn’t really know how or where to start, so we attended the ministry fair during the foster/adoption focus week.  We got some information and began to ask God for direction as to where to go and how to get started.  As we waited for instruction, Carla got a phone call one day.

A friend of ours contacted her to get some guidance on an issue.  This phone call came from a friend that we had met while we were living in Kingman, AZ.  (Remember that groundwork God was laying?  Watch where this is going!)  The caller was the wife of in the family we had become close to while living in Arizona.  She contacted Carla to ask for guidance on adoption.  One of her daughters had become pregnant and had decided to place the child for adoption. They didn’t know where to begin.  At the end of the phone call, she told Carla how she hoped that they were able to find parents for this child, who would be as wonderful to it as we were to Kayla.  She said that she would use us as a guide when they picked the potential parents.  Then she asked Carla…would we consider being the adoptive parents for this child?

Carla was speechless for a moment and then shared with her that, in fact, we had been discussing starting the adoption process again.  Carla said that she would discuss it with Shawn and then call her back to confirm.  When Carla told Shawn of this conversation, he was a little apprehensive because I knew that we might have difficulty with the finances.  However, when you see how God had ordained this from the beginning, all the way back in 1999 to now; you know you have to say “Yes.” 

So, here we are.  We have begun the process and are close to completing the home study - and getting closer to the baby’s due date.  We recently found out that the baby is a boy.  Kayla is ecstatic about being a big sister.  We were afraid that she would be terribly disappointed that it wasn’t a girl, but she said, “I don’t care about that anymore.  I just want a baby sibling.  I want to be a big sister.”  And so, she shall.

While we are doing everything we can to make this happen, we may still be short financially.  This is where you come in; you who are reading this and perhaps feel moved to help. 

A normal private adoption costs anywhere from $15,000 to $35,000 depending on the type and agency.  An adoption like ours is a little different.  We still have to pay an agency for the home study, cover court fees, fingerprinting and background checks - and then we have to pay for the birth mother’s medical costs.  Not to mention, we will have travel costs in order to bring the baby home from Arizona.  It is expected that we will have to stay two to three weeks in Arizona once the baby is born, allowing for all the adoption paperwork to be finalized. 

Taking into consideration the financial estimates and quotes provided by the attorneys, the adoption agency, and the average medical expense for a normal birth here in the US, our strongest and most conservative estimate from start to finish, is expected to be upwards of $20,000.   We have some funds ready to go, but not nearly enough to cover the entire process.  As most of the costs must be paid in a lump sum, and due to our time restraint, we made the decision to reach out and ask for help.    

Thank you for taking the time to read our story.  If we have touched your heart and you are moved to help our family in achieving our goal of adopting this precious baby boy, we would appreciate your donation, of any measure, to our adoption fund.  

It does not matter how small an amount you may have to share.  We are eternally grateful for any measure of generosity and support which moves us closer to the blessed goal of becoming parents again.  If you cannot afford to give, please keep us in your prayers.  We need those just as much.

With warmest regards,

Shawn and Carla Nason