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November Update

The following post is from November 13, 2017. Please keep in mind that our adoption journey has changed, and you should read our most recent posts to see where we are headed!

After a week long vacation followed by Aaron being in Uganda for two weeks, it's been a while since we've given an update on our adoption progress. Thank you to all of you who consistently show your support by checking in with us and asking about how things are progressing. Here's a brief update on where we are in the process:

HOME STUDY VISITS:
We are required to do four home study visits with our adoption counselor before we can submit a profile book to be shared with a birth mom. We have completed two of our four visits, and should have the third visit before the end of November. Lord willing this means that we will complete our visits before for the Christmas holiday season sets in!

HOME STUDY REQUIREMENTS:
As part of our home study process, we each have to complete 10 hours of adoption education. Topics we are encouraged to learn about include:

  • Preparing to raise a child who is a different race or ethnicity than the rest of our family.
  • How to talk about adoption with our biological children.
  • How to share our child's adoption story with her progressively and appropriately as she ages.
  • How to help our daughter process the grief that comes with relinquishment & adoption.
  • How to answer awkward questions that are asked in public or in front of our daughter.

We have been watching videos and reading different resources for this education and hope to have all of our 10 hours submitted at the time of our final home study visit.

There are other requirements with the home study such as getting a physical from our doctor and completing lots of paperwork. Thankfully we have completed most of the paperwork and we both have scheduled appointments for our physicals.

FUNDRAISING
A lot of you have inquired about how things are coming with our fund-raising efforts. Here's where we stand:

  • We'll need somewhere around $25,000 when all is said and done in regards to the adoption.
  • Before our home study can be completed and before our agency can share our profile book with a birth mom, we'll need $13,000 of the total mentioned above.
  • We currently have raised $7,500 between web sales and donations! We're over half way to being able to complete our home study!
  • Upon the completion of our home study, we will be eligible to apply for grants to aid in reaching our total fund raising goal of $25,000.

HOW TO HELP
November is National Adoption Month, and an anonymous donor has agreed to match up to $3500 in donations until the end of November! If you're interested in donating to our adoption, now is a great time to do it because you can literally double your donation thanks to these donors. If you'd like to make a donation, visit our crowd-funding site and hit the "Give to This Adoption" button.

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