Here’s a glimpse into our adoption timeline and resources we used. Hopefully this is encouraging to anyone looking into adoption or wanting to know more about what our journey has looked like so far.

May 2014 Jon first brought up the idea of starting to pursue adoption. Before we were married we knew that having a child biologically would most likely not be an option for us, so we had previously discussed adoption as the way we would build our family.

I began researching agencies and different types of adoption: foster care, private domestic adoption, using an adoption attorney instead of an agency, or international adoption. Building Your Family was very helpful to me, especially a few of the worksheets at this link. http://buildingyourfamily.com/resources/how-to-start-the-adoption-process/. The two most helpful worksheets were “What Kind of Adoption is Right for You?” and “How to Choose an Adoption Agency.”

During this time, I requested information from Bethany Christian Services’ website.

https://www.bethany.org/adoption/infant-adoption

July 2014 Jon and I went to a domestic infant adoption orientation at Bethany Christian Services to see if we connected with the agency and their adoption process. After the meeting, we took a few months to think and pray and research our options. The Creating a Family site was very helpful to us during this time.

https://creatingafamily.org/adoption/. If you go to the iTunes store and search Creating a Family, there’s a great podcast that I highly recommend to anyone considering adoption.

September 2014 We decided to take steps forward to begin the adoption process through Bethany Christian Services. We paid the necessary fee and the paperwork packet was mailed to us. The packet was daunting at first because it was so heavy, but we slowly but surely worked through it all.

October 2014 Jon and I got our fingerprints for Livescan done and finished the paperwork for the DMV check. We also took an infant CPR class and got certified. These are a few of the requirements needed in order to start the home study process.

December 2014-April 2015 During this time, we did interviews with our agency for the home study, an inspection of our home was done, and we purchased our first baby item: a Pack ‘n Play.

April 17, 2015 Our home study was done and we were officially approved and put on the waiting list for adoption!

July 2016 We were placed with our sweet daughter, Adeline!

December 2017 On the waiting list to adopt again.

March 2019 We were placed with our second baby girl, Charlotte!

February 2020 On the waiting list for baby #3

May 2021 We were placed with our third baby girl, Eleanor!

September 2022 We started working with Strong Families

December 2022 On a weekend away, Jon and I decided to adopt for a 4th time! We started researching agencies right away because ours closed their infant domestic adoption program.

February 2023 We are working with Nightlight Christian adoptions and are working on getting our home study done!

April 18 2023 Our home study is officially done!

May 2023 We are fundraising and applying for adoption grants for our 4th adoption.