August Update!
Thanks to your kindness and generosity, we have reached approximately 55% of our fundraising goal!
From the bottom of our hearts, we want to THANK YOU! Whether you have purchased t-shirts, donated, held fundraisers on our behalf, shared our posts and information with others, or reached out with encouraging thoughts and words, you have all loved and supported us beyond what we could have imagined. There are no words to express how grateful we are to each of you.
Here is a quick update:
It has been almost three months since we became active and starting receiving cases (*more info). We have seen approximately 15 cases and have said YES to over half of those. Some weeks we receive two to four cases, sometimes all in one day, and other weeks we receive none. Our consultant told us from the beginning to be prepared for an ebb and flow with the number of cases we would see each week, so we were expecting it, but it’s easier to understand than to accept. This time has been incredibly difficult for us both! Aaron and I struggle with different aspects of this process, and it requires us to lean on each other and our close friends and family. We know that the Lord’s timing is perfect, and we are praying daily for patience. It feels like we will be stuck in this period of waiting forever, but we know it will be worth every minute when we are finally matched and bring our precious child home at last.
Thank you again for all your love and support!
*For those of you who are interested, you can read more below about the process of receiving cases and what it entails:
How cases work with our consultants: We receive cases by email, the subject line contains either the birth mother's name or her case number. Most, but not all, of them come with documents attached, providing information on the birth mom and the baby. We typically get the birth mother's social and medical history (including information about substance abuse history and medical complications) and the sex and due date of the baby. At times we get a full family history (medical information from grandparents, etc.) and information on the birth father, and other times we don't. Sometimes we get even less information, such as only the parents' race and the baby's sex, if known, and due date. We also always get a breakdown of expenses and financial risk. On the cases we have seen so far, the financial risk has ranged between $0 and $10,000. This number is the amount of money we would lose if the match fell through (usually because a mother changes her mind or there were unforeseen complications during birth) and is typically a percentage of the agency fee plus any living expenses already paid to the mother.
These are all the details we have to consider each time we receive a new case. When we receive a case, the average turn around time for us to respond (we must give a yes or no answer to each case) is typically 12 to 24 hours. We have had to learn how to use logic, prayer, and emotions to come to a decision quickly. It can be overwhelming if you don't figure out some systematic way to sift through the given information, but you can also easily get discouraged if you don't let your heart get involved at all. Balance is everything right now.
If any of you are thinking about adoption or are already in the middle of it, we’d love to share our experiences with you and hear about where you are in your journey.
With love,
Tiffany & Aaron
