Overall Adoption Process

Thank you everyone for your overwhelming support and encouragement! Allie & I are super excited about this process and look forward to sharing it with you. As we had many conversations with family over Christmas, we realized we should put a post up to share with you how this whole thing works.

1. We signed a contract with Lifetime Adoption earlier this month which locks in our place in their program. They only accept so many couples into their program at a time. There were also some financial benefits to signing a contract to hold our place before the new year. We now have six months to raise the rest of the money.

2. To raise funds, we are sending out support letters to friends & family. We're also planning to apply for several adoption grants and host two fundraisers this Spring (garage sale & photo shoot).

3. Prior to being able to apply for grants and before being allowed to adopt, we must complete a home study. It's important to raise the $3,000 necessary to do the home study as soon as possible so that we can have as much time as possible to apply for adoption grants. Most grants require that the home study be done AND that the child NOT be placed yet. In other words, there's a very specific time frame in which we have to apply for these grants.

4. We have up to six months to raise the rest of the fees owed to Lifetime Adoption. Once those fees are paid in full, Lifetime will begin showing our profile to expecting birth mothers. This could happen sooner than 6 months if funds are raised quicker. Birth mothers typically have a few preferences about the family they'd like their child to be placed with. If we match the criteria, we'll be shown to them for consideration.

5. Once a birth mother selects Allie & I to parent their child, we're considered "matched" and we wait for the child to be born. This could be days or months depending on where the pregnancy is at.

6. Most adoptions through Lifetime involve the adoptive parents going to the hospital for the birth and being able to take the baby home from the hospital. We'll be waiting for that phone call and need to be able to leave at a moments notice.

7. After the baby is in the home, there are a few months of finalization for the adoption before it's 100% solidified. The birth mother has a certain time frame to change her mind and the state requires a followup by the home study organization to ensure everything is going well. Then the lawyers finalize the paperwork, a judge signs it, and THEN everything is set.

So those are most of the logistical details of how this works. Let us know if you have any questions!

Ryan & Allie

The contract is signed!

We just wanted to say thank you for everyone's amazing words of encouragement! Your thoughts and prayers mean so much to us. On Friday (two days ago) we officially signed the contract and put down a deposit for Lifetime Adoption. We now have up to 6 months to raise the rest of the money and whenever that happens we then get shown to birth mothers and pray for a match. But in the meantime, we will be working on our home study and fundraisers. We are planning to do a garage sale and photo shoot fundraiser, but those won't be until the spring. So more details to come, but we want to start spreading the word.

We will continue to post on the blog with updates. Please be sure to enter your email address on the right side of the blog to subscribe and be notified when new posts are made.

Again, we thank you for your love and support! We have such amazing family and friends!

Ryan & Allie

We're having a baby! (read full post please)

Did we get your attention? We wanted to let you know about something that's been on our hearts since before marriage. We've known for a long time that adoption would likely be part of our family and this is our public announcement that we are beginning to actively pursue adoption. In our research of various domestic adoption agencies over the last few months, we've settled on Lifetime Adoption (http://www.lifetimeadoption.com/) as the agency we'd like to work with. Since pregnancy is still an option for us, this organization is appealing because they allow for a temporary break from seeking a birth mother match if Allie were to become pregnant, without any penalties.

We wanted to start this blog to keep our friends and family informed about this new chapter in our lives. Please see below as this process will likely involve you in one way or another.

Here's how:

1. Your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement are greatly appreciated as this can be quite the journey from stories we've heard.
2. Down the road, we will be seeking financial support through donations and fundraisers to help in the costs associated with adoption (up to $30,000 from what we've learned so far).
3. RIGHT NOW. Not all adoptions are through agencies. On occasion, a birth mother and an adoptive family meet through a mutual acquaintance. While many of the processes are the same, much of the waiting period and some of the costs of the agency are reduced in this form of adoption. If you know of someone struggling with the decision to parent or put up for adoption their unborn child or someone considering abortion, please prayerfully consider having a conversation with them and let them know that Allie & I are excited to be parents and would like the opportunity to help them explore their options. Please note that this is NOT limited to Minnesota, but rather anyone throughout the US.

Thanks for reading. We welcome your support and look forward to this journey!
Ryan & Allie