Dear Friends and Family,

Dear Friends and Family,

We want to thank you again for your support this year as we have walked through the difficult process of adoption. We have not updated in awhile because, for the last three months, we have been living in a state of unknown. On March 2nd, the Ugandan Parliament passed a law which would make adoption impossible for us, as well as most other foreigners. That same week we got matched with two little girls, Claire (age 3 ½) and Gorrett (age 1 ½). After talking with our agency, we decided to go forward with the adoption despite the law with the hope that we could complete the adoption before the President signed the law. Obviously this has been a very stressful three months.

Earlier this month we got back the results of the family investigation for the girls. Their father is deceased, the mother is HIV+ and the girls are living with an uncle who struggles to meet their needs. On top of daily living expenses, school cost money in Uganda and one of the girls also needs HIV medication. The immediate family is very supportive of the adoption believing that this is what is best for the girls but when a cousin of the mother was interviewed he would not support adoption (nor would he help the girls). Since that cousin could come to court and testify against the adoption, the attorney concluded the adoption too risky to move forward. Knowing the current situation in Uganda, we have decided not to move forward with matching with other Ugandan children. We are currently investigating ways to monetarily support the girls. If you are interested in helping or having the money you donated to us go to this, please email or call us.

Our plan B is staying with the same adoption agency and going on a waitlist for children from another, more stable, country. This is a very lengthy process and is estimated to take 4-6 years to be matched. This is because we are asking for siblings and this is rare in other countries. We still feel like adoption is in our future and want to continue working with our excellent agency. There are other options for countries but we do not want to sign onto another unstable country that might fail mid-year. Staying with this agency will allow us not to lose most of the $10,000 we have put into adoption so far. In the meantime, we will be working through fertility procedures.

You have helped us raise a lot of money, over $35,000 total. We are so thankful for your love and support. Our plan has obviously changed and we completely understand if you would like a refund for the money you have given us for our Ugandan adoption. The cost of an adoption in another country is about the same (a little more) than an adoption in Uganda but it will not happen for a few years. Another option for your donation is for us to donate the money to help support Claire and Gorrett (if we cannot find a reliable way to do this, we will donate that money to an organization that works with Ugandan children). Finally, you could also choose to donate your contribution towards our fertility plan. Please let us know what you would prefer.

Again, we are beyond blessed with our support network. Thank you for walking through this journey alongside us.

Love,

Amy and David

Update

Dear Family and Friends,

We have had a challenging and unnerving month. Our agency has given us the news that Uganda has a good chance of closing their program from adoptions in June. The bill doing this is currently on the floor of the Uganda Senate. Our adoption has scheduled to be completed around October or November, well past this deadline. After talking with our agency we have decided to fast-track our adoption. We are now scheduled adopt not in November… or August… but in MAY!!! We have completed the paper chase and now just wait for our referral to match us with our children. Please keep us in your prayers.

 

Onto the paper chase!

Thank you. David and I have been overwhelmed by your generous support.  Thank you for being here for us through your prayers, your presence, and your wallet.  We have raised just under $3,000 so far from friends, family, even my wonderful students. We appreciate every donation and have a new goal for raising a total of $5,000 by Thanksgiving.  Now that the homestudy is almost complete, we will begin applying for grants.

Over the past four months I have realized  that adoption is no easy accomplishment.  I always thought having children would be easy… nay, fun!  This is an ordeal that has tested our patience, sanity, and relationship.  I feel like the process of adoption is a tour of our country’s bureaucracy.  We have been working with a fantastic agency to finish our homestudy, which is finally in the last stages of competition.  We have been through cultural training; have met with social workers about every imaginable personal piece of our life; we have collected paperwork from our friends, mentors, doctors, employers, banks and more.  Each step seemed simple until it became a Hydra, taking frustrating weeks to destroy.

While we are waiting to match with our future children, we are in a stage called the “paper chase”.  It is the period of time in which we track down paperwork for the US government and the Ugandan government in order take children out of Uganda and into the US.  It is suppose to be one of the most difficult times of the adoption process because we are navigating not only the US bureaucracy, but also the Ugandan bureaucracy. Right now, we are just so excited to move onto the next stage of adoption.  Please send us your thoughts and prayers to help us though the process.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

GoFundMe Campaign Launched

For three years we have struggled with infertitlity, miscarriages, hope, and disappointment. After our last round of fertility treatment proved unsuccessful yet again, we decided it was time to try something else.

Before we even began trying to get pregnant, we had discussed adopting. We always knew that adoption lay in our future, but biology has sped up our timing.

For months we have been researching and discussing all the decisions that come with adoption. Now that we have settled in Cleveland, we feel it is time to really put our energy into actively finding our children.

We have found an agency that we like and trust that works in Uganda. A beautiful country that we will happily return to for heritage trips.We are working with a local social worker who is conducting our homestudy, and generally advising us through this process.

And now we are launching a fundraising campaign.
Adoption can be very expensive. And while we are actively seeking grants and other financial assistance, we also know that we are blessed to have so many people in our lives that love and support us.

So today, we ask you to help in any (or all) of the following ways:

1) Pray for us.
This will be a long and arduous process, following years of disappointment. In many ways, we have forgotten how to hope. Please consider offering emotional and/or spiritual support in whatever way you feel you can. If you are someone who prays, please pray for patience and guidance and grace on this journey.

2) Donate.
Bringing home our children will not be cheap, and every little bit will help. Please consider donating whatever amount you can to help us find our children. You can send us a check or donate directly through our GoFundMe page: GoFundMe.com/davidandamy

3) Spread the Word
Support can come from far and wide. Even small support from distanced friends and even strangers can be a blessing. Please consider sending this page to your network.