The Storms May Rage, But Hope Is Seen

The Storms May Rage, But Hope Is Seen

 

It has been a crazy month.  It has been full of promises, storms, new starts, patience, and a renewed hope. Starting a new school year is always stressful, but add into the mix our adoption process, and it brings it to a whole new level.  I liken it to working another full-time job.  I usually love that I am involved in many things and love helping others, but I am seeing this new season of life requires me to pull back and reevaluate what I should be a part of and take on.  This adoption process is like going through a pregnancy/labor, which also makes embryo adoption just as unique because I will also go through actual pregnancy/labor. I am trying to get better at saying no, and being OK with saying no.  My family and my mental sanity needs to come first. Our future children need to be our first priority and for this process that means take care of us. 

 

 

Over this summer we found a beautiful and unexpected match with a family we met through Facebook. We are very excited to come close to finishing our mediation/open contract with them.  They are a truly lovely family full of love and we feel blessed and humbled that they chose us to adopt their embryos/embabies.

 

We also had an unexpected bump in the road with the other family we were to be matched with through our organization NEDC.  Originally I told you that they accepted us to adopt their embryos, but through mediation, much prayer, and tears we found it would not be a match that would work.  It was very hard to face this because we felt drawn to them and felt that out of 200 names, they would be the other family we would work with.  It took a week or so to feel ready to choose another family. All the while, in the back of our minds, wondering if it would work out as well.  But this process requires faith and trusting in the unknowns. We have since asked to adopt from another family and they accepted to go into mediation with us.  Please continue to pray for us and the donor family and that we will know that this will be a good match for both of us.

 

 

I also did something last week that I have felt God calling me back to and I have not done in almost 10 years, speak/preach.  Last week I spoke in front of our woman's group at church on the aptly named  topic "There Will Be Storms".  I was very nervous, but knew this was the right time to speak about Jon and I's journey while encouraging other women through their storms in life.  I have since had so many women from my church come up to me, congratulate me, tell me they are praying for Jon and I,  and tell me how it impacted them.  I am encouraged that God can use us to reach others and pray that I will continue to do this everyday.

 

 

With all that being said, Jon and I will be taking a leap of faith and trying for our first transfer of embryos in November!  I also received all the medications in the mail today, so thus begins our journey and hoping that a pregnancy will result.  PLEASE keep us in your prayers as we venture into something so unknown. Pray that I will do well on the meds and also pray for Jon as my hormones may get wacky ha ha.   The one thing we know, God is with us through this!

 

 

My medications.

 

 

Thank-you for your continued love and support!  Your words and prayers have meant the world to us.  We still have funds to raise, and if you feel led, take a look at our GoFundme site below.  Much blessings to you and yours!

 

 

https://www.gofundme.com/jonandrea2adopt

Hope and Family

Hope and Family 

For 7 years this October, Jon and I have been a beautiful family of two. I could not have asked for a better husband, best friend, partner, and love of my life.  We have also been surrounded by family. When I say family, I mean not just our blood family, but also our friends who have been there. We've been through ups and downs in this long process of infertility, grieving, and now our embryo adoption. Jon and I have been pillars of strength for each other when the other lost hope, got frustrated, or needed a reminder of our dream.  We've had pillars of strength from our family and friends through a hug, prayers, a listening ear, encouragement and a good kick in the pants. You all who have been cheering us on each step of the way have taken our hand and are a part of the reason our family will continue to grow.

The last time we updated all of you we were in the midst of choosing from 200 donor/genetic families to 11 and then waiting to hear back from the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) in Tennessee. We did hear back from NEDC in an e-mail and we were told from the 11 that we sent, only 7 were still available. We decided to take some time to read over the extended profiles and pray about which families we would work with and the embryos that we would adopt from them. 

The same week we got this e-mail, something unexpected happened that can only be explained through God's guiding hand.  I (Andrea) am a part of an embryo adoption support group on Facebook. On there, people who are going through the process share their experiences, highs, lows, ask questions and encourage each other. One day, I got a private message from a woman who was also a part of this group. She asked if we had chosen our embryos yet and that her and her husband were looking for a family to donate/adopt their embryos to. She said she was drawn to us because we live in Minnesota, where her embryos are, and also Jon has characteristics similar to her husband.  I was taken aback because this is something that had never happened before.  Over the next week we took the time to message many questions getting to know each other.  Through these questions and conversations we came to see that our hopes, dreams, and goals in this process matched!  We decided to see what it would take to try to do the process here in Minnesota instead of through NEDC.  Through many phone calls to fertility clinics, the place where the embryos are frozen, family attorneys, we found the costs were adding up and that the process would be more complicated than we anticipated.  In order to get everything done, it would be another 3-6 months. 

Jon and I have come to know that this is the way infertility and adoption works.  You have a mountain high moment of hope and excitement and then another hurdle to jump through in order to get there. The amazing part of this process is that through this new found relationship with the woman who contacted us, they understood and could emphasize with our process. I told her I wanted to try to talk to a few more people to see if I could find a better way.  I contacted NEDC and told them what had happened and asked how it would be different if the family donated their embryos to us through them.  I came to find out that NEDC does not charge the donor family at all.  They would have the embryos shipped to NEDC in TN.  Then I asked her about the timeline and how long we would have to wait.  She said if everyone is getting what they need to done, then it should take only 4 to 6 weeks! She said she will try to put a rush on everything so that Jon and I can even have a chance to make it for their November transfers! That being said, I spoke with the donor/adoptive family about this and they agreed that this is what they would like to go through as well!! So we are matched!!

The funny part is that the embryos are in Minnesota, but they will be shipped to TN because it turned out to be the easiest, most affordable, and most reliable route. Another thing to note is that NEDC likes their adoptive couples to adopt at least 5 to 6 embryos to ensure the best chance of pregnancy.  The family we are working with now has 3 embryos, so because of this we are choosing another family to adopt from that has 3 embryos as well. This does not mean that all will be transferred at once.  There are so many unknowns in this process and choices that have to be made because of those unknowns.  Some of the factors to consider are the quality of embryos, what happens when the embryos unthaw, and if we do not achieve pregnancy on the first attempt. If you have further questions about how this whole process works, I would love to chat with you as it is a fairly new process to many.

That being said, WE ARE SO EXCITED to be matched!  We still need your many prayers in this because we cannot control how this will turn out, but we can have faith that God has brought us to this and that God will provide us with a beautiful baby(babies) in His timing and His will. Please also pray for our donor families and the open relationship we will have with them.

There are still costs attached to this process and Jon and I are trying to brainstorm another fundraiser that we could do.  We've talked about a possible garage sale or another silent auction if there was enough of an interest.  If anyone has suggestions for possible ways for us to raise money, feel free to contact us.  As always we have our Go Fund me site for donations. God bless and have a wonderful day!


GoFund Me page:  https://www.gofundme.com/jonandrea2adopt

Preparation

Preparation

It's been 8 days since Jon and I's appointment at the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) in Tennessee. I would have updated sooner but after the appointment there was a lot that Jon and I had to process through and decide upon.  I am going to give you a summary of what happened that day to document our journey, but also share in the life that is embryo adoption.  

We arrived at the clinic at about 8:45am. I had to have a full bladder for my appointment, but thankfully years of training as a teacher has prepared me for this ha ha. It looked like a typical doctors office waiting room.  We filled out a little paperwork and waited to be called back.  The IVF nurse we've been emailing back and forth called us back, checked us in, and we waited again to see the Dr.Keenan who does all the embryo transfers.  He met us in his office with another doctor he was training.  He asked us about our medical history, what brought us to this point, our goals in this etc....Now granted while this conversation is going on I STILL have a full bladder, but again that teacher training really helps.  

I then finally had my examination with the lovely sperm mobile you see here hovering over me! At least they have an awesome sense of humor.  All I could think about is that my mother would make that ha ha. The fun and embarrassing part of the appointment is that I had to empty my bladder after one of the examinations to get another test/examination done.  This required wrapping that completely stupid, easily ripped, paper that we have to place over ourselves during examinations.  Am I right ladies!?!  I have a booty too, so "wrapping" this around myself is not happening without exposing the "Moon over Miami".  Oh, and no, the bathroom was not right next to my examination room. It was all the way down the hall right by the entrance where all the other patients come through. The nurse said she would be there to let me know when it was clear to walk back to the room, well....when I open the bathroom door to go back, who was not at her post??  Say hello to another patient's husband, and sir, say hello to me desperately trying to make sure all is covered while ripping the paper even more.... Ah well, adds to the awesomeness that is this journey and story ha ha!!

After the examinations, they brought us to another room with some chairs.  There we talked to Dr.Keenan and the doctor training with him.  He told us everything looked great and that we were medically cleared for an embryo implantation!  

Then, we met with Kathi, the Patient Coordinator, and Carol, the Embryologist. Kathi will be the one who will find genetic families for us to be matched with.  She will look at our profile, hobbies, education etc... and find matches and send them to us.  Carol will be the one who unthaws the embryos on the day of our implantation. We discussed with her how many we would be attempting to implant and how the process works.  We also are working with a woman in Michigan, Debra, who is reviewing our home study, and verifying our education on the process. NEDC works with her to complete the home study and contract side of things.  She will also be the one that is our mediator between the genetic family and us to help us on completing our open adoption contract (deciding how much communication we will have or contact we will have). Kathi will be in communication with Debra to know when she will start matching us with genetic families.

Next, we met with Juliana to talk about the financial side of things. Whoo hoo!  

Lastly, we met with Lynda, the IVF nurse we met at the beginning.  She gave us another folder of paperwork explaining the medications I will be on to prepare for implantation of the embryos.  Pills and two different kinds of injections.  I have to have a detailed calendar just to understand it all.  She also showed us around the area where we will be on the day of the implantation. 

Overall, the appointment took 3.5 hours and was a lot to digest.  We needed to decide if September is when we want to try to implant our embryos. We needed to decide how many embryos we are willing to have implanted.  Now because Jon and I want an open adoption, we also want the embryo to have both parents genetically related to the embryo, not egg donation or sperm donation.  We want our child to be able to know their genetic parents and siblings without having to deal with the anonymous side of things.  It was a big reason we decided to go this route.  Because of that choice, those families typically have less embryos (only 3-5).  Carol told us then we need to decide if we are ok with being matched with a backup genetic family and also are we ok with the possibility that two separate genetic families could be implanted at a time. In that case we would also need to have a genetic test done after the child is born to determine whose child they are. 

We have decided that we are going go for a September implantation no matter what.   This means having faith that we can raise at least up to $4,000-$5,000 by then.  We also decided that we would have up to 3 embryos implanted at the most. Finally, we decided to agree to being matched with a genetic family and a backup genetic family to ensure a better chance of pregnancy.  

Right now I am starting on prenatal vitamins, setting up our phone call with Debra, and starting to actually plan what I would like to do in the nursery.  I never wanted to plan out the nursery, because everything was so unknown, and so many hurdles to jump over.  But now, as we draw nearer to our beautiful baby(ies), I see myself having a desire to plan for these things that bring hope.  I am excited to soon be using the baby items we have.  To believe that all of this will one day be our reality is amazing!

Please continue to join us in prayer and support as we continue on this journey.  Encouraging words, loving friends and family, and financial gifts have all been a blessing to us!  I am sitting on my porch as the summer breeze blows through and thinking about how many people have a hand in helping us build our family.  It shows that family is bigger than just us, but those whose love has been shown to us. We will continue to keep you updated as new things arise.  Right now I, Andrea, am hosting a KEEP collective jewelry party online and on facebook in which 10% of the profits will go towards our adoption.  We as always, have a GoFundme page as well.  Every bit helps bring us closer to our goal of a September implantation! Blessings!

KEEP Collective online party website:  https://www.keepcollective.com/with/jenniferfinnesgard

GoFund Me page:  https://www.gofundme.com/jonandrea2adopt 

Nearing the Hope Dreamed For

There are so many mixes of emotions that Jon and I have been feeling lately.  We feel excitement for coming closer to our hope dreamed for of having a child. Andrea's amazing sister Hillary and her husband Eric have been beyond supportive by gifting us our first "baby gear". Passing by the car seat and bassinet everyday makes it more real. Yet, we still get hit with feelings of sadness when we see a family living life together. The other day we just held each other and cried saying "I want to be a mom" and "I want to be a dad".  This process has stretched us in faith and hope beyond anything we have gone through before.

Anyone who has gone through the infertility process and through the adoption process will be able to tell you that you are balancing on an edge of excitement, hope, patience, fear, sadness, anger, apathy, and not wanting to get "too" excited because there are so many unknowns.

But we have hope.  We believe.  We know this will happen.  So, we press forward to our dreams. We have now completed all our home study meetings and now are waiting for it to be approved soon.  We have also been working closely with the National Embryo Donation Center(NEDC) in Knoxville, TN to set-up our first initial appointment. We will meet with them June 20th.  This meeting is to see how Andrea's body responds to the medications required for implantation of the embryos and also to meet all those we will be working with in this process.  They also will do a "mock transfer" to ensure the process will go as planned.

NEDC only does transfers of embryos every other month, so our hope is to do our actual transfer in September, but if that does not work out, we will try for November.  In between our home study being approved and our hope of a Fall implantation, we will be working with NEDC to be matched with a genetic family to adopt embryos from.  Our hope is to have an open adoption and to create a relationship with them, so that our child(ren) can know their genetic family.

Now onto our next big step of faith, needing help from our friends and family.  In order to do a fall transfer, we will need to raise all the funds needed.  If we do not raise the funds needed this summer, we will not be able to have a transfer until we do. There are many costs associated with this process, and Jon and I are unable to do it on our own.  We do have faith that it can happen. Here is a summarized review of costs we are looking at.

Has Been Covered Through Donations and Out of Pocket
$4000 home study fees, initial fees to NEDC, medical

Yet to be Covered

By June 20th - $3690
medical, travel

By September - $6750
home study review by NEDC, medical procedures, paperwork/admin fees, open adoption mediation, travel

How Can You Help?

 

We are looking into many options for fundraising this summer, the first one we want to do is an online silent auction.  We have had many talented friends and family approach us and say they would create and donate items for us to sell.  The one thing we knew is that we have many friends and family across the country and living internationally that we would like to give the opportunity to get involved. So, we thought an online silent auction was a great answer for this.  We would like to have items and services on the silent auction (or anything else that creative people can think of for this).  We are now putting feelers out there to see if anyone is willing to donate to our silent auction. If you are donating items we will put up pictures of the items with a description and ask that you would cover the shipping cost to the person who "wins" the item.  If a service, (photo sessions, handyman services, etc...) we will ask that the people auctioning on this would live in the area you are able to come to do such services and that you would contact the person who "wins" to set-up the service.

Once we feel we have enough items/services to make a silent auction, we will then set a date/time range in which to start and stop the silent auction.  We will also ask that if you have friends or family members that would like to get involved as well, share this with them too!  The more the merrier!

 If you are interested in donating to the online silent auction, please e-mail Andrea at ajmorse1017@gmail.com instead of commenting on the blog or on a link to this blog.  
 

As always, if you would prefer to donate to our GoFundme site you can follow the link here:

https://www.gofundme.com/jonandrea2adopt

Thank-you so much for following us in this journey and we look forward to seeing our dreams of becoming a family become a reality.

New Starts and Changes

It has been a while since we have updated everyone on where we are in our embryo adoption process.  We have had some great starts and tough road blocks, but we are excited for what opportunities await us.

On Monday, February 15th we officially started our first home study meeting with New Life Family Services.  We are excited to be able to finally start this process that will bring us closer to building our family.  Our first meeting was together.  The next two meetings will be individual meetings with our social worker, and the final one will be in our home.

Originally we were seeking to work with an organization called Snowflake to match us with a genetic family for our embryos.  We started seeing a fertility doctor to help us prepare for embryo implantation. She told us she saw it very unlikely that they would work with Snowflake since they were not familiar with them and did not see them as being accredited.  They said if we wanted to work with Snowflake they would have to bring it to their medical board. 

Seeing that we had hit a snag in our plans, she did give us two other embryo donation/adoption centers to look into.  One in Florida and one in Tennessee. The one in Florida seemed more focused on donation and made it very difficult for us to obtain the open adoption we wanted to have with the genetic families, so that was another closed door. As we looked into the one in Tennessee, the National Embryo Donation Center(NEDC), it seemed to more closely align with our goals of having an open relationship with the genetic family. It also had the same focus on values that Jon and I wanted. We finally saw another light of hope!

After praying and long talks, we decided this was the place we wanted to work with to match us with the genetic family and our embryos.  We filled out the application and sent in the application fee. (Which was completely covered by the generous donations of our friends on our Go Fund Me site! Another praise Jesus moment!)

After a few days of  finishing the application to NEDC, we received a packet of more paperwork to fill-out for them (oh adoption and it's miles of paperwork).  The biggest thing we need to get done in order to start our matching process with NEDC, is the completion of our home study.  Once we complete the home study the matching process with NEDC will begin.  We do have the option to visit NEDC in Knoxville, TN for our initial consultation before completing the home study. We are still learning about NEDC, how they differ from Snowflake, and what they will require from us in this process.  As we find out more information, we hope to continue to keep everyone updated. 

Andrea has made significant changes in improving her nutrition and physical health. Through the support of a dear friend, Jillian, whom she met through a woman's bible study at church, she has been able to find encouragement and support in these changes. She also joined Crossfit Holdfast in Owatonna at the beginning of January. Everyone at Crossfit has also been so supportive and it has been wonderful to have a team to cheer her on, even though the workouts can be very difficult to do at times.  Through Crossfit, she has learned to push through the mental emotions that so often stop us from believing that we can do more than we know or imagine. 

Jon is also starting on an exciting opportunity of a new job on February 22nd in the same field through U.S. Bank. 

Please continue to pray for us as we work towards our goals of embryo adoption, pregnancy, and becoming parents.  We are so thankful for the outpouring of support from family and friends as we walk through each step of this journey.  We love having people we haven't seen in a while give us such warm encouragement and tell us that they are praying for us. We also ask that you consider and pray about supporting us financially on our GoFund me site.  Much love to you all and we will continue you to update you when we can!

http://www.gofundme.com/jonandrea2adopt

-Jon and Andrea

Paperwork is Done!!!!

Whoo hoo!  Our paperwork is complete and we mailed it today!  I (Andrea) thought it was fitting that I used my "Brave" pen to write the address on the envelope.  It felt like I was giving the woman at the post-office counter a piece of our hearts.  I almost felt like telling her to be careful with it, it contains trust, hope, and pain.  It was hard to let it go, not knowing what would happen or wondering if it would make it there.  This paperwork process was tough and long.  They ask you many personal questions that require you to be vulnerable. We needed to be brave in order to press in and remember what our end goal is, to build our family. Since we are doing the embryo adoption track, our paperwork is triple the work. 

First, we needed to finish the paperwork for our home study.  This included information for the agency, the state, and a 7 page autobiography from both Jon and I.  This was the paperwork that we sent in today.  

Second, we needed to complete "paperwork" for the application to the place that conducts the embryo adoptions, Snowflake.  Since they are based out of Colorado and California, we will do most of our interaction with them online or over the phone. We have completed this application, but we are waiting to send because we need to save enough money for the application fee.

Lastly, our final "paperwork"  was with our fertility clinic.  We will actually have our first appointment with them tomorrow, November 3rd! 

Even though this process was long, and at times we did not want to even look at another piece of paper, it was full of hope.  Each letter, every word, brought us one step closer to building our family.

Jon and I continue to be surrounded by truly wonderful family and friends who cheer us on as we complete each step of this process.  We are also changing our vocabulary from "if" to "when".  When you want something to happen in your life, changing your "if" to "when" is vital.  Instead of "If we have a child" to "When we have a child" brings us closer to HOPE.  There are no guarantees, and there is uncertainty abounding, but your mindset can change your course in life.  

Our next steps in the process is to WAIT and READ and PREPARE.  

WAIT. Once New Life Family Services approves our home study application, the process will take 3-5 months to complete.  We will meet with them about 5 times.  Four times at their office and once in our home. 

WAIT.Once Snowflake gets our application fee, we will wait to get more information on the next steps with them.  We will at some point need to create an online portfolio that genetic families will look at to choose us as a recipient of their embryos. (Little more to it than that, so let us know if you want a more detailed explanation.)  We cannot afford much as far as Jon and I getting current professional pictures done, so if anyone would like to suggest an affordable photographer or would like to gift some of their services to us, that would be a huge blessing.

READ. We will also need to educate ourselves in this process of embryo adoption.  We need to understand how this decision impacts our future children and how we will approach communicating with them about this whole process.  The New Life and Snowflake are amazing at telling you the information you will need to get in order to be ready.  We have books and articles to read, online seminars to watch, and we will need to do one face-to-face seminar.

PREPARE.  As we get more information, we look forward to preparing our home and our hearts for our future children. 

As our first post said, we will continue to need encouragement and love from our family and friends.  Prayers are MORE than welcome as the emotions with adoption are so VERY real.  A hug, a smile, a word, all mean so much to us.  We have felt it from the beginning and will continue to need it as we take these next steps. 

Also Jon and I have many fees coming up with application fees, medical expenses, and home study fees.  If you are able to, please consider donating money to our Go Fund me site.  Anything you are able to donate is a blessing! 

http://www.gofundme.com/jonandrea2adopt

Thank-you to all of you for your love and support and we will keep you updated as new things begin.  God bless!

A budding flower portrays hope. Hope that one day you will see the promise of the seed you've planted. That is the image that I keep in my mind as Jon and I have started on this journey to grow our family. 

We are starting this blog in order to tell you our story of infertility and our hope of one day having children.  In sharing a story, we all become closer, give each other strength, and many times find our stories intertwine.  Our hope is to not only inform and keep a journal, but to find connections to the hundreds of thousands that have gone through a similar journey as ours.  Through this I will be honest, real, and not sugar coat this process.  Its the way I am and find it tough to not be that way.

Jon and I will be married for 6 years this October.  Like any couple, at the beginning of our marriage we dreamed of our goals.  One of these was to start a family.  We would cuddle on the couch and dream about how many children we would have, what their names would be, and what we would want to teach them.  I would dream about when I would get pregnant, how I would surprise Jon and tears would stream down both our faces as we celebrate the beginning of a new step together.

Unfortunately, like life always does, our goals and plans didn't quite work out the way we thought they would.  We thought we would wait to have children right away so that we could focus on our marriage and build that foundation. In 2011 is when we decided to try to have children, after a year of not being able to have children, we decided to go to doctors to see if there was anything preventing us from having children.  After all the tests,  my OBGYN gave me the all clear that I should be able to become pregnant. 

They then suggested that Jon get tested as well.  The tough part was the waiting.  Specialists doctors are so special aren't they?  So, as we waited for an appointment, we hoped. In the summer of 2013 Jon and I found out that he is not able to have children.

 It was devastating news.  We went through grieving and mourning.  Emotions of anger and depression.  And the tears....oh the tears.   It would happen at completely random times.  I would be at a stop light and look over at another car that had a mother, father and their kids in the back seat and I would start crying.  Facebook also is a terrible place when mourning through this with birth announcements and monthly pregnancy pictures. Church too, when they celebrate Mother's day or Father's day or a baby dedication, very difficult to even find the motivation to go. And don't even get me started on commercials....damn commercials.....

So, over the last 2 years we have mourned, secluded ourselves, found solace in talking with many people who have gone through similar journeys, and tried to start a new goal.  We have looked at many options for us, but we didn't feel led to any particular one or did not feel they were for us. We figured it just wasn't time yet. 

 I believe our hope came through the most beautiful gift our family could have, our new niece, Ella Mae.  My sister and brother-in-law recently adopted a beautiful baby girl this summer.   I never thought I could love someone that I just met, but with her it was pretty easy.  I think Jon's face in this picture says it all.

 

After meeting her, we decided to fill-out an adoption application to New Life Family Services.  As we were filling out the form, we noticed that one of the options for adoption was something called "embryo adoption". We had never heard of this before and decided to research it to see what it was and if that is something we could do or wanted to do.  The more and more we researched, the bigger the spark became that this looked like the option for us and we sent in the preliminary/ inquiry adoption application.

 

Um, Andrea, what is this embryo adoption thingy?? 

 

I'm glad you asked, cause even if you didn't ask, I'm going to tell you.

 

Embryo adoption has actually been around for a while now.  The organization we are going through called Snowflake or Nightlight (Snowflake Link) had their first successful baby in 1997.  It came about because families who have done IVF had embryos left over and they did not want to destroy them or have them use for scientific research. These families are called the genetic families instead of birth family as in a typical adoption.

 

Our process is very similar to a typical adoption in the beginning.  Our preliminary application was accepted and now we have the HUGE application to complete from New Life Family Services and the State of Minnesota.  Simultaneously we are also filling out an application for Snowflake. Then we need to read some books, watch online seminars, and information on embryo adoption in order to educate ourselves on this whole process.  We also will have an appointment with a fertility doctor on November 3rd to make sure that I am able to carry out a pregnancy (Yes! I will get a chance to be pregnant!). 

 

New Life will be the ones conducting our home study once the applications are complete, turned-in, and accepted.  This process will take 3-5 months.   We also will need to create a portfolio for genetic families to view.  Once all of this is complete we will then have the matching period in which Snowflake will show our portfolio to various genetic families and we pray the right genetic family will choose us. 

 

If a family does choose us, we get to look at their information and decide if this is the genetic family we want to be matched with.  If they are, then we would fill-out contracts to decide how open our relationship will be.  They will then relinquish their rights to the embryos, we will set-up how the embryos will be shipped to our clinic and with our fertility doctor we will decide the best time to implant the embryos.  Lord willing, after ALL that, we will have a baby (or possibility of multiples!)

 

Sorry that was so long, but I've had many people asking about this process because it isn't that common, so I thought it would be good to put the basic process here.  Obviously there is more to it than what I wrote about here, so please if you want to know more, just contact us at jonandreawant2adopt@gmail.com

 

Now comes the part that we will need from our family and friends, and new friends we meet along the way.  We need your support, love and prayers as this journey is not easy or simple and brings up a lot of emotions.  Knowing that we have all of you cheering us on, will help so much. 

 

The next thing we ask is that you consider donating to our go fund me site. 

 

http://www.gofundme.com/jonandrea2adopt

 

All funds will go towards the costs associated with our embryo adoption. We will also be trying to have some more fundraising in the future and will keep you up to date on what that will be.

 

Please continue to check our blog for new updates and thank-you so much for considering to walk with us along this path. 

 

 

-Jon and Andrea