Adoption Charity

It's no secret how expensive adoption is.

Most infertile couples have two options when it comes to starting their family : IVF or Adoption. Over the past 5 years Mark and I have tried our hand at both adoption (private and with LDSFS) and IVF. Last year we did two rounds of IVF, with no success.

Today we are back in the adoption swing of things, and we are so excited! We've both decided that IVF is NOT something we ever want to go back to, and we love that we can focus all of our efforts on building our family through adoption.

Private adoptions done through a licensed adoption agency in the US will range from $15,00-$40,000+ (depending on a variety of factors including travel between states, attorney fees, and medical fees for the expectant mother and the baby). I wish that adoption wasn't so expensive...I wish that every deserving family could adopt a precious little baby with fees that were reasonable. I wish that medical costs related to adoption were covered by our health insurance. I wish that all employers offered an Adoption Assistance Program.

The down and dirty fact of the matter is this: ADOPTIVE FAMILIES ARE GOING INTO DEBT.

We don't want to go into debt, not if we don't have to. That is why we have spent the better part of the last few months begging for money from our family members LOL! Okay, maybe not begging, but we definitely asked. And today we are in a much better position (financially, money in the savings account) than we were 3 months ago.

But here's the thing...we still don't have enough.

I wish that we could sell our cars, shut off our cell phones, never watch TV, and eat ramen noodles every night until we have the money saved. But honestly, that's not realistic. We do our absolute best, but just like most of you reading this - we live paycheck to paycheck. Being a grown up sucks.

Alright, let me get to it already...we are fundraising. We had several hundred wristbands made (you now, the silicone ones...think "Livestrong") and we are going to be selling them.

They are red, and they have the wording "Adoption: Love Makes A Family" on them. They are going to be $5 each, or whatever you feel comfortable donating. There will be a page on our business website (advancehomefitness.com) where you can make the purchase using PayPal.

Our hope is that we can raise WAY more money that what we actually need to finish saving for our adoption. Our goal is to not only help ourselves, BUT TO HELP OTHER ADOPTIVE COUPLES. We want to donate the excess (not used by us for our adoption) to another financially needy adoptive couple.

SO, the page will be up and running on our website by the end of the day. The wristbands will be hand-delivered or mailed to you the week of August 6th.

{{AS OF 3:30 pm, THE WRISTBANDS ARE READY FOR PURCHASE!}}

http://www.advancehomefitness.com/Charitable-Causes.html

PLEASE please please go buy one. Or two. Or 50. haha

Thank you SO much, we love everyone who has helped us so much through this journey. XOXO