Hello everyone,

It’s official! Our home study has begun!!

What is a home study? Simply put, it’s the process of getting certified by our adoption organization and the State of Minnesota to have a child placed in our home. This includes background checks, paperwork, multiple meetings, and home visits with our social worker.

Ultimately, we are excited to move forward with this process! We do have some complex emotions about it. We are feeling sadness that adoption is a part of our future child’s story- while adoption in of itself is a beautiful gift and we are thankful we can provide a home for a child, adoption comes out of loss and brokenness of relationship. We do hope and pray that we will have an open adoption so our future child can know their biological family.

We are also feeling grateful that a birth family will trust us with their child, and hopeful that this process will be smooth. And we are excited that we are closer to meeting our little one.

After the home study is complete, we will be considered a “family in waiting” - and at that point we’ll be prayerfully waiting for a birth mother to choose to place her child with us.

We are grateful for all of your prayers, comments of support, and financial donations over the last year. Your continued support is the only way that we are able to move forward. We know this process has been long, thank you for sticking with us!

Here are some ways that you can consider supporting us in this next part of the journey:

Financial support

This has been the most uncomfortable part of this process for us, because neither of us enjoy fundraising or asking for financial support. It is probably the most stressful part of this process because it takes roughly $30k to adopt. We’ve been doing good so far, but now that we are at our home study, it means that we need $13k available once our home study is complete. Our home study will likely be complete around the end of November, or early December. This amount is due once a baby is placed in our home, which can happen any time after our home study is complete. We currently have $4000 towards that $13k; can you help us get the rest of the way? If you are able to donate financially, there are 3 ways you can do so:

Pray

  • for our continued energy and focus
  • for the social worker that will be facilitating our home study
  • for the birth mothers who are making the decision to place their children for adoption
  • for the birth mothers who are making the choice to parent and need support

Spread the word

  • Share our blog with your circles and invite other people to join our journey!

We are so thankful that all of you have chosen to follow our story and support us in the ways that you have. Your prayers, financial contributions, and words of encouragement mean the world to us.

Thank you!

- Bethany and Phil