The day we
announced to you all that we are adopting was National Adoption Day. It
was part coincidence and part planned. I had been working on the Birdie
Beloved website for awhile and wanted to get it out as soon as possible so
people could shop for Christmas. Everyone buys Christmas gifts and I
can’t be the only one who is a sucker for a handmade personalized one. I
thought it would be the perfect jumpstart our fundraising needs.
I’d be lying if I said the financial aspect of adoption doesn’t stress me out
to the max. The thought of having to save potentially over half of our
annual income gives me the nervous sweats and makes the room start to
spin.
Domestic private adoptions typically range from $32,000-$50,000. (There are
factors and situations that can cause it to be below or above that range. We
know this. read: foster care) If you read my blog post about ‘Things Not
to Say to People Struggling with Infertility’ you may remember one of them was
“Why don’t you just adopt?”. Adoption isn’t cheap ya’ll. This adoption
will cost us well over double what our IVF treatments did. The financial
aspect of adoption is enough to keep most people from adopting. No more
than 2% of Americans have adopted a child even though over a third of the
population has considered it.
I don’t share this information to say “Look at us! Look at the money we are
spending!”. I worry often about what people think since we asked for
everyone’s help just over a year ago. Trust me, that is not lost on
us. I worry people will think we’re begging or that we should just figure
it out on our own. I’ve heard more than once the thoughts of those who
believe if a couple can’t afford adoption, then they can’t afford to care for
the child and therefore shouldn’t be allowed to have children at all.
That’s about enough to make my head explode…
I share it because I want people to understand that adoption is amazing, but
it’s a huge decision for so many different reasons. I share it because I
want friends and family to understand that if we aren’t able to go on trips
with you, or buy big presents, or go out to dinner with you, or if we have to
pick and choose which of your children’s fundraisers we are able to
support. It’s not because we are trying to be rude or selfish.
I share
because we are trying and wanting and longing to bring a child into our family
so we can go on a family trip with your family, so our child can get super
excited to give their best friend that big birthday present they’ve been saving
their allowance for. I share so one day we can go out to dinner and
probably be that family whose kids make a mess all over the floor and have a
meltdown in the middle of the restaurant because a rogue piece of lettuce
touched their french fry. And gosh darn it I want to send my kids after
you to buy cookie dough, and Christmas trees, and frozen pizza and whatever the
next ButterBraid fad will be so they can go on the youth group trip with your
kiddos.
I share it
because I believe it takes a village to raise a child, we just need our village
a little sooner or longer than some.
Our big goal
is just that…big. To make things more manageable (calm my stress levels)
our first goal is $4000. This will allow us to submit our application and
officially contract with the agency we have chosen to help.
We would
love for you to visit our site www.birdiebeloved.com
There will
be new items showing up in the next week or so, keep your eyes open for those!
Have a custom idea in mind? Perfect! Send us a message, email, or contact
us through the website to see if we can help you out.
Everything you
do to help us, no matter how big or how small, plays a significant role in
helping to #BringHomeBirdie . You are literally helping to change a life
and we think you’re pretty awesome for that. We can’t wait to tell Birdie
about you!
