Our Journey to Adoption

Whew...we received the fee schedule in our adoption packet and it was much less than we had originally thought it was going to be! Dave and I had never thought we would be able to afford an adoption so we took a circuitous route on our journey to adoption.

STEP 1:  (Fall of 2005) D and I decide to start trying to have children. We thought that it would happen the first month we were trying. Naive? Yes, yes..I'll claim that characteristic! After a couple of years went by and everyone but us found out they were pregnant we started to think there was a problem. We sat down with our OB-GYN and she suggested a slew of tests for me and a sperm test for D. Since the sperm test was the cheapest option  and easily ruled D out we did that one first. Results came back with a 0 sperm count. Then we saw a male infertility specialist in NJ who just repeated the sperm test with the same results.

STEP 2:  (Summer of 2009)  Research adoption costs. HOLY MOLY!! $20,000?! That's a lot of freaking money! We started to look at ways to raise money to adopt and came across Gift Of Adoption. There is not chapter of GOA in Nebraska and we were asked to start one. Fast forward to Summer of 2010 and D and I (well...really I pushed the idea) decided to hold a fundraiser for Gift of Adoption.  We had a Halloween Party for friends and family and had most of the supplies donated. E & I put out a lot of money to prepare for the Halloween Party and it was nice to blow off some steam. Without the support of friends (This is your shout out, E & B-Rad!!) we wouldn't have been able to raise almost $1000 for Gift of Adoption.

J and E-In charge of Gift of Adoption

D & J enjoying the party

B-Rad showin' the money, honey!



E & a PINK TACO (yes, a PINK TACO!) playing musical chairs.



B-Rad showing his sic dance moves to Thriller!

During this time we also went through a round of IUI (intra-uterine insemination) with Heartland Fertility Specialists here in Omaha. D's work covered some of the costs and he continued to go to a job he hated and that he truly sucked at and get yelled at constantly just so we could try and have a baby. We picked out a sperm donor, I took every drug (in multiple orifaces!! GROSS!!) that they could think of to play games with my body's cycle and turn me into a crazed-food craving-crying to laughing in .03 seconds-LUNATIC including a self-administered shot (Thanks, Racean & Chuck for helping me out with that!!) and about 3 days before we were supposed to "have the procedure" I woke up with cramps so bad I thought I was going to die. They progressively got worse and I remember passing out on the bathroom floor for a minute and D trying to get me dressed (In a lime green t-shirt, no bra, and pink and purple striped pajama bottoms..that's it..no shoes..no undies..nothin'!) and driving me to the Dr. as I lay curled in the back of the Jeep. They did a vaginal ultrasound at the Dr's office and found that my ovary was overloaded with eggs that were ALMOST mature and had twisted in trying to support itself. A quick poke with the ultrasound stick worked wonders and I was on bed rest until the "procedure".  
Saturday morning I woke up with butterflies in my stomach and positive thoughts in my head. D and I headed to the dr's office where they jammed what felt like a 6 foot long catheter into my uterus and deposited the goods. Even though they said they had never seen a sample with such great motility (90%!) and such a good concentration the Clomid made my lining thin and nothing could attach. I swore I would never do another infertility treatment again.
D and I each fell into a depression and ended up seeing a therapist and taking some anti depressants. No one talks about depression after unsuccessful infertility treatments and I'm not going to shy away from it.

STEP 3: (Fall of 2010) A friend said that she knew someone who had kids in the foster system with an aunt that didn't want them and they were going to be free for adoption. D and I jumped at the chance to help a child and complete our family and started taking "Baby Girl" for the weekends to get her acclimated to us and to see how we meshed. We were instantly smitten. She had beautiful, large brown eyes, a sweet smile and skin the color of hot chocolate. After meeting with the foster care case worker we were told that it was  "package deal" we could get our "Baby Girl" if we took all F.O.U.R. of the kids ranging in age from 2-12. D and I knew we were ready to start a family but not ready to have 4 kids!

STEP 4: (Spring of 2011) D and I heard from a friend that we could adopt for free through the foster care system. D and I attended 12 boring training sessions and recieved our P.S.M.A.P.P. certification. After telling the case worker that we were moving at the end of the summer she said she would be intouch with us later. We haven't heard back from her since May.

STEP 5: (Summer of 2011) On a whim I decided to check out Adoption Links World Wide just to see what I could see. ALWW joined LFS and merged their programs. I looked at the fee schedule and realized that with some fiscal planning we could afford to adopt! D and I attended the informational meeting and are in the process of filling out the application. We expect to turn it in by August 1st and hope to find out if we are "Paper Pregnant"!