Why Adopt?

“Father to the fatherless defender of widows – this is God, whose dwelling is hold. God sets the lonely in families.” – Psalms 68:5-6

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” – James 1:27

We (Matt and Kelsey) have discussed adoption since the day we met. It's been Kelsey's heart since she was little and she has had the honor of walking through the process with several families through the years, has done studies on the subject in college, and has always known that God was going to call her to pursue her own adoption someday. When Matt walked into the picture the conversation continued and we knew that it would be a part of our life as a couple. We also believe it is a beautiful picture of the Gospel.  In these discussions we both felt very strongly that God was calling us to pursue adoption before having biological children. That burden on our hearts has only grown and as we stepped into October, hitting our two year marriage mark and owning our home....we met the requirements that were needed to start. Just shy of one month later, we filled out our pre-application to get more information and things moved quickly from there.  India has always been on my heart for adoption, but for the longest time it wasn't an option....but it has recently become a very open option so we were put in contact with the India department at America World Adoption, met with our amazing social worker here in Nashville and asked lots of questions about the process, what two expect, and when we should announce our plans publicly and took the leap. 

Her answer to that last question was...now. As soon as we told our family we wanted to jump on announcing before the holidays started. As many of you know adoption costs can add up. In order to start our home study and paper work process we need the first payment up-front.  

The Cost:

So many people ask the questions, "why does it cost so much? Why is getting a child so expensive?".  We understand the need to know the "why" and know where the money is going so we want to share with you the list that was provided to us at the beginning of this process. In order to make things legal, cut down on child trafficking, etc, there are lots of steps to this process....each of these steps require work done from different people. We need to do a home study (done by our social worker), background checks, finger-prints, piles and piles of paper-work, as well as walk through the process with both India and the U.S.  This all adds up. 

So to begin we need to raise our first approximately $12,000 to be able to pay our first agency fee, start our home study, and initial background checks and paperwork.   We will be paying for sections of this out of our personal income, I will be taking on as many photography gigs as I can with our one car, making ornaments to sell through the holidays, and will be adding products to my Etsy shop as well.  Matt is working hard selling Real Estate (if you know of anyone buying and selling send them his way), as well as continuing to work on music and get his Love Undefined album recorded so he can keep touring. We will be booking as many shows as possible, so anyone willing to host house shows please let us know....we will be using many of our shows as an opportunity to cover more adoption costs and bring us closer to bringing home our son or daughter. 

The total cost is around $35,000. This is from start to finish, including everything from application, to home study, to the plane tickets and post adoptions fees at the end. 

To read through a more in-depth list you can go to our blog www.wanderershearth.com and check out all the info on our adoption page. 

Timeline:

We are in the very first stage right now. Our application is in and our first big hurdle is to raise our initial payment of about $12,000. As soon as we get close to that goal we can start our home study and the beginning paper work. We are hitting the ground running this holiday season to do as much fundraising as we can.  This is where you come in. They say it takes a village...and when it comes to adoption that couldn't be more true.  Not only is the financial burden heavy, but the process  can be exhausting, full of ups and downs and unknowns. We can't do this alone. We also want our child/children to know that they were fought for, that they have a community of people who played a part in helping bring them home.   

Right now the average time from start to HOME is about 12 months, however it can take up to 24 months. We will face a lot of waiting throughout the process.  Once our home study is done and process and the first paper work is through we can be matched with a child.  They have said that we could be matched with a child in as little as six months. From there its more paperwork and the government processes and....waiting. 

Who:

We have prayed a lot about who God has for us. Right now we are open. We've put that we would be open to a child under 5 years old, certain special needs, boy or girl, and a sibling set. As we walk through the process they will help narrow down our best fit and then we will be matched with whoever God has for us. We cannot wait to see his/her little face in that match photo. 

Ways you can help:

Our fundraiser here on Pure Charity gives so many great opportunities. You can donate directly here and it will go straight to our account with America World Adoption. You can also install the toolbar and do all your online shopping through their link. When you are shopping at your favorite stores online, click the PureCharity toolbar button and it will give you your rewards available for that store when you check out. Those rewards then go into your "giving fund" in your Pure Charity account. You can then give those rewards to a fundraiser or charity of your choice....we have a fundraiser for our adoption that you can give to using all your giving rewards that you have earned shopping.  We know people who have even bought all their plane tickets using their rewards and have been able to donate to their adoptions. It's free money people! This is such a great way for us to raise money with out just asking for money straight from your pockets. With Black Friday coming up and Christmas shopping you will be shopping anyway...now you can use your shopping to help out a great cause too. 

Other ways you can help as mentioned above would be to host a house show, schedule a photo session, refer real estate, check out my Etsy shop (soon) or donate as you feel led. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story and step into our greatest adventure yet. We couldn't be more excited for this next year and are overwhelmed with anticipation. 

Much love,

Matt & Kelsey Kirkegaard