**1-14-20** Update: We just got Thailand’s first approval and need to raise the funds within the next 90 days. We will be picking up our daughter sometime between the next 3 to 5 months. ****

When we stood at the alter envisioning our lives together and eventually grow our family, we didn’t imagine the difficulties and heartache that came with realizing we were not going to be able to conceive a child-ever! It’s a devasting blow when you’re told you cannot get pregnant! We sought help from doctors and other means to be parents, but one disappointment after another became our reality; Discouragement set in. The pain and struggles that we had to endure became more and more unbearable when family and friends got pregnant, enjoyed baby showers, and held their newborn babies for the first time. We saw our extended families and friends’ families grew, and yet we longed to have a child to call us “mommy” and “daddy”. Our tears of crying out to the Lord for His blessing to conceive a child wasn’t being answered!  As months, turned into years, the longing to be parents and cradling our child in our arms grew stronger and stronger.  Although this could make us bitter and angry of the situation, we know that God is bigger than our diagnosis.  We continued to pray, and the Lord saw fit to say “no” to our desire to become pregnant but opened our hearts towards adoption. 

Did you know that orphans and widows are mentioned in the Bible at least 23 times? God opened our heart to trust Him to grow our family through international adoption.

So where do we find ourselves now? We were recently matched with a little girl. Her smile is infectious and it breaks our hearts that we can’t fly there right now to go and pick her up!

As you already know, adoption costs are high, but we are confident about the specific fees involved and we trust our agency to wisely steward the finances needed to bring home the little girl that God has chosen for us.

We know that adoption is a gift from God and that his Church is called to be a part of it. What a picture of the good news that we are adopted into God’s family and He calls us His children!

Would you consider helping us financially? We are seeking to raise a total of $20,000. Here is a more detailed breakdown of the costs involved for the adoption:

• U.S. Processing Related Fees (intercountry adoption approval, adoption immigration, visa, certificate of citizenship, etc) - $8,350

• Adoption Program Related Fees (application, homestudy, program, post-placement, court reports, medical reports, adoption finalization, etc) - $32,060

• Airfare, Lodging, Meals, Transportation - $15,000

Total cost: $55,410

Adoption Puzzle Fundraiser:
Through our years of infertility struggles people have often reached out asking if there was anything they could do to help or support us. With that in mind, Sichan and I decided to do a puzzle fundraiser to help us raise money for the adoption process. We are going to need all the support we can get along the way.

We have started a crowdfunding campaign and ordered a 1000 piece puzzle. For every 25 dollars a person donates to our campaign, we will be putting their name on one puzzle piece. You can purchase as many puzzle pieces as you would like! We plan to frame the puzzle and hang it on a wall in our daughter's room so she can see how many people have loved and supported us through this journey.

Thank you to those that have sat with us, prayed with us, cried with us, and supported us. We truly couldn't have done this without you and we can't wait to share this new journey with you.

Please know that we are more than happy to talk with you about our adoption process and to answer any questions about our journey so far. Do not hesitate to reach out to us! We will post updates on our progress on Instagram @kanyavong_lilgirl2020.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read about our story!

Love,
Sichan and Suzanne Kanyavong