[PeacefulDweller]

Hello to everyone! My name is Brooke. I am a 26 year old mother of two beautiful children named Christian Faith (5) and Noah (2 1/2). My husband and I have been married a little more than 8 years now and have always planned on having a fairly large family.

I have absolutely no issues on getting pregnant (thank the Lord) and have had two wonderful and successful pregnancies. Both of my babies were nearly 9 pounds each and in perfect health. While my hubby and I are not preventing my getting pregnant right now, we are also looking into adoption as well.

My mom was adopted by my grandmother back in 1952. My grandmother was in her mid-30s and had always wanted a child though was incapable of having one of her own biologically. She adopted my mother from a couple she knew that did not want to keep the baby due to marital issues (the biological mother was pregnant due to an affair) but all that aside, suffice it to say that adoption is an issue that hits close to home with me.

I believe that as Christians, God is calling us to be like Him and adopt sons and daughters into our family just as He adopted us into His.

I have felt an urging from God to adopt in the past, but this was stirred up in my spirit after my husband and I attended theCall Alabama a few weeks ago. During the fasting and prayer there we both felt now was the time to start pursuing adoption.

I have contacted Bethany Christian Adoption and received an information packet. It looks really daunting when just glancing at the numbers and it's so disenhartening to see that while an abortion costs only a few hundred dollars, adoption is thousands. We are not rich by any means, but we don't have many bills either, even though my husband's the only one working. I am believing God will make a way for us.

I feel strongly we are either supposed to adopt a child domestically with Asian background or internationally. The Lord has placed on my heart an Asian girl, so we are looking into our options both here in the US and abroad. I look forward to meeting the rest of you all, and God bless!

~Brooke

[TxMom65]

Good luck in your journey. My grandfather was adopted and it was always in the back of my mind as well. We adopted when we knew of a child in foster care and felt led to adopt her.

It was a tough journey and I learned a lot along the way. You have 3 types of adoption to consider. There is the infant domestic adoption, foster care where children are birth to teenagers and also sibling groups, and international adoption where there are children that are all ages as well.

The cost of adopting through foster care is much less and there is a monthly stipend in some cases. (I can't think of the word besides stipend) There is also a $10,000 tax credit after the adoption is final.

That is only the tip of the iceberg. Adoption is a very emotional journey. Keep up with the prayer! It is all that got us through.

[mrsred]

PeacefulDweller, please, look into the foster adopt program. Your children are quite young, so it would not be wise for you to adopt a child older than your birthchildren, but there are some very young children, even babies, whose parents cannot provide the loving, nurturing home they deserve. Many are born to drug addicted parents, and while there may be some learning disabilities caused by that, if it is truly God's will He will also equip you to handle that. Or, wait until your children are older to pursue it.
When our biological child was 3 years old we became aware of the need of permanent homes to the thousands of waiting children in the foster care system. Prior to that I had felt no pull toward adoption. We planned and waited. When our son was 8 years old we started the adoption process. As you can see by my signature our family has grown over the past four years. We really feel we are living God's plan for us. This has not been easy, God has sent us some pretty challenging children. On our own we could not cope, but through God all things are possible, we rely on Him and His strength.

[Adopted 4]

The tax credit is per child--

[NashvilleGirl]

Another resource is Shaohanna's Hope, a non-profit organization started by Christian singer/songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman, who has adopted 3 little girls from China. You can apply for an adoption grant through this organization.