“Bottom line is, even if you see them coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does.
So, what are we, helpless? Puppets? Nah. The big moments are gonna come, you can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's
when you find out who you are." - Joss Whedon

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Letter from CongressmanYoung of Alaska re:Making Adoption Affordable Act.

Check out the letter one of our AWESOME Alaska Members received when she contacted her Congressman regarding the Making Adoption Affordable Act.  Please take the time to contact your Representative from Congress ASAP and share with us your experience. 

Find your Representative
If you know your Representative, simply call the Capitol hotline at 202-224-3121!!

Dear Mrs. Passmore,

Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 4373, the Making Adoption Affordable Act.  I appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns with me.
On April 17, 2012, Representative Bruce Braley (D-IA) introduced H.R. 4373 to make permanent certain tax credits for adoption expenses.  This legislation, as the title suggests, attempts to encourage adoptions by attempting to offset the growing costs associated with such an undertaking.  A 2010 study holds that foster care costs the taxpayers around $47,000 per child, per year.
Under current tax law, individuals who qualify may receive a tax credit of $12,360 for adopting an eligible child.  This legislation would increase that amount to $13,360 and would make it permanent.  Originally, the credit was in the amount of $10,000, which was established following passage of H.R. 4853, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010.  This tax credit is intended to help offset the cost for parents who choose to adopt children.
Opponents of the bill claim that it only serves to further complicate the existing complex tax code.  It is also argued that the previous tax credit was more than a sufficient incentive for parents to adopt.  They believe that the increased tax credit does little to improve the quality of life of adopted children, and only increases the cost burden on the taxpayer.
Supporters of this legislation argue that making adoption a more financially viable option for parents will help improve the quality of life for adopted children and boost the number of children being adopted overall.  It could also convince parents that adoption is a feasible option when they would otherwise choose not to adopt.  As a proud grandfather of adopted children, I have a deep personal appreciation and understanding of the adoption process and the joy that comes from a successful adoption.  Adoption is something that is very special to me and I would strongly encourage willing and interested Americans to adopt.
H.R. 4373 was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee on April 17, 2012, where it awaits further action.  Should this legislation reach the House floor for a vote, I will certainly keep your thoughts in mind.

Once again, thank you for expressing your views on this issue.  If you haven't already, I would encourage you to sign up for my e-newsletter at http://donyoung.house.gov/Forms/EmailSignup/ and my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=RepDonYoung.   Doing so will allow me to provide you with updates on this and other important issues.  If I can be of any assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
DON YOUNG
Congressman for All Alaska

Sunday, September 23, 2012

FSA Temple Night - Sat. 10/13 at 7pm



Just a little reminder that we are hoping to see you at the Seattle Temple on Saturday, October 13th at 7pm.  For more info, see this blog post:http://fsawa.blogspot.com/2012/09/fsa-temple-night-sat-october-13th-at-7pm.html.

HELP - How do I fix the feed on this blog??

Hi Adoption Peeps and Readers! -- HELP!!!! I've been trying to fix the blog roll so that it is a continuous feed and does not just show one month at a time.  Does anyone know how to fix this??  BTW - If anyone else is interested being a blog writer (or even just a helpful editor), you can see I am at times quite blog challenged!  Please comment here or email me via FSA at FamiliesSupportingAdoption@gmail.com!  Thanks! Larissa ;-)

Adoption Highlight - Get to Know Pat and Rebeka Murphy!

Our names are Pat and Rebekah Murphy.  We have been married 20 years and were blessed this past February with our miracle.  On Sunday, January 29th we heard from a woman at church about a special baby with a chromosomal disorder born in Germany.  The next day we contacted LDS Social Services to start the paperwork.  Honestly, we have lost count of people saying, "we know of a baby..." which always ends sadly for us.  So, we pushed forward with faith.

Three days later we started the mountain of paperwork and the beginning of our miraculous whirlwind adoption process.  Five days after starting our paperwork, we met the birth mother and paternal grandparents.  She and baby Freddie hopped on a medical military flight to Madigan Army Medical Center.  We visited for 3 hours.  On midnight, exactly 1 week after starting our paperwork, the birth mother said she had chosen us to adopt her special son.  We were over the moon with excitement.  Then exactly 2 weeks after starting our paperwork on February 8th, we picked up Freddie from Madigan and brought him home.  We had the birth mother and the paternal grandparents over for dinner that night.  On that day, our family expanded by one baby and a slew of new aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and friends.

We have a very open adoption.  We visit the paternal aunts monthly and the paternal grandparents every 3 months.  We visit with the birth parents about every other month.  We have had extended birth family fly in from out of town to have them over for dinner and of course to see Mr. Fred.  Because we plan on keeping a very open adoption with the birth family, we have decided to call the birth parents Freddie's God parents.  They are the parents that God sent him to first.

We have an overwhelming sense of gratitude to our Father in Heaven and know that he heard our prayers and prepared us for this extra special boy.  We are blindly walking forward in regards to Freddie's long term health, but we have faith that all will be as Heavenly Father wants it to be.  All we know is Freddie is one very special spirit.  We were sealed on Saturday, May 5th.  We can both honestly say, that on that day, it was a perfect day filled with love; pure love. - Pat and Rebeka