Have you heard of BraveLove?

I just stumbled upon this website today.  And I am loving it already.  Visit their site at: http://bravelove.org

"BraveLove's goal is to help change the way people think about adoption."

 

"Our mission is to change the perception of adoption through honest, informative, and hopeful communication that conveys the heroism and bravery a birth mother displays when she places her child with a loving family through adoption."

 

Check out BRAVELOVE and please let us know if you know of any other positive adoption websites.  We would love to share them and hope to support and promote a positive view of adoption. 

 

FOX 12 Investigators: Local woman gave birth to baby she adopted - KPTV - FOX 12

Check this out!  Have you heard of embryo adoption?  Just another option to consider. http://www.kptv.com/story/22184521/fox12-investigators-local-woman-gave-birth-to-baby-she-adopted  (click the link for the full story).



One local family has a baby girl who was once the frozen embryo of an Arizona couple. Ten-month-old Ashley is a giggling, curious baby. Her mom said she's a miracle, a child she carried in her womb, who isn't genetically related to her or her husband. After discovering they couldn't have their own biological children, Samantha and Jordan Fife used traditional, costly adoptions for their two older girls, Michaela, 6, and Heidi, 3.

When the Brush Prairie, WA couple decided they wanted a third child, Samantha searched on Google for "adoption" and stumbled onto an unusual option.
"I clicked on this thing that said embryo adoption and I was like, well, what is that?" Samantha Fife said. "As long as you could carry a pregnancy, you had this option of giving birth to an adopted child."

As more and more families opt for in vitro fertilization, there's a surplus of hundreds of thousands of leftover frozen embryos. They're either stored, destroyed, used for medical research or donated to adoptive families. . . .

Samantha Fife has now started her own embryo matching web site, where people seeking to adopt embryos can find people looking to donate.  She's already seen a few babies born thanks to connections made on her site.

If you'd like more information, go to blessedwithinfertility.com.

A Great Sucess Story (re-posted from AFFEC's newsletter)

Success Story from AFFEC

After providing foster care for several years, we had some concerns that adopting through foster care may be challenging. We saw first-hand what children go through in regards to the system and it was heartbreaking. We were nervous, but were certain we wanted to provide a home to children waiting for a forever family.    We were thrilled to start working with the AFFEC. Immediately we knew the genuine concern they all had for children, and they were so positive! It was refreshing - we knew right away that something good was going to happen.    The moment we met the girls, we knew we were going to love them forever. Miley, the oldest, shared with us her dream to have a mom and a dad and to be safe. Our hearts melted. The twins were giggly and funny, but a little behind physically. They were out of breath going down a few stairs during our first visit to the children's museum. We knew with time, living our busy lifestyle things would change.    Nine months later, the twins run, ride bikes, dance, take swim lessons and jump on the trampoline. Our days are complete with talking, dance parties (in our living room), camping trips, backyard adventures, walks and lots of singing and laughter. We have discovered that providing security and sharing new experiences is the most rewarding feeling imaginable.     One of our most unexpected discoveries is realizing that adopting an older child could be so rewarding! Miley believes she is the luckiest girl in the world. She shares with us daily her appreciation for her new life.   What we truly believe, is WE are the luckiest people in the world. We have received the opportunity to change the lives of these children forever and, in the process, our life has been truly blessed.

Colin Kaepernick's Birth Mother - An Interesting Video and View into Adoption in the Media

Meet Brian and Chriss Butt - Who Are New to Our Area and Super Jazzed about Adoption!

Allow me (Tawnia) to introduce a new couple to our FSA group.  Brian and Chriss Butt recently moved to Washington from Utah with their son they adopted through Premier Adoption Agency. Here is what Chriss had to say about their adoption experience:

We started with LDS Family Services and actively waited a year and a half with no contact from expectant mothers. We were doing everything the agency suggested we do to spread our news we had our blog, our pass-along cards and talked to everyone we knew about our desire to adopt and if they would pass our information on to anyone they knew.  We had been to a workshop through Families Supporting Adoption about other agencies and foster care, we learned about Premier from some other couples that had been placed through them. After much prayer, we felt that our child would come to us through Premier.

Some of the things that we really liked about Premier were that they only work with a max of 40 adoptive couples at a time. When I called them they said they have been nowhere near this number in several years. We liked that they had full-time employees; we were always able to work with the same person. Most of all we liked that they had a sliding scale based off of income and not the race of the child as all the other agencies we had looked into did.

When you are presented with a situation they give you the medical and social history information and you know up front what, if any additional costs may be. This agency doesn’t move the expectant mothers to different States, so you would be dealing with ICPC, but the majority of expectant mothers medical expenses are covered by Medicare.  

We had our application in with them for two weeks when we were contacted about a situation, and two months before we were matched! We have a great semi-open adoption with our son’s birth parents and got to be there for the birth of our son in August. So far in 2012, they have had 28 placements, in the last two years we personally know of seven families that have been placed with them. They accept LDS FS homestudies and you can be with both agencies at the same time. LDS FS doesn’t release portions of the homestudy so you do have to get new originals for the background checks, reference letters, and medical forms.
 

If you have any questions about Premier you can check them out online at http://www.premieradoption.org/
 

Or feel free to contact us at: Brianandchrissadopting@gmail.com

We look forward to getting to know more of you and supporting adoption.

Brian and Chriss

Very Interesting Story Regarding Embryo Adoption

This article was taken from the Maryland FSA Chapter Blog and you can link directly to the original post here.

By Holly Kristiansen

Here is Tracy and Barton Jeffs adoption story. I met them at the last FSA conference in Pennsylvania. Tracy was pregnant and announced in her introduction that they had conceived through embryo adoption. I was intrigued, so I asked them to email me their story and more information about embryo adoption.

I just wanted to preface this story by emphasizing that in the church handbook it does say that the church strongly discourages surrogacy and sperm and egg donation, but does not mention embryo adoption. Tracy and Barton did not want to do anything contrary to the teachings of the church, and talked to their stake president. His opinion was that since an embryo can technically be thought of as a "baby" he considered embryo adoption to be an adoption early in the game and not contrary to church teachings. Since it is not specifically outlined whether embryo adoption is okay, it is up to personal interpretation. This article is not meant to be controversial or offensive to anyone. I just thought it was a touching story, and another possible way for couples to find and bring home their much desired babies. It is up to the individual families to decide what is right for them.

http://www.embryoadoption.org/

A few great things about embryo adoption for those that it is right for, is that it allows the adoptive couple to be more in charge of their adoption process. It eliminates the ups and downs of waiting to be chosen and also of birth mother changing her mind during the process. It also makes it easier to breastfeed your child and also allows you to experience pregnancy.

Just for an update on the article, when Tracy and Barton wrote this, the price was around $4500 more or less for a closed adoption, and an extra $3000 for an open adoption. Bethany, who facilitates the adoption aspects found that the couples on both sides were needing advice and counsel whether the adoption was open or closed, hence the change in price.

After Tracy was pregnant they also wrote the church Presidency regarding whether a temple sealing would necessary. Their response was that the baby would be born in the covenant as if he was their own.

Chase Jeffs was born December 15th, 2009.

You can see pictures of him here...http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d5451314e7a67324d7a4a384d7a497a4e6a4d314f44493d0d0a&sb=1

Tracy and Barton said that they would be happy to share their story with you!

Here is the story by Barton Jeffs:

For a short introduction; my wife and I are the Virginia (VA) FSA Chairman. We have a 10 year old son, who we had through artificial insemination, and we are currently pregnant with a baby boy who is due in December. This baby has come to us through embryo adoption/transfer.

We married May 1995 and had our son November 1998. From November 1998 to October 2006 we continued to grow our family, first with artificial insemination, followed by in vitro insemination, and then foster care and adoption. In July 2007 we went through a failed adoption with LDSFS. Prior to being chosen by the birth mom, we had been finding/waiting for an adoption for nine months. Following the failure we waited an additional two years to March 2009. Soon after the failed adoption, Tracy was looking through an adoption magazine and found an article/advertisement for embryo adoption/transfer. We had a difficult time deciding to try it, because we believe so much in traditional adoption. There are so many children being born to unwed mothers, who deserve a home with a mother and a father. The problem we had was that we just were not finding them and they were not finding us. Admittedly we could have been even more aggressive and proactive, but we were very involved in outreach and social networking. We did not have our profile out through the net on blogs, parentprofiles.com, etc. Unfortunately, based on our experience as the VA chairs and knowing the small numbers of actual adopted children annually, we knew that we may never adopt. Based on this fact and prayers, we decided to try embryo adoption/transfer.

http://www.nightlight.org/snowflake-embryo-adoption/

Through our search, we found two primary locations that specialize in embryo adoption/transfer. One is in TN (The National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC)) and the other is in CA (Nightlight Christian Adoptions / Snowflake). Both centers are pro-life and Christian based. NEDC's cost is $4780-$6445 and Snowflake is $12000-$16,000 (per their websites). Our total cost for everything to include medication, medical procedures, and doctor visits but not including gas and hotel stay was $4469.

Here is a description of the process we went through. First we had to go through the same type of paper work that we did to get qualified with LDSFS (profiles, medical, bio, family history, etc.). Then we provided our LDSFS home study to NEDC through the Bethany Services Adoption agency. If we didn't have our own home study, Bethany would have completed one at a small cost. Once we were approved, we went to TN for a mock transfer to validate that my wife would react properly to the medication and to verify that she could carry. That was a one day (1 hour) affair, although we chose to stay overnight in a hotel.

http://www.embryodonation.org/

Then we had to decide if we wanted an open or closed adoption/transfer. Just like traditional adoption, both options are available. With the closed option, the donating couple simply gives their embryos to NEDC through the IVF center that they used. NEDC creates a profile for each of their donating couples (attached). NEDC then sends the waiting and approved receiving couples the profiles of the donating couples that are available for the next insemination date. The receiving couples go through the profiles and try to find the couple that matches their personal desires best. The process is first come first serve, so the quicker we responded the more likely we were to get the donating couple’s embryos that we wanted. We received 31 profiles and immediately took 10 away based on nationality and skin color. We then systematically worked to find our couple. The couple we found are both two inches taller than me and Tracy, but the rest of the description matches us nearly exactly (hair color, skin tone, eye color, etc.). Our first choice only had three embryos, and NEDC preferred we went into the insemination with six embryos. So we had to choose a backup couple also. The backup couple did not match us as well, but was very close. Between the two couples, we had seven embryos.

The open adoption/transfer option is a higher cost. Bethany charges $3,000 to manage the legal paper work prior to the insemination, the correspondence after the birth, and any personal meetings. The benefits of an open adoption/transfer are the same as traditional adoption, but we wanted to save our money to try again if the first time didn't work. Likewise, after our insemination, we learned that couples who were going through the open adoption/transfer were having problems with donating couples changing their minds at the last second or not finding couples for donation because the donating couple’s requirements were too difficult. It seemed many of the open donation couples were Jewish and wanted to make sure at least one person of the receiving couples was of Jewish decent.

Once we chose our couples and embryos, our insemination date was scheduled and we were sent the medical history of our primary donating couple. The information included in the medical history is just like the paperwork we filled out on ourselves for our LDSFS profile. One other note, NEDC does inseminations every two months during the first week of the month.

When we arrived for the insemination, we were given a picture of the three embryos from our first choice couple. Their embryos were good enough that we didn’t need the second couple. They explained the quality and grade of each embryo and the likely hood of having triplets, twins, or a singleton. Of our three embryos, two were good and one was not. We were given a very low percentage chance of triplets and a good possibility of twins or singleton. We signed that we accepted the embryos in their current condition and accepted the likely hood of triplets, twins, or singleton. Once the insemination was complete (three hours) we went back to a hotel and waited 24 hours. NEDC prefers that the mother stay in a prone position and rest for 24 hours so that the embryo(s) have the best chance of taking. 12 days after the insemination we did a blood test to check likelihood of pregnancy. At six weeks we had an ultrasound, which showed that one embryo had taken. NEDC’s doctor and staff were awesome and very easy to work with.

As for the church and embryo adoption/transfer, we discussed the procedure and option with our Stake President (who also happens to be the chairman for LDSFS Advisory council in VA). His council was that the embryo is essentially a baby already created. The embryo adoption/transfer simply gave us the chance to carry, give birth to, and breast feed an “adopted” child. He also believed that embryo adoption/transfer does not apply to the recommendation in the Stake President handbook, which highly discourages using surrogates or donated eggs/sperm for insemination to get pregnant.

When it comes to law, currently an embryo adoption/transfer is only considered to be a property transfer. Thus, anything produced or any problems resulting with the embryo or/and baby is the “current owners" (receiving couple) responsibility not the “previous owner” (donating couple). Based on current law, the word and the procedure of adoption only refers to the placement of a child after birth. Also, instead of using adoption laws, legal agreements are used to govern the process of embryo donation. The receiving couple’s relationship with the child is just as binding as a legal adoption.

I share this in hopes that if you deem this helpful, our story can be shared with the many couples who are having a difficult time or have been finding/waiting with no success. If you have anyone that would like more information or would simply like to talk about the possibility of an embryo adoption/transfer, please feel free to share our information. As I stated before, we still believe in adoption and know that there are many children out there waiting for a home internationally and through foster care. We also know that every day there are LDS and non-LDS women who get pregnant and are considering adoption. With that said, over the last three years of being the chairman of FSA in VA, we have not been able to see the fruits of adoption bless the lives of the couples in VA. So we are trying to help others know and understand that there are more options (if they are able to carry) that allow them to carry, give birth, breast feed, and keep their baby. If embryos are existing babies, and we believe they are, this is yet another way the Lord has found to give them life.

Barton and Tracy Jeffs
Virginia Chapter FSA Chairman
H: 703-372-2132
C: 703-344-3360/61

Feel free to contact Tracy and Barton. I have more detailed pricing and other information from the NEDC and Snowflake. If you would like me to send you more information, email me at whereisholly@gmail.com.

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

The Gerry's Adoption Story

We asked our recent adoptive couples if they would share a bit about their adoption stories.  Juliet and Aaron quickly responded.  Enjoy their story and getting to know them and then send us your story.  Whether it was recent or a while ago, we would love to hear it!

Hi!! This sounds like fun! Our story began last August, when our birth mom rode a Greyhound bus from Southern California to Tacoma Washington. She was homeless and pregnant and needed a place to stay. She had contacted me because we adopted our son from her three years earlier, asking if we wanted to adopt this baby as well. Of course we did!! We took her into our home for five LONG months. So, time went on and it was fun going to the ultrasound appt and finding out it was a GIRL!! and going to the OB appt's with her. So, finally she got induced and on January 4th of this year our baby girl was born!!! She is perfect and beautiful!! We love her so much!! Birth mom was awesome during labor, a pro really, just pushed her out like nothing. She recovered in a week or so and was excited to go back to California. She flew on an airplane going back. We have an open adoption so we will be seeing her this November. In the mean time, we have finalized the adoption in June and will be getting her sealed to our family in September. We are all excited to have this baby girl in our family. We have our boy and our girl now. We are grateful to our birth mom for giving us the gift of children. Let me know if you want to know more.  

 Thanks, JULIET GERRY