Jan 1, 2012

So today is my first day using a blog.  I've never done this before but find that writing out my thoughts is therapeutic.
My husband & I have started an adoption journey.  We have had 2 infertility failures & thought that instead of spending the money on all these failures, we wanted to start our family through adoption.  We found that we can love "our" children no matter where they came from.
So, we did some research on different adoption agencies to find the right one that fits our needs.  Some agencies told us that if a birthmother changes her mind, all the money that we invested would be considered a "donation."
As much as I help others, we can't help them all and we would LOVE to be parents so losing that money wouldn't be good.
We finally chose an agency & they have been wonderful but we hit a huge obstacle.  Financing.  It costs a lot of money to adopt ($43,000).  As much as we can afford to have a baby, the fees for adoption are VERY expensive & no body has that kind of money on hand. 
We started to refinance our home.  That was an obstacle b/c even though we put in a brand new kitchen, a new septic system & a new heating system...we only owned our home for 1yr.  We did not build enough equity to borrow.  Major obstacle.  My husband tried to borrow against his retirement but the retirement board said no.
Getting a personal loan was 10% and we just can't make that payment.  It was like having 2 mortgages.  We don't want to go into debt to pay the adoption fees.  How would we survive after that? 
So, we've turned to getting 2nd jobs & working overtime and starting a fundraiser.  Our fundraiser is on youcaring.com and the name of it is "Bring Baby Hill Home."  We will be having a couple of "pasta dinner" fundraisers with raffles, yard sales & bake sales.  I've also got some great ideas from others that we will put together. 
So, follow us on our journey.  Its going to be a bumpy ride of emotions so get the tissues.  :)