A Child Waits Foundation
Adoption Grants & Adoption Loans
International and Domestic Adoption
Family Stories
Domestic Adoption 2023
In 2023 we awarded grants to help 202 children to be adopted from 21 different countries and 32 states in the USA. Some of their wonderful pictures and adoption experiences are recounted below in the family's own words.
Luke - Texas - 2023
Justin, Luke and I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone at A Child Waits for all the work and attention you have shown to us and our adoption. We are beyond grateful for the financial support you provided. That is a tremendous blessing and answer to prayer throughout this process, so from the bottom of our hearts, thank you so very much. I would love to share our story with you and how the Lord had his hand in every moment.
Justin and I went active with our adoption profile in January of 2022, however, we began researching and walking the adoption journey in July of 2021 and our journey to expand our family began even earlier. Justin and I always knew we wanted to adopt we just weren’t sure when that would come to light or how we would go through that journey. But after a lot of testing and trying to grow our family naturally and a lot of prayer we embarked on the adoption journey and what a blessing every step was.
In July of 2022, we found out we were moving to Texas, which added a few extra steps. We moved at the end of August, we had a new homestudy visit that was 4 days after we moved in, our families came and helped us unpack the entire house and set everything up. We received the packet for our now son Luke just 2 weeks after we moved to Texas, we said yes to being presented to the birth family, and the same day we received our updated homestudy we found out we were matched. Not only did all the logistics fall into place but Luke was going to be born in Texas just 4 hours away from where we were living. The Lord walked us through this process and we are in awe of His blessings.
We cannot believe that we are fortunate enough to be Luke’s parents and we are beyond thankful for the role you all have played in our adoption process as well. Thank you so much!
Saylor- Utah
Tim and I want to personally thank you and A Child Waits Foundation for helping us with our families adoption process.
Adoption has always been near to our hearts as Tim was adopted himself as a child. Welcoming Saylor to this world through an adoption process has been no short of a miracle and one that connects our family beyond words. Going through any adoption process can bring difficulties because it is like running the toughest race of your life but not knowing when or where the finish line is; you just keep pressing forward. With that being said, we would do it all over again to get our amazing little girl, Saylor. She brings the joy to our hearts and lives that we needed. She means the world to us and I can't imagine life without her.
Adoption is tough, the race and journey is astounding but knowing we have our faith to lean on and foundations like you all to help support us has been inspiring. We share our story often because it is one of love and strong belief that God can move mountains and establish family through connections that are unimagined. We are beyond grateful for your financial support and more!
Zavia - Michigan- 2023
Our journey began 2 years ago when we decided we wanted to grow our family and do so in a way that would provide an option for a mama that might feel out of options, and a loving home to a precious child that needs it. While originally, we thought international adoption, when Covid shut down the world, it helped us realize the need for a domestic adoption is also huge.
The financial part always scared us. Domestic adoption is still tens of thousands, money we didn’t have but had hope that it would work out. We are incredibly grateful for A Child Waits. Because of you, we were able to bring home our baby without the added stress of wondering how we were going to cover the final bill.
Zavia is a miracle baby. After surviving many challenges in utero, she was born happy and healthy with a strong beating heart. Her name means “Beautiful Angel” in one translation, and we didn’t know this when we named her, but it turns out another translation means “New Home”. We brought our Beautiful Angel to her New Home right before Christmas this past year, and we couldn’t be more excited to have her as a part of our family forever.
Her birth mom is a beautiful, kind soul, and wants to remain in her life forever. Before this process, we were hesitant to have an open adoption. But after meeting her mom we realized how special and beautiful it can be. We are beginning this journey together and Zavia has plenty of extra love and support in this life. Thank you A Child Waits for making this possible!
Isaac & Amos - Florida
Adoption Story God’s plan is often different from our own. I am so grateful that He leads us, guides us, and never gives up on us. After college, I (Katie) served overseas at an orphanage in India for about a year. It was there that I first discovered God’s heart and care for the orphaned child. I was overcome with love for each of the kiddos, as I witnessed their joy, laughter, and chorus of prayers to their Father. Kyle’s family has been long time supporters of adoption. His two older siblings were adopted from South Korea! It was a gift for Kyle to grow up in a family that was grown by adoption. When we first met, in our early twenties, we were passionate about so many things: overseas missions, music, caring for the orphan and vulnerable. I (Katie) was ready to adopt international kids at 21, but I knew the time wasn’t right. As life moved on and sped up with school, careers, hobbies and friends, that initial passion and zeal that first drew Kyle and I together, became foggy and distant. It was easier to say yes to so many other things and became harder to say yes to things like adoption and caring for the orphan. After our son, Elliot, was born in 2017, we knew we wanted him to have a sibling.
Conceiving was pretty simple and quick with Elliot, so we assumed the same would be true for a second. That was not the case! For three and a half years, we tried unsuccessfully to have a second biological child. We walked a difficult and trying road of miscarriage and infertility treatment, but having faith in a God of hope, we were not left empty-handed after those years; God was gently guiding and whispering us into our next chapter as a family: adoption.
Then, one day, we stumbled across an adoption story online. To say the least, it wrecked us. I knew after watching that video, that would also be our story and that was exactly where God was leading us. We gave ourselves a month to pray about it before deciding, even though we already knew the outcome of that month of prayer! After several months of being “active” with agencies, receiving multiple emails telling us we were not chosen, we finally received THE phone call we had been waiting for. We were matched with TWIN BOYS! We couldn’t believe it! All of the waiting, all of the prayers, the years of saying yes to other things, God had led us to HIS best yes!
Now having the twins in our home for two months, the waiting for their arrival already feels like the distant past. Our family’s prayer is to remember. Remember God’s voice, His guidance, His provision, His heart that has imbued every piece of this adoption journey. We are forever thankful for A Child Waits and the blessing that grant was to our family.
“God keeps no one waiting, unless He sees it is good for him to wait.” -C.S. Lewis
Lucy - Georgia
Please pass on our immense and heartfelt gratitude for the grant we were given this month by A Child Waits. We are so thankful not only for the reduced financial burden, but also for the patience of your entire team with our application throughout our lengthy and rollercoaster journey!
A little background of our story - we have always known we hoped to grow our family through adoption one day, and made the decision on January of 2020 that it was our next step. Our biological daughter, our only child, was 2 at the time. We were accepted into the domestic adoption program with our agency in March of 2020, and despite the pandemic, were confident this was what was next for our family, so we persevered and were an active, waiting family in July of 2020.
Our first match came in February 2021, and fell through after an we spent an extended period of time in Georgia, in March 2021. Our second match came in May 2021, and fell through after we took placement of the baby in September 2021. A third match was short-lived in December 2021.
After a brutal year of failed matches, we both took new jobs, sold our house, and moved to a new state. The new homestudy process took longer than expected, and we finally went active again in August 2022. September brought us a match, and we were "hopeful but not optimistic" in Casey's words. We had lived through too many failures to dare let ourselves dream and prepare again. We lived the next few months in a quiet, anticipatory state, holding our news and our hope close.
When Lucy was born, we waited the revocation period out at home. When we finally met her at 8 days old, it felt like she was the one we had been waiting for all these years. It was love at first sight. We will forever be thankful for her first parents, who bravely and selflessly chose to give her the life they knew they could not.
We have settled into a family of 4 wonderfully. Lucy is all smiles these days at 3 months old, and her big sister is in love in a way we've never seen before! It's been so sweet to watch them together. We are so thankful for the help your team has given us in bringing Lucy home.
Layne-Kansas
We are so appreciative for the role that A Child Waits Foundation played in our adoption journey and we can't thank you enough for the grant we received.
When Greg and I tried to start a family, we faced 3 miscarriages within a year. After the third, we were emotionally spent. We had always wanted children and couldn't imagine a life without them. As our faith is important to us, we decided to pray about it as we weren't sure if we should pursue fertility treatments or adoption. Adoption terrified us - we were clueless about the process; the cost seemed impossible, and we weren't sure we could handle it. Well, God quickly made it clear to us that adoption was His plan.
We started our home study and the process 2 weeks before Covid shut down the country. Even with that roadblock, we went active in August 2020 and 4 weeks later matched with our birth mom, Mama A. We were SHOCKED at how fast things went. She wasn't due until March 2021 which seemed like such a long wait, but it allowed us to establish a really special and deep relationship with her. We live in Michigan and she lived in Kansas so we were able to go visit her during our waiting period.
March came and our son Lowen was born. We were shocked upon birth to find out he had a major heart issue - Transposition of the Greater Arteries. We were rushed to the children's hospital 3 hours away and at a week old he had open heart surgery. He spent 6 weeks in the hospital before we could travel home.
The surgery saved his life and Lowen is now a rambunctious, busy toddler! We went back to visit Mama A around Lowen's first birthday and she surprised us with the news that she was pregnant again, and asked if we would adopt. We were NOT expecting this and weren't quite financially prepared to adopt again only 18 months later, but we couldn't say no to keeping these siblings together. Without hesitation we said YES!
We were thrilled to find out she was having a girl. The adoption process went much smoother as we knew what to expect this time around, but the finances were harder to come by. We are so thankful for the many supporters and grants that helped us bring our daughter home and unite her with her brother. Layne was born on Dec. 2, 2022. She was born perfectly healthy (SUCH a blessing) and we've been adjusting to life as a family of four ever since!
She is the complete opposite of Lowen- so chill, laidback, and a great sleeper. She's been such an easy baby which we are grateful for! We still keep in touch with Mama A and plan to continue that open relationship throughout their lives.
Adoption has changed us from the inside out and it's been the biggest unexpected blessing to our life!
Josie- Kansas
We wanted to reach out and thank you for your generous gift to our family. When we first began our adoption journey, finances were our biggest concern. We knew we couldn't let that stop us from pursuing the calling of adoption, but were scared nonetheless.
A Child Waits was responsive and friendly during our initial pursuit of an adoption grant, and once we placed, were very encouraging and informative about how the rest of the process would work. We ended up spending way beyond our travel budget because we needed to arrive in Josie's birth state early. This allowed us to build a bond and lasting relationship with Josie's birth mother and we will forever be grateful we were able to spend that extra time with her.
Thanks to your generous grant, we were able to cover the cost of this extended stay. Adoptions around the country and the world would not be possible without the work of foundations like A Child Waits and we are so grateful we were able to be connected with you.
Rylie-Texas
On the Thursday our daughter was born, we were sitting on the couch in our agencies house completing some of the final steps with our beloved director. Little did anyone know a precious baby girl was being born just thirty minutes away.
We drove home after having lunch together and picking up some race shirts for the adoption walk we would attend at our best friend's church that Saturday. We went about our normal weekly routine of work, lunch and dinner with family on Friday. We thought we had more time to save money, prep a full nursery, buy bottles and a few more things, but all of the sudden, after dinner on Friday night, we got a call around 9pm. Our photo book arrived at the agencies house that Friday morning, was given to a family that day, and we were matched! A family chose us!
We didn’t sleep much that night as we prepared some of the essentials for the first 48 hours with a newborn. We attended the adoption walk on Saturday, and then around 1pm we met our daughter, Rylie, for the first time. This quick 16 hour transition into parenthood was exhilarating but did come with some quicker than we thought financial commitments. Thanks to y’all we don’t have to worry as much about the additional court costs to come. We appreciate your generosity and we look forward to the day where we can donate as well to a wonderful foundation helping bring children home to their forever families.
I am so sorry it took so long to get this to you, we had some unexpected family emergencies to tend to these past few months but we are very appreciative y’all chose to help us. Like I said above, we look forward to the day we can give back to y’all to help more families.
Willow- California
Dear Child Waits Foundation,
I am writing this letter with a heart full of gratitude and immense joy to express my deepest appreciation for the generous grant you provided and for the unwavering support you extended throughout my adoption process. Your invaluable assistance has made a profound difference in my life, and I cannot thank you enough.
From the moment I embarked on the journey of adoption, I encountered numerous challenges, both emotional and financial. However, your foundation's belief in my dream and your willingness to offer financial aid have been a beacon of hope in my darkest moments. Your grant not only eased the financial burden but also reaffirmed my faith in the goodness of humanity.
Moreover, I want to acknowledge the guidance, resources, and encouragement you offered were instrumental in helping me navigate the complexities of the adoption process. Your compassionate team has been a constant source of reassurance and comfort, reminding me that I was not alone in this journey.
Through your profound generosity, you have not only helped me realize my dream of becoming a second time parent but also changed the life of a child forever. Your commitment to the well-being and happiness of children is truly commendable, and I am deeply honored to have been a recipient of your assistance.
As I hold my precious baby girl in my arms, I am reminded of the profound impact your foundation has had on our lives. Your dedication to supporting families and children in need is an inspiration, and I am forever grateful to be a part of your legacy.
Once again, please accept my heartfelt gratitude for the grant and the unwavering support you provided throughout my adoption journey. Your kindness has touched my heart, and I will forever cherish the memories and milestones made possible by your foundation. With sincerest appreciation
Ronan- Ohio
We met our son’s birth mother, Sarah, in October of 2022. We had been on the adoption waiting list for almost 2 years at that point. Sarah was 5 months pregnant with a baby boy when we had our first phone call. All three of us immediately clicked. We ended up talking for nearly 2 hours. She told us that very night that she wanted us to be the parents of her baby. To say we were thrilled would be an understatement. Sarah too was happy as she told us she felt a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders now that she had found us. From then on we kept in constant contact.
Sarah was so gracious in the fact that she kept us informed after every doctor visit and would make little videos of the ultrasound pictures, pointing out all of the baby’s little features. Being a part of Sarah’s pregnancy with our son was so amazing and humbling. Ronan was born in March, he had a bit of a rough start and had to be in the NICU for a short time period. During that time Ronan had his parents and birth mother all sitting around him….supporting and loving him. He bounced back in very little time.
It has now been 7 months and Ronan has continued to thrive. We keep up contact with Sarah every week. Our relationship with her has been truly better than we could have ever hoped for and our son brought us so so soooooo much happiness. We are complete now. Adoption can be intimidating, scary and expensive. Adoption can also be joyful, meaningful and beautiful. We are not wealthy but we were determined to make adoption work so we had to do research and think outside of the box. Applying for a grant was one opportunity we knew we had to look into, so we sent our story with our application to A Child Waits Foundation. We cannot thank A Child Waits Foundation enough for the grant they awarded us. Your support has helped us bring our sweet Ronan home. We hope our story helps others choose adoption as well as support foundations like A Child Waits Foundation.
Micah- Louisiana
Dear Cynthia and Randolph Nelson & A Child Waits Foundation Board,
I am writing to express my profound gratitude for the grant you provided to my family, this past month. The generous amount of $5,000 has allowed me to pay off 25% of my adoption loan, a huge accomplishment that would not have been possible without your help.
My son Micah is three months old now and I can’t imagine life without him. Thank you for coming alongside me and helping to bring him home. The work you do has blessed so many adoptive families and I am privileged to be among them. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! I have included some pictures for you to enjoy. Should you need additional information about our experience with the A Child Waits Foundation, please don’t hesitate to ask. It would be my pleasure to help further your mission in any way possible.