If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, click HERE

Contribute by purchasing the t-shirt shown above, designed by Julie! You can get one HERE and read about the meaning behind the design.

Note: A small portion of each t-shirt sale will go toward our fund. If you’d like to give more, you can add an optional donation at checkout.

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The Story (How did we get here?)

Our journey to a second adoption began as a nonstarter. Ragged from sleepless nights and bleary from the monotony of diapers, bottles, and arranging our schedules around those precious parental reprieves known as naps, our answer to the question, “Would you ever adopt again?” was a resounding no.

Who would ever do this a second time? “This” didn’t only refer to the newborn phase. It also meant the adoption process.

Mountains of paperwork. CPR certifications, background checks and references. A home study that peered into every nook and cranny of our personal lives. A photo album to somehow present our lives as both relatable and attractively above-average to a prospective birth mom.

And then the fees. That giant, all-in $45,000 price tag for a domestic infant adoption.

With our first adoption, ignorance was bliss. We didn’t really know how high the mountain was, only that we had to climb it. One stack of paperwork at a time, one saved paycheck at a time. When we were chosen by Leo’s birth mom merely 5 weeks before he was born, we had our funds saved and ready to go. Simple!

But a second adoption? It seemed so far outside the realm of possibility. How could we climb that mountain again? Now we knew how large it really was.

There are moments when the most innocuous question in the most ordinary setting can change your entire life’s trajectory. In July 2024, Brandon and I (Julie) were at dinner with Brandon’s extended family. His cousin Jamie was sitting next to us. She leaned over, looked straight at Brandon, and didn’t mince words:

“Would y’all ever adopt again?”

“Oh, no,” I started to say. I had always been somewhat open to the possibility, but I knew Brandon was a hard no. I waited for him to jump in and explain all the reasons we were permanently “one and done.”

Brandon looked at her and answered without hesitation, “I think about it all the time.”

What?

Brandon likes to say that Jamie is one of those people who has a special talent for asking the right question at the right time. In that moment, all three of us knew that a second adoption was in our future.

Fast-forward to March of 2025. We had started paperwork and sent our first $1,000 check to our adoption agency. We didn’t have all the money saved, but we knew as long as nothing major happened, we had it under control. We wouldn’t need anyone’s financial help! We got this!

One week after that first check cleared, Brandon suddenly and unexpectedly lost his job.

Additionally, I found out I needed major shoulder surgery, which meant taking unpaid time off from freelance work—our only income stream. We watched our pile of savings steadily dwindle while fighting an undercurrent of anxiety over an unknown future.

During those 7 long months of Brandon’s unemployment, we questioned if a second adoption was still meant for us. How could we ever afford it? Time was slipping away. We were getting so old! What birth mom would even choose us?

Every time doubt crept in, we would refocus on our core conviction: We have been called to a second adoption. We’re excited to celebrate all the new milestones again, from first steps to the first day of school. We want Leo to have a sibling who looks more like him than us. We have the home, support system and stability to welcome a baby with open arms while extending love to a new birth mom.

But we do not have the money. We actually can’t do it on our own. We don’t “got this.”

We need you.

It is humbling to ask family, friends, acquaintances, and possibly even strangers to financially support us in this journey for a second adoption. Like many hard things in life, we cannot do it alone. Thank you for reading and sharing our story, loving our family, and possibly donating.

Please know that your support goes beyond our family, and will also impact our baby's birth mother. This story starts with her, and we already love her—whoever and wherever she is.

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Wondering why adoption is so expensive? Learn more HERE

Visit our website: www.crowellfamilyadoption.com