Andrew and Heather are ADOPTING!!

Dear Family and Friends,

We are so excited to finally announce we are ADOPTING! It feels like a celebration to be able to say that out loud! The past five years have been clouded with confusion and overwhelming roadblocks as we have tried to start our family… but here we are on the other side and can clearly see how every ‘no’ was God-ordained to bring us to the biggest yes of our lives - adoption!

How did we get here? Let’s start at the beginning, quite literally, with Heather having emergency surgery when she was just 5 weeks old that led to the initial assumption she would be unable to get pregnant. However, as she grew up it seemed it was not only possible, but likely, that she could conceive and carry a child.

We started trying for a family five years ago. After four years with no baby, Heather’s specialists started to rethink the confidence they had in us conceiving naturally. After another year of tests and procedures that eventually showed IVF (In vitro fertilization) would be our only option for getting pregnant, we met with a fertility specialist at the end of 2023. We left in tears and were overwhelmed as we processed that we most likely were not candidates for IVF. With an order for an MRI in hand and a referral to yet another specialist, we headed to our car and after sitting in silence for a bit, Andrew said “I think this is our open door to adoption” and there was a sense of peace surrounding adoption that we fully embraced. The MRI confirmed that the damage and scar tissue from Heather’s surgery as a baby was beyond repair and would not make IVF viable. We are very grateful for our doctor who was willing to tell us that this is not a surgery he would recommend to his wife or daughter. We prayed for a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and while we were heartbroken, we were relieved to finally have one clear path forward!

The abrupt end to this chapter of conceiving our family was a hard pill to swallow. But two things can be true at the same time, right? We were able to grieve what could have been, while also celebrating what was to come! As we gave it to God we were reminded of a few things to turn our focus to and be grateful for: 1) Heather’s life saving surgery was a success and she had a normal, healthy and happy childhood as a result, nor has she had any other long term issues, apart from fertility, 2) we shifted our mindset from ‘if’ we can have a baby to ‘when’ we have a baby and 3) we are grateful for our family and friends who have walked with us and prayed us through the ups and downs.

Over the last year and a half we increasingly knew deep down IVF was going to be a challenge for us, as it is difficult under the best of circumstances and began researching adoption more fervently. As our excitement and interest in adoption grew over these last 18 months, so did our exposure to it. You know when you see a car that you love and suddenly it seems like you see that car everywhere? Well, that is how we felt with adoption. We started to research the process and suddenly it seemed there were people everywhere that were adopting, had been adopted, wanted to adopt, etc. We were flooded with information and advice from so many who had experienced adoption in one capacity or another! We feel like God put adoption on our hearts and minds in a very organic way.

We believe adoption is a beautiful way to have a home filled with the children we have dreamed of, while also providing a loving and safe home for a child who deserves to have one. However, as you probably know, adoption comes with a significant expense - agency fees, legal costs, home studies, travel expenses, and much more… We have found an agency that we are confident in and excited to work with, but in full transparency we were quoted when all is said and done and we have a baby in our arms, a grand total of $75,000. This is an incredible amount of money that does not even include the actual providing for and raising the baby! Of course, it is worth every penny to see our dreams of parenthood become a reality.

The financial aspect of this process often feels like a formidable obstacle and we ask for your prayers as we continue in this process, and if you feel so inclined, we would be humbly and forever grateful for any and all financial contributions. Your support will help us realize our dream of having a baby. If you are unable to contribute financially, we ask that you please join us in praying over this baby and their birth parents as they navigate the emotions and weight of deciding to put their baby up for adoption.

Thank you again for joining in our excitement for this baby that we can’t wait to know and love!

With all our love and gratitude,

Andrew and Heather Marttala