Cleland Party of 3 - Adoption Fund
Donation protected
My name is Rachel. I have wanted children and have dreamt of being a mom since I was a little girl. I remember asking Santa to bring a baby when I was young. It took me a long time to find someone to spend my life with. I served in the Air Force for 6 years, and made a million incredible friends along the way. I watched as each of those friends found love, settled down, and started families. That was what I wanted more than anything, and longed for my day to come. Things never really worked out, until the day I met my Paul. I was 30 years old when we first met, and instantly knew that he was going to be mine forever. I could not wait to marry him and start a family of our own.
Last Summer, Paul and I started going through fertility testing because we had been trying to get pregnant for two years with no success. Fertility testing is no fun; It felt like every week we had to disclose the most personal of details along with the most physically uncomfortable examinations and tests. Blood was drawn every time, and it just gets very taxing and stressful. Not to mention the added stress factor in our marriage that came with pain, tears, fighting, depression. Eventually, it was discovered and diagnosed that we are unable to have children. This news hit us both like a punch to the gut. If you have ever gone through any amount of infertility, or even second/third child infertility – I know you know where we were at. You always have that glimmer of hope until one day it’s no longer a possibility. I was in an incredibly dark place for a good 6 months; I couldn’t make it through a whole day at work without bursting into tears at some point. I felt broken, dark, and drained. Eventually I started trusting more and leaning on God, begging Him to change my heart. Things slowly began to improve in our marriage, and it eventually got better week by week. The more we openly discussed our wounds and fears, the more we learned to lean on each other in the hardest time we have ever been through. This made it okay to let ourselves be sad and broken-hearted about our situation for a minute, and grow from it. Eventually, together, we climbed out of this dark hole and started discussing options for our new future – the one we are now incredibly excited for.
Prior to marriage, Paul and I had talked about adoption and/or fostering. I would absolutely love to foster/adopt older children in my lifetime, but right now it is infant adoption that is shining abundantly in both of our hearts. I no longer see pregnant women everywhere and feel bitter in my soul. I am eternally grateful for the woman that is carrying or has yet to carry our future child. Paul and I are currently in the beginning stages of agency meetings, building our profile, arranging our home-study, and scheduling our required classes. We also need to raise about $20,000, and are in need of all the help that we can get. These funds will go completely to the process of adoption including homestudy costs, legal fees, and getting our name on the list.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,
Paul & Rachel C.
Last Summer, Paul and I started going through fertility testing because we had been trying to get pregnant for two years with no success. Fertility testing is no fun; It felt like every week we had to disclose the most personal of details along with the most physically uncomfortable examinations and tests. Blood was drawn every time, and it just gets very taxing and stressful. Not to mention the added stress factor in our marriage that came with pain, tears, fighting, depression. Eventually, it was discovered and diagnosed that we are unable to have children. This news hit us both like a punch to the gut. If you have ever gone through any amount of infertility, or even second/third child infertility – I know you know where we were at. You always have that glimmer of hope until one day it’s no longer a possibility. I was in an incredibly dark place for a good 6 months; I couldn’t make it through a whole day at work without bursting into tears at some point. I felt broken, dark, and drained. Eventually I started trusting more and leaning on God, begging Him to change my heart. Things slowly began to improve in our marriage, and it eventually got better week by week. The more we openly discussed our wounds and fears, the more we learned to lean on each other in the hardest time we have ever been through. This made it okay to let ourselves be sad and broken-hearted about our situation for a minute, and grow from it. Eventually, together, we climbed out of this dark hole and started discussing options for our new future – the one we are now incredibly excited for.
Prior to marriage, Paul and I had talked about adoption and/or fostering. I would absolutely love to foster/adopt older children in my lifetime, but right now it is infant adoption that is shining abundantly in both of our hearts. I no longer see pregnant women everywhere and feel bitter in my soul. I am eternally grateful for the woman that is carrying or has yet to carry our future child. Paul and I are currently in the beginning stages of agency meetings, building our profile, arranging our home-study, and scheduling our required classes. We also need to raise about $20,000, and are in need of all the help that we can get. These funds will go completely to the process of adoption including homestudy costs, legal fees, and getting our name on the list.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,
Paul & Rachel C.
Organizer
Rachel Cleland
Organizer
Firestone, CO