Journey to Baby Byrd

Hey everyone! Thank you for visiting and being interested in our adoption journey story.

We have always wanted to start a family but, like many couples, cannot do so naturally. We have always been interested in adoption, even if we had been able to have biological children. We both have had some medical setbacks in recent years, and time continues to fly by. While deciding to move on from trying to conceive was difficult and emotional, we knew that wasn't the period in our family journey. The decision to adopt came so easily to our hearts, but we knew the journey would be emotionally, mentally, financially and physically challenging. Generally, for families adopting a baby through a private agency, the average cost of adoption in the U.S. is around $70,000. But we are resilient and determined and have tremendous support behind us from our family and friends. We truly believe a family is made with love, not just DNA. We are excited about raising a baby into a kind soul who is compassionate to all people and understands their life has so much extra love from so many people wanting the best for them. We feel it in our hearts that this is the way we’re meant to grow our family and can hardly contain our excitement.

Many people don't know what the journey of adoption entails. Private adoption can be very cold and discriminatory towards adoptive parents. Private agencies can choose whatever parameters they like for their agency and who they will accept. We originally wanted to find a local agency that we could apply to - however; we were turned away by the majority in the state of North Carolina on the mere fact that we are a religiously blended family of Jewish and Agnostic faiths. This was a very disappointing setback and one that was difficult to understand. We continued our research and found a local agency that did not reject us immediately based on religion, which we thought was a good sign. Unfortunately, we were rejected twice (they told us to check back in Spring) because we are Caucasian. Nevertheless, we persisted. Finally, we found the right agency for us in March 2022 - and they have been amazing ever since. They have been so supportive, they follow up with communication, they provide an extensive amount of information. Most importantly, they have been very clear in the expectations we should be careful of having. This journey could take 3 months, 3 years or it may never end in a successful adoption.

We continue to put in all our efforts into our #journeytobabybyrd. After we were accepted by Angel Adoption Inc, we have been checking off tasks on our adoption to-do list. We have completed our Adoptive Parent Profile on their website. We have been fingerprinted and background checked. We have completed our Home Study (joint interview, solo interviews, budget worksheets, invasive but necessary questions to deem we're fit to parent, and more) and, quite literally, have our license to parent. We have completed over 10 hours of education each, and continue to research more education opportunities. Now the wait begins - we hope to soon match with an expectant mother and begin that part of the journey. But we want to be able to finish this strong, and after a lot of discussion - we thought to seek support from anyone willing to consider donating to our journey.

We know that we are privileged over others who may not be as fortunate. We know that the pandemic has caused economic heartbreak for so many. We want to make sure that you are always taking care of yourself and your family before thinking about possibly donating. We know our goal may not be reached - and that's ok - every little bit is a huge help. We want to ensure we're being as transparent as possible regarding where these funds will go. The fees we will be paying for include, but are not limited to, the following:

Any extra funds raised above and beyond our goal will be used for any other adoption journey expenses that arise, baby clothes and food and other items used to care for a baby. Your donation would not only help us on our journey to become parents, but also help an expectant mom and dad who are making the most difficult decision they might ever be presented with. The love and strength in every donation will be felt by more than just the 2 of us (3, including Big Brother Beagle Sam) - and it's an incredible gift to receive. We're so thankful for everyone along the way, even while we wait to be matched - the support from our community has been beyond what we could have imagined.

Thank you so much for reading our story - we'll keep everyone updated along the way. If you can't donate - and again, please make sure you're not donating unless able, we'd appreciate you sharing our story to others in your community who may be able to share or support it across the nation while we #journeytobabybyrd.

We love you all,

Meghan, Tyler and Sam Beagle

https://www.angeladoptioninc.com/adoption-family/profile/meghan-tyler/