Embryo Adoption - How we came to it and what it entails (to just get on the waiting list)

Let's go back to May 2009 - After an unsuccessful IUI with donor sperm in February 2009 and then a consultation with our fertility specialist, we no longer had peace about pursuing another one. We had been trying for a baby since July 2006. Almost three years later, our arms were still empty, and our hearts were broken. We so badly had wanted to experience a pregnancy. Everything from the ultrasounds to the first movements to the birth, but not feeling we had God's blessing to move forward with the assisted reproductive technologies (ART) that we knew of, we thought that dream was gone. I had started to look into local adoption agencies, but wasn't feeling 'it'. I knew we wanted to children, but if we didn't have God's blessing do another ART or adoption, how were we going to get a child? Discouraged, I continued to research adoption, but didn't make any contacts.

A trip to the mailbox in late May 2009 changed everything. We received a pamphlet from Bethany Christian Services about something called Embryo Adoption. Embryo Adoption = A Baby? Sounded good to me, so I read it. Hope that I had lost resurfaced a bit. I had Todd read the pamphlet. Curious we signed up for the next orientation (which happened to be in just a couple of days). We looked Embryo Adoption up online, but still weren't sure really what it was. Excited and growing more hopeful, we went to the required orientation. After the first part of the orientation, we both knew. THIS, Embryo Adoption, was God's plan for our family. We stayed through the rest of the orientation learning everything we could about what it was.

That next day I began to research agencies that would do an embryo adoption home study because just as with a regular adoption, we had to had one. A week later, and after many emails and phone calls we choose Adoption Assistance, Inc. We found out what we needed to do and did it. Application in a week. Paperwork and more paperwork in two weeks. One meeting in a neutral place done. Meeting and inspection of our house soon after. In about six weeks we had completed the entire process. In the meantime, we were also needing to complete an application and paperwork (and more paperwork) for the National Embryo Adoption Center (NEDC) in Knoxville. After our part was done for both, no longer than two months, we waited.

During the middle of August we got a phone call from Adoption Assistance. We were 'approved', and our home study was complete. We got a copy and sent it off to NEDC for their approval. More waiting.

Early September we found out that we were officially on the waiting list. We had satisfactorily met all of the requirements! Well, up until that point. The next step was a medical clearance from NEDC. An appointment would be scheduled in January or March. So we did what we did best, and waited until we heard back from NEDC.

A phone call in the beginning of November reminded us that God was there. He knew we were trying to wait patiently, but that it was getting hard. A couple had canceled their initial appointment, did we want it? Yes, please! We needed to be in Knoxville on Monday, November 23. That gave us about three weeks instead of another two to four months. We both arranged for a sub and called my mom to see if she could come and watch Grace. She could. We were set for November 23. God is good!