Another BIG Bend in the Road

This week brought another change in our adoption journey. In our quest to find a lawyer who knows embryo donation/adoption we discovered that this is a very specialized field. We finally were referred to a woman whom a lawyer said could help us. She is a lawyer who helped lay the legal groundwork for the Snowflakes program with Nightlight Christian Adoptions. The Snowflakes program had been our first choice for our embryo adoption but their costs were much higher than the NEDC and Miracles Waiting.

To make a loooong story short after several phone conversations we were advised to be very careful about pursuing a match through Miracles Waiting (although I know a few couples that have been very happily matched!)and we have learned that our legal expenses would be fairly significant with the MW option. We also learned that Snowflakes (whose office is a mere 20 min. drive from our house) has a matching option that we were not privy to before that lowers the cost of our embryo adoption through them by $3600 and we would be first on the list to be matched. They have approx. 70 donors waiting at this time.

On some level I feel ridiculous that we have changed our mind so many times in the last two weeks but I am excited that Dan and I have decided to go with Snowflakes. We have realized through our experiences with NEDC, MW, and Embryos Alive that they are the best match for us in our adoption journey. Since this is our first adoption I am glad we will have the help of an agency in communicating with the genetic family, coordinating the transfer of the embryos from the donor clinic to our clinic, and the expertise of their experienced legal staff. I like that we won't have to travel to TN- although I would LOVE to visit Nashville someday!

This week Dan and I worked on filling out our Snowflakes application, recipient agreement, and fertility clinic paperwork. Today I dropped off tons of paperwork that Snowflakes needed to open our file. We will be making a formal adoption profile that will be shown to potential donor couples to help them decided if they would like to give us their embryos. It is a much more extensive profile than the NEDC required, more like a domestic adoption family profile. At the Snowflakes office the program coordinator said that our application would be processed next week and that as soon as they get our profile (which I plan on having done before Christmas) we will start the matching process. She feels that since their donor pool is so large right now and they don't have a long recipient line we will be matched fairly quick. Once we are matched it will take a month or two to get all the paperwork in order and the embryos shipped to our clinic in L.A. Our transfer will very likely happen in early Spring!

I totally get why they call adoption a "journey"!

Thank you for praying for us. I sense God's hand in all of this turmoil. I know our story will be an amazing one and I can't wait to see how His will unfolds in our lives. . . through joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure. . . I know He is there.