Thursday, January 7, 2016
ANOTHER ADOPTION!
Stay tuned for details on Brad and Awe's International adoption! GoFundMe page to follow.
Monday, August 18, 2014
A little about the Partons
I am honored that you would take the time to stop by our Adoption Fund page. I would like to introduce you to myself and to my sweet wife.
Julia and I will be celebrating five wonderful years of marriage in August 2014. We met at college and married while I was finishing my second degree in theology. Julia also earned two teaching degrees while in school. We share our home with two wonderful Goldendoodles: Keegan, who is five, and Chloe, who just turned one. They are wonderful to have around, and they love our little nieces and nephews who come to visit any chance they get.
Our journey toward a family has not been unlike many other couples’. We have four angel babies in heaven that we cannot wait to meet and we are hopeful that someday we will successfully carry a biological child to full term. For now, that doesn't seem to be in our Maker’s plans.
We have decided to make this bold step into the adoption process though we have no way of paying for it. I would love to use this fund to adopt our first child and then assist other couples in rescuing children whose parents are unable to care for them. My dad always told me that many hands make light the load. Our prayer is that the gifts of many will provide homes for children for years to come.
Thank you for joining us on this journey!
Please feel free to validate Julia and me in any way that you wish. Our email is listed below.
Partond82809@gmail.com
46% raised as of 8/18/2014
Dear friends,
The past several weeks have been filled with blessing after blessing! We are so happy to announce today that we are LOWERING our financial goal from $15,000 to $10,000 and we may be able to save even more money!
The most expensive component of this adoption is now going to be our home study. This will run between $4,000 - $6,500 depending on the number of home visits that are done, and on how many classes we are required to attend. That leaves our expenses as follows:
Home study; Pre-Placement and Post-Placement - $6,500
Travel Expenses - $1,500
Lawyer Fees - $2,000
To date we have raised just over $4,550! That’s almost 50% to goal! How awesome! Our friends have been so generous, and God has been so very good. We have several garage sales upcoming across the nation from some great friends, and we are still raising money just as fast as we can.
We were able to save money on our legal fees by going through Legal Shield. We have to wait a little while longer to get things rolling with them, but they will handle an uncontested private adoption like this for a ridiculously low fee. Our $2,000 price point there is high, but we have miscellaneous cost that will easily eat up that excess.
To those of you who have taken a special interest in supporting this adoption as a part of your regular benevolent giving, Thank you! I will tell you what I told God, I cannot promise that this child will grow up and love the Lord, but I can promise to show this child that God is real in our lives, that God is always good, and that he is the best friend anyone could ask for. Thanks for being such an intricate part of this young life!
The past several weeks have been filled with blessing after blessing! We are so happy to announce today that we are LOWERING our financial goal from $15,000 to $10,000 and we may be able to save even more money!
The most expensive component of this adoption is now going to be our home study. This will run between $4,000 - $6,500 depending on the number of home visits that are done, and on how many classes we are required to attend. That leaves our expenses as follows:
Home study; Pre-Placement and Post-Placement - $6,500
Travel Expenses - $1,500
Lawyer Fees - $2,000
To date we have raised just over $4,550! That’s almost 50% to goal! How awesome! Our friends have been so generous, and God has been so very good. We have several garage sales upcoming across the nation from some great friends, and we are still raising money just as fast as we can.
We were able to save money on our legal fees by going through Legal Shield. We have to wait a little while longer to get things rolling with them, but they will handle an uncontested private adoption like this for a ridiculously low fee. Our $2,000 price point there is high, but we have miscellaneous cost that will easily eat up that excess.
To those of you who have taken a special interest in supporting this adoption as a part of your regular benevolent giving, Thank you! I will tell you what I told God, I cannot promise that this child will grow up and love the Lord, but I can promise to show this child that God is real in our lives, that God is always good, and that he is the best friend anyone could ask for. Thanks for being such an intricate part of this young life!
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
To Vlog or not to Vlog; that is the question.
Are you more inclined to watch a short video post or read a blog post to keep up with our journey? Please comment below. Thanks!
Saturday, July 5, 2014
My best answers to why adoption cost so much and my best ideas for solutions.
Q. Why does adoption cost so much?
A. I don’t know.
It seems to me like the local church would have set up an adoption network long ago. The state is busy handling its own adoptions, and has done a fairly good job of getting children into safe homes with little or no cost to those resource parents who are rescuing the at-risk children. For this, I applaud the state. As a licensed Foster parent I see first-hand the care and concern that the state has for children. They make decisions that the church may disagree with, but I have not seen any church start a foster initiative. Please correct me if I am wrong. Ministries like this need to be publicized.
When adopting a child in the US that is not already in the state’s care (DCFS) the only two options that we have learned of are using an adoption agency or an adoption attorney. Option one is a flat $15,000 to the agency before any legal fees, court cost, birth mother care, home study, or out of pocket expenses. Option two is billed at $300.00 an hour with some cost of the process pre-determined.
In our case, in order for the birth father to say that he is willing to sign over his rights, we need a $2,500 retainer. That is simply to eliminate one parent. In a DCFS situation simple failure to appear in court could be termination of rights.
What can the church do?
Several things! The first thing that almost any church of any size can do is to start an adoption grant or missions fund. This fund can be administrated by the deacons or an elected committee. When a couple does try to adopt a child the church can be a first responder in several areas: recommend a reputable attorney in that state, make the first sizable donation, provide support to the adoptive parents and birth parents if possible, and assist in providing man power for local fund raisers like rummage sales and silent auctions.
The next thing that the church needs to do as a whole is establish an interdenominational nationwide adoption attorney network. Each state has its own laws for adoption so a lawyer in Indiana cannot, in many cases, practice in Florida. This network should be supported by the local church. It could then afford to provide free or greatly discounted services in the amount of donations received. This could greatly reduce the financial load on adoptive parents. One of the church’s main focuses should be caring for the widows and the fatherless, and in my opinion, we are sorely lacking in both of these areas.
A. I don’t know.
It seems to me like the local church would have set up an adoption network long ago. The state is busy handling its own adoptions, and has done a fairly good job of getting children into safe homes with little or no cost to those resource parents who are rescuing the at-risk children. For this, I applaud the state. As a licensed Foster parent I see first-hand the care and concern that the state has for children. They make decisions that the church may disagree with, but I have not seen any church start a foster initiative. Please correct me if I am wrong. Ministries like this need to be publicized.
When adopting a child in the US that is not already in the state’s care (DCFS) the only two options that we have learned of are using an adoption agency or an adoption attorney. Option one is a flat $15,000 to the agency before any legal fees, court cost, birth mother care, home study, or out of pocket expenses. Option two is billed at $300.00 an hour with some cost of the process pre-determined.
In our case, in order for the birth father to say that he is willing to sign over his rights, we need a $2,500 retainer. That is simply to eliminate one parent. In a DCFS situation simple failure to appear in court could be termination of rights.
What can the church do?
Several things! The first thing that almost any church of any size can do is to start an adoption grant or missions fund. This fund can be administrated by the deacons or an elected committee. When a couple does try to adopt a child the church can be a first responder in several areas: recommend a reputable attorney in that state, make the first sizable donation, provide support to the adoptive parents and birth parents if possible, and assist in providing man power for local fund raisers like rummage sales and silent auctions.
The next thing that the church needs to do as a whole is establish an interdenominational nationwide adoption attorney network. Each state has its own laws for adoption so a lawyer in Indiana cannot, in many cases, practice in Florida. This network should be supported by the local church. It could then afford to provide free or greatly discounted services in the amount of donations received. This could greatly reduce the financial load on adoptive parents. One of the church’s main focuses should be caring for the widows and the fatherless, and in my opinion, we are sorely lacking in both of these areas.
Rambling about my proposed Interdenominational Nationwide Adoption Network
You should stop reading here.
Why interdenominational? Question for you – if a child were hanging over a cliff, and you were losing your grip, and the only people close enough to help you save the child’s life were a Methodist, a Catholic, and John Piper, would you let them help you? No denomination, and no religion is big enough to solve the problem of abortion, adoption extortion, and children being dumped into foster care. The collective churches in America can solve these problems! An adoption network will keep law offices accountable to bill their services at a fair industry standard rate. There are enough families in the church to solve all abandoned children cases in the US. There is enough money in the church to fund this mission.
I fear that an initiative like this will never gain any ground because religious men and women are too short- sighted to see that we either come together to rescue these children or continue to allow them to be thrown into foster care where many families take children for the money from the state and no other reason.
Why National?
We need these cases to be handled with care by professionals who know their state's laws. I am not for the church starting a fellowship of Christian attorneys who take on cases for free and provide substandard services because they have little or no funding in a very costly marketplace. I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for. And why would we not want to flood both Christian and secular law offices statewide with well-intentioned people who want to rescue children? Are we not called to bring salt to a spiritually bland landscape and light to the dark world around us? We have given up salt and light for internalized, in-focused Bible lover clubs, shunning anyone who doesn't look, sound, and act just like we do.
Gross illustration in closing: How do you “change” a baby? You have to get in there where the mess is. You have to clean up the filth. You have to apply healing and cooling ointments, and you have to clothe the child in clean garments. How on earth will we ever “change” this world if we aren't willing to get a little messy?
Why interdenominational? Question for you – if a child were hanging over a cliff, and you were losing your grip, and the only people close enough to help you save the child’s life were a Methodist, a Catholic, and John Piper, would you let them help you? No denomination, and no religion is big enough to solve the problem of abortion, adoption extortion, and children being dumped into foster care. The collective churches in America can solve these problems! An adoption network will keep law offices accountable to bill their services at a fair industry standard rate. There are enough families in the church to solve all abandoned children cases in the US. There is enough money in the church to fund this mission.
I fear that an initiative like this will never gain any ground because religious men and women are too short- sighted to see that we either come together to rescue these children or continue to allow them to be thrown into foster care where many families take children for the money from the state and no other reason.
Why National?
We need these cases to be handled with care by professionals who know their state's laws. I am not for the church starting a fellowship of Christian attorneys who take on cases for free and provide substandard services because they have little or no funding in a very costly marketplace. I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for. And why would we not want to flood both Christian and secular law offices statewide with well-intentioned people who want to rescue children? Are we not called to bring salt to a spiritually bland landscape and light to the dark world around us? We have given up salt and light for internalized, in-focused Bible lover clubs, shunning anyone who doesn't look, sound, and act just like we do.
Gross illustration in closing: How do you “change” a baby? You have to get in there where the mess is. You have to clean up the filth. You have to apply healing and cooling ointments, and you have to clothe the child in clean garments. How on earth will we ever “change” this world if we aren't willing to get a little messy?
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