We passed!!! NECD here we come!

Okay, we did it...we passed our home study (for the second time...the first time was in 2005). We officially got our "pass" in the mail from Bethany adoption agency. If you didn't know, we tried to adopt in 2005 after trying for a baby for 4 years. God surprised us with Isaac, so we didn't adopt. Now we are ready to add to our family again.

Aside from God's clear direction to have us marry one another, no other path God has directed us toward has been as evident as adopting. We are adopting via embryo adoption.

"What in the world is that?" is the question we get from most people (amazingly, even many doctors don't know about the option). Here it is, in a nutshell. Infertile couples chose to get pregnant via in-vitro. Often times they allow the doctors to fertilize more eggs than they are actually willing to give birth to. They count on the statistics of the successful birth rate to determine how many babies they have made. For example, if the doctor says 30% of the embryos will result in a live birth, the parents think, "Well, we want 3, so lets make 9." Well, God is not work like that. Sometimes the parents have multiples on the first try. In addition to that, it is very common for women unable to conceive on their own to get pregnant without medical intervention after they have given birth. So, those parents have triplets, let's say, then have a baby on their own. Well, they still have 6 babies frozen in a fertility clinic with no plans to have any more children in their home. All that said, it is figured that there are 400,000+ embryos (babies frozen in time just a few days after conception...only a few cells big). That's where we come in...

When we first pursued embryo adoption, we did it for 3 basic reasons: 1. It was the least expensive form of adoption (besides fost/adopt), 2. It would allow us to go through the pregnancy and birth experience, & 3. It had the least risk of the child being taken away (as the law currently exists, once the embryos are implanted, the genetic parents have no legal rights to claim custody of the child/children.

Now that we have two of our own biological children as a surprise blessing from the Lord, we ache for the children we prayed for in 2005. We feel like a part of our family is missing. The children we were praying for in 2005 may, in fact, still be frozen a waiting for us. Though I have no real desire to get pregnant ever again, I will joyfully carry any children that God has put in my womb. My heart breaks for the little souls frozen in time. It still boggles my mind to think of what state they are in...with souls, yet no heartbeat yet or even growth or change. That is one thing I leave in the Lord's hands. Lord willing, we will be blessed to be used by God to give these children the opportunity to take their first breath...we are so excited to see their first heartbeats on the ultrasound.

Here is the WEBSITE FOR THE NEDC

The next step is to go to TN and have the first visit with Dr Keenan at the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC). There he will do a "trial transfer" (which is like the actual transfer...but with no embryos involved). After that, we'll come home and I'll take drugs to ready my body to carry the babies when they are put in, Lord willing, in January. We are praying that every baby would survive the thaw and that they would all be born healthy. In addition, we are praying that God would help my body carry/hold the babies and that our children would be cared for if I should need to be on bed rest. We are trusting God with all these little details...resting in the fact that He will not give us beyond what we can handle with His strength.

Pray for us. Also, please pray (because is is VERY heavy on our hearts) that those who choose in-vitro would do it carefully and with wisdom. Think about this: The chance of a live birth from a "fresh" embryo is around 50%...the chance of a live birth from a frozen embryo is around 30%. What does that mean? It means that the freezing process kills some of the babies. To make it specific, based on statistics, only 120,000 of the 400,000 embryo are expected to survive to birth....80,000 (20%) of which will die just because they got frozen in the first place. 80,000 could have survived if they were never frozen!

There are parents who I know would NEVER get an abortion because they believe life starts at conception. In ignorance (and usually clouded with the burning desire to have a baby...which I personally understand), they rush to create more babies than they are willing to have and freeze them. Please educate everyone you know considering in-vitro and encourage them, at the very least, not to freeze or, if they are open to it, adopt an embryo waiting to be born.

PSALM 139:13-16

13For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother's womb.
14I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.