Hi! We’re Todd and Merritt!

And we’re working on starting our family through embryo adoption.

Although we married in our late 30s, it was still hard to imagine we’d have trouble conceiving. 

We've been through more than two years of "trying" and much heartache after losing our first child to a miscarriage. We’ve known so many couples who have struggled with infertility; and now God has chosen to give us a glimpse of it in our own lives. The constant prayer of our heart is to continue to trust that He is good, no matter our circumstances, and He has been faithful to answer that prayer. 

At the end of last year, the Lord started opening our hearts and minds to adoption. In the midst of our research, we learned about Nightlight Christian Adoptions and the Snowflakes Embryo Adoption program.

Embryo donation is an option for couples who have completed IVF (in vitro fertilization) treatments and have remaining embryos in frozen storage. They can chose to give their children the gift of life through adoption by a family like ours. Their decision is not an easy one; maybe they are finished growing their family or they cannot afford to continue treatments. Either way, it’s a choice to allow another family to give birth to and raise their genetic children.

Donor families can choose an open or closed adoption. In an open adoption, the biological children in their family would have the opportunity to meet their genetic siblings in the adoptive family. That’s what we’re hoping for, as long as it would be a healthy choice for our kids. 

We’ve started a fundraiser on Pure Charity to help with our home study and agency fees, including matching, contracts and finalization of the embryo adoption. 

Once that’s all finished, it may feel like we’ve only just begun. We’re currently saving for the medical fees required by the frozen embryo transfer as well as travel expenses. Our agency tells us we can choose to travel to wherever our embryos are stored and give them a better chance of surviving the thaw.   

Right now we need to raise $9,450 to complete our agreement with Nightlight. Every gift—no matter the size—will help us get there AND give us time to save the funds for everything that follows once the adoption is completed. We appreciate you and your willingness to share with anyone you know who may wish to participate. 

Thank you for being part of our story. God has shown us all along that we cannot do this alone. Because “alone” is a very lonely place. We know there are no guarantees—of anything—in this life, but we thank you for walking alongside us as we follow this path the Lord has us on. 

We look forward to continuing to share our progress and prayerfully—one day—introducing you to our precious child. 

You can follow our journey at: http://onsaadoption.wordpress.com/