Exciting things are happening! We found out this week that we have officially been assigned a home study writer and will start that process after Christmas. We are thrilled to take this next step in our journey!
The home study is the background check, references, home inspection, interviews, and health and safety checks to make sure both we and our home are fit for adoption. After Christmas, the home study writer will reach out to us to initiate the background check and fingerprinting. When that comes back, we will complete interviews, turn in lots of paperwork, and have a walk through of our home completed. Additional steps include things like getting a physical and having the fire department come check our smoke detectors, carbon monoxide alarms, hot water temperature, etc.
They seem to leave no stone unturned in this process and rightfully so. Even in completing the paperwork, I think they may soon know more about us than we know about ourselves. Once our home study is complete and approved though, we can accept a placement so this is a huge step. It will also allow us to begin applying for adoption grants to help with the cost of adoption.
We spent some time earlier this week reflecting on how the Lord brought us to this point. I, Hannah, have wanted to adopt for as long as I can remember. In fact, I had zero desire to have biological children before meeting Matt and planned only on adopting. Things changed as we met and fell in love. Plus, it didn’t hurt that Matt was such a cute little kid. Having a little copy and paste of him running around sounded fun. We discussed adoption when we started dating though because I knew that’s something I have always felt the Lord calling me to and with my PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) I knew it could potentially be difficult for us to conceive if we did decide to pursue biological children and he was 100% on board and had been considering adoption since before we met as well.
A few months ago, we were both really struggling with where we were in our journey to conceive. It was incredibly difficult for me that my body wasn’t working the way that I felt it was supposed to. All we knew to do was keep praying and trusting the Lord would fulfill the desire of our hearts.
We knew adoption was part of our future plan, so when our church announced they were hosting a meeting for those interested in the adoptive and foster ministry, we jumped at the opportunity to go. We showed up to the meeting in late September and ended up leaving before the meeting even started. Emotions were already high around fertility that day and then walking into a room where there was a little baby being passed around and another family was talking about their pregnancy, the tears started coming and I couldn’t get them to stop, so we left.
It’s a weird feeling to hold the tension of being so happy for others as they experience the joy of having children and not knowing whether you’re going to be okay in those exciting situations or you’re going to completely break down because the longing of your own heart is going unmet and feels so far out of reach. We often held faith and sorrow in the same hand. We trusted the Lord was going to provide but grieved our current situation. There are two songs that I kept on repeat: Firm Foundation (He Won’t) by Cody Carnes and Good Plans by Red Rocks Worship. Firm Foundation was a constant reminder that Christ had to be the rock we stood on. Good Plans was the reminder that even in the sorrow, we were seen and loved by the God of the universe who has good plans for us even when we can’t see what He is doing in the moment.
The pastor who was leading that ministry reached out later that night to check in with us. We explained our current fertility situation and they responded graciously and let us know they would be praying for us. The next day, he reached back out to let us know of a situation where a baby’s adoption had fallen through. The agency was trying to work to find a new placement for this baby, so the pastor asked if we would consider taking this baby in. It was a very quick and easy yes for us. By the time we reached out, the agency had already started working with another family. We were so happy that sweet baby had a family to go home to.
The simple question of would you consider taking this step was one that prompted a deeper conversation with us about whether we were ready to pivot and start pursuing adoption more seriously. I had it on my bingo card for a few more years down the road but having this situation put directly in front of us made me realize that I needed to release my plans and my timelines and trust the work the Lord was doing around and in us. Matt let me know that he had been praying about it and considering bringing it up for some time. For me, the idea of pausing trying to conceive naturally and pursue adoption in this season instead was a huge weight off of my shoulders because it took the pressure off of me and what my body was capable or incapable of doing and just allowed us to work on preparing our hearts and home to welcome in a child.
We fully believe it was the Lord’s providence that we went to that meeting and even that we left when we did, because it prompted conversations that led us to where we are now. Now we hurry up and wait for the next steps and continue to trust that the Lord has good plans for us and is working this for His glory and our good.
As always, we appreciate your prayers as we continue this journey. If you are interested in supporting us in our journey, you can find all the ways to do that here.
If you’ve walked this journey before and have wisdom, encouragement, or advice to share, we’d love to hear from you. If you’re considering starting this journey and just want someone else to talk to about it or have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We may not have the answers, but we’re more than happy to share what we’ve learned.
With Love,
The Schoonovers
The Schoonovers 
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