Marquis Family Adoption

For Alexa and I, adoption has been something that was always on our minds and in our hearts. From the beginning of our marriage we had briefly discussed the idea of one day adopting but it would be one of those short lived “one day” types of conversations. After being told by a doctor that we may not be able to have biological children, we didn’t mourn or become resentful of the situation. As a family, we looked at this as a clear sign that adoption is where God was leading us. We prayed about it. We had our pastor and church pray over us as well, and it just kept seeming more clear that starting the adoption process was exactly where we were supposed to be. Now, here we are 8 months later matched with a beautiful little baby girl that we can’t wait to have in our arms!

As we began to prepare for adoption, our hearts began to be challenged by the reality that while adoption is beautiful, adoption can also be incredibly difficult for children.

We know that adoption always starts from a point of trauma. Some kids lose their parents; some experience abandonment; others are abused, assaulted, or neglected; and some are cast out for their gender or disability. There is never a happy beginning to a child who finds themselves in need of adoption. We are not looking to simply grow our family, but rather we are committing to opening our home for a child who otherwise is growing up in an institution with one or more of these traumas. And we hope you will partner with us in this work.

In our learning process, we have carefully considered each step along the way and chose to adopt from India for a number of reasons.

In India there are 30,000,000 abandoned children living on the streets or outside of a family structure (1/10th the population of the USA!). Of those kids, only approximately 450,000 are in some type of institutionalized care (meaning only 1.5% are living in orphanages or home programs). Of those, only 4,000 are adopted each year. This is a huge disparity in numbers and more forever homes are needed. Alexa and I could not turn our eyes away from this very real crisis without contributing in some way to the solution. 

Adoption is costly. There are reports, and assessments, and evaluations to make sure that we are a safe family. And, there are reports, and assessments, and investigations to ensure that our future child is in fact orphaned and in need of parents. These costs in our process will cost approximately $37,000. That does not include any of the therapies, counseling, or doctor appointments needed once life at home begins.