Herndon Adoption Fundraiser

Hi! As many of you know by now, we have made the decision to begin the adoption process! It’s something that we have been thinking about for many years now and after six years of marriage we feel that we are ready to add a little one to our family.

Due to medical reasons, natural childbirth is not an option for us, but we still feel the call to be parents and help provide a happy home for a child to grow up in. We recently moved to a family friendly neighborhood in Mount Juliet, Tennessee where our house is located across from the playground and community pool. We chose this neighborhood because we want our children to grow up in a safe community with lots of friends and readily available outdoor activities. Mount Juliet prides itself in having some of the best public schools in the state of Tennessee! We feel we can provide an excellent life for a child!

Both of us are stable in our careers in the ever growing construction industry. Michael works as a engineering sales professional and enjoys working from home, as his company is located in out of state. After graduating with her bachelor’s degree last year from MTSU, Shelby now works at a General Contractor’s office here in Nashville as a Office Coordinator. This company will allow for 12 weeks of paid maternity leave and Shelby has also considered working a compressed schedule once the baby arrives.

The process of adopting is long and intrusive (for good reason), but we are up for the challenge. It is also very expensive. The agency that we have chosen to use estimates the average cost for an adoption at $44,000-$48,000. Costs include application, home study, video profile for birth mothers to review and marketing efforts ( to help reach potential families looking to place their child for adoption), administrative, agency, and legal fees, hospital bills, as well as assistance to the birth mother to help provide a stable environment during and after pregnancy. Unfortunately, there is no help to be found via medical insurance.

We are doing everything we can to save money for this cause moving forward. Eating at home more, skipping vacations, working extra jobs, and generally trying to pinch pennies. We are also putting together several adoption fundraising events, including a garage sale, and a neighborhood car wash among many other ideas (if you have any good ideas feel free to throw them our way!). We have also created a Plum Fund for charitable giving. If you feel compelled to donate or participate in any of the events that we have along the next several months, we are forever grateful for that support.

Adoption has been a wonderful success for several members of our family as well as some friends and we are thrilled to be taking the first steps of this journey.