Adoption Support

The shared excitement and outpouring of love we have received since our first post has been truly amazing!  Words cannot express how thankful we are for the family and friends supporting this second adoption journey with thoughts and prayers for us as well as Little Ross #2 on the other side of the world. 

Adoption is a journey of the heart, mind, spirit, and wallet!  It is the full package.  We know God has called us to adopt and become a family of four but honestly, it is a completely unexpected developement.  We are not prepared financially for this journey and are trusting that God has a plan to make it happen.  We believe that watching Him work in and through the people and circumstances surrounding this adoption will be truly miraculous.  

That said, we humbly ask you to consider becoming part of our journey to adopt Little Ross #2 as more than an observer.  First and foremost, your prayers for our little one in China, our current family of three, and the paperwork process we are embarking on are coveted and appreciated. Second to that is the opportunity to help us cover costs associated with adopting internationally. There are two ways to give that will help us throughout our journey.

1. AWAA: Eternal Family Fund
This fund is set up through our adoption agency to help families cover the cost of adopting internationally. Contributions will be accepted on our behalf and will be used to pay any costs that are routed through AWAA.  These include: 
Program Fees 
Home Study Fees
Post Adoption Fees
Travel Costs 

There are two ways to donate Eternal Family Program:
1. Check* - A check made payable to America World Adoption Association (AWAA) and the Eternal Family Program form found at http://www.awaa.org/forms/EFP_Contribution_Form.pdf should be sent to the following address: 
America World Adoption Association
Attn: Accounting Department
6723 Whittier Avenue, Suite 202
McLean, VA  22101

2. Credit Card* - Credit card contributions can be made at https://www.awaa.org/give/general_donation.aspx. Select Eternal Family Program from the choices at the top and fill in the required fields.  For "family name" please enter Randall and Robyn Ross.

*Although AWAA is a non-profit organization, they do not provide tax receipts for donations to the Eternal Family Fund (although they do provide an email or mail confirmation that funds were donated) and request that you speak to your tax preparer as to whether or not the contribution qualifies as a  tax deduction.  Please note that an administrative fee of 5% will be charged to offset processing fees and the work of America World staff in tracking and accounting for all contributions.  (This fee suprised us at first but after researching other fundraising websites, we found that an administrative fee is standard and can often be more than 5%.) 

2. Direct Donations
There are many fees and costs not routed through our adoption agency.  If you choose to make a donation directly to us to help cover these costs please know that we will use it ONLY for adoption expenses.  These expenses include:
State Certification Fees for Documents
Consulate Authentication Fees for Documents
USCIS (Immigration) Document, Fingerprint and Processing Fees
Mailing and Courier Service Fees
Travel Visa Fees

Thank you for considering joining our journey in a very tangible way.  We know not everyone is able to give; please do not feel obligated. 

Thank you for your continued prayers!
Robyn, Randy & Zeke

An interesting side note: 

We were in the same position regarding accepting the referral of a child in December 2012! We received Zeke's file for review at the end of November and accepted it on December 2, 2012. (This picture was sent to us on December 12, 2012 . . . he has certainly grown!) This time around we saw Little Ross #2's face for the first time on December 3, 2014.  Two amazing Christmas gifts almost exactly two years apart!