MY MOST SPAMMED POST

My lovelies. They are so good at looking lovely.

On a regular basis, I get notifications that comments are made on this post. They are always spam. It is my "most spammed post." I don't know why!? It is a post about a fundraising event for my friends who were trying to adopt internationally. It didn't work out, and a year and a half after that post, the spam has become extremely active lately.

I think that is ironic because new things are happening for my friends...

I never followed up on the status of their adoption (except a short note here, one year ago.) Needless to say, the international adoption fell through with a resounding thud. The country from which they planned to adopt closed ALL adoptions. Forever. Period. All of their hard work fundraising, planning, working with local and international agencies and offices, and preparing mentally and emotionally for receiving what would have likely been two children, was abruptly stopped. After the ban, the agency with which they had all of their files and funds declared bankruptcy and shut down. They lost everything. What money they had raised and was left in their own savings account, they donated to an orphanage in Poland.

Rome, baby!!!!

To my great surprise, but with my total support (!), they took a break from TTC. They took their first vacation ever as a married couple and went to Italy this past summer. They also planned a trip to visit us in Oregon wine country this fall, but in a poor turn of unlucky events, missed their flight. :(

I watched them spend the last five years trying endless medical interventions, exploring surrogacy and other forms of adoption. For each and every effort, a door closed in their face. Sometimes they had to painfully close the door themselves, and it has been absolutely heartbreaking to attempt to feebly support them as they face so many challenges in what is usually (for most people) the simple task of starting a family. I don't want to get specific and air their laundry all over the internets, but I love them and want to help them and I believe part of finding help from others and tapping into compassion is sharing part of the struggle. Things unfortunately got worse.  They tried one last medical intervention in November. That week the tornado hit Washington, including their home. They lost some belongings and one of their cats, Bert. The medical procedure did not work. They have been living in temporary housing and trying to regroup.

EJ and Bert

I remember a phone conversation that I had with Amy back in 2009, one dreary and rainy afternoon while I was drifting around Target mindlessly shopping. We were both so frustrated at being unable to get pregnant. We concluded our conversation by patting each other on the back and assuring ourselves that we would ONE day wish we were so lucky again to talk to each other without interruptions like our babies crying in the background. I am going to be honest here. When I talk to Amy on the phone now and my son is making noise or it is hard for me to hear or I have to cut the call short to attend to his needs, I feel awful. I want to hear that noise on her end of the line, so badly, and it isn't there. It is still silent.

In the aftermath of the tornado, a friend called Amy and told her about a woman who was willing to avoid abortion if Ross and Amy wanted to adopt the baby. Stunned, they discussed their options. She lived in another state and wanted a closed adoption. The state-to-state private transaction would cost them at least $15,000. They didn't know where they would come up with that kind of money, post-tornado and post-multiple costly medical procedures, but they decided they would find a way.

Visiting friends in Poland.

Please consider donating $5-$25 to help them adopt this baby. It is a boy. He is due in 3 months. He will be named Harvey. He deserves life and he deserves parents who adore him and will support him and take care of him no matter what. And Ross and Amy deserve the noise in the background of a home filled with the love and chaos of their beautiful child.