Growing up, we both desired to have a family and raise children within our loving home. When I, Taylor, was 18 years old, doctors diagnosed me with Klinefelter syndrome, with the side effect of low testosterone and limited chances of natural conception. This news was hard to hear and yet harder to share with my future wife. Ashley and I got married in 2015, knowing the challenges we might face; we were trusting the Lord to provide naturally. We knew it would be hard, but we could never fully know the rollercoaster of emotions, challenges, sadness, and wounds we would face. I know the Lord is the maker of all things, especially life. Every child is a miracle, and I believed He could do it for us against all the odds stacked against us. We have prayed for that miracle child every month, and after 11 years, that prayer hasn't been fulfilled. We still pray for that miracle; however, the Lord has been showing me that our desire and timeline aren’t always what He has planned. This is hard to walk out.
Our desire to have a family hasn't left, and if anything, the desire has grown more. On a mission trip in 2014, Ashley fell in love with a little girl in the Dominican Republic. However, single, laws did not allow Ashley to adopt her at that time. Ever since that trip, she has wanted to adopt. I was a little slower to adjust to the approach of adoption, as I desired the Lord to provide naturally. The Lord has softened my heart, and I am submitting to His ways versus my own. Now we are both on the same page with adoption, and it is our current path we are pursuing to grow our family.
We first shared with our closest friends and family back in 2023, and desired to direct parental placement without an adoption agency to keep the price lower. We completed our home study and waited. Although at that time we were connected with two birth moms, both children were already under care with a social worker. We were not eligible to adopt through foster care at that time. We attempted that route for over a year and started to feel discouraged.
At the end of 2024, I confessed to Ashley that I was struggling with pornography/unwanted sexual sin. This sin was how I was coping with infertility and my health condition. My sin caused a huge break of trust, faith, and relationship with Ashley. My repentance to the Lord and Ashley was most important as I looked to heal my marriage. This season caused our marriage vows to be tested to the extreme. By the grace of God, Ashley has forgiven me, and all of 2025 we focused on rebuilding our marriage. Adoption was paused as we worked to heal, restore, rebuild trust and honesty. The Lord has worked a miracle and restored our hope by His grace, we are stronger, closer, and more open than ever before.
As we closed out 2025, we regained direction and motivation to move forward with adoption again. This time we decided to work with an adoption consultant to expand our network. In six months, we have presented to a handful of birth moms. The rollercoaster of emotions has continued, but the Lord is teaching us great things about surrender and abiding. In two of those cases, the mom has chosen to keep their baby (which is the best-case scenario). We are diligently taking the next steps, knowing the Lord will provide our child soon.
Asking for financial partnership has been overwhelming. Yet understand that we can’t do this alone and would like to invite you to be a part of our story. We are working closely with an adoption agency and are locked in at $57,000. This amount includes agency fees, legal expenses, and birth mother support. We will also have to come up with last-minute travel expenses. When we are matched to a birth, we must have $25,000, and the rest is due once placement happens, which could be as short as 30 days later.
We are taking big steps of faith and being vulnerable as we invite you into this journey with us. We ask you to pray for us — for the child the Lord has for us, for the birth mother who will make an incredibly brave and hard decision, for the path ahead and all the logistics that will take place. We invite you to give towards bringing our child home. Every gift, no matter the size, moves us one step closer to welcoming our child. Thank you for walking with us. We are so grateful for all the Lord is doing.
