Fred & Sarah Richmond
Children: Fred III (6); Oziah (11 weeks)
Church: Central Reformed Church, Sioux Center, Iowa
Adoption has been in the back of my mind for many years. After being diagnosed with PCOS in my late teens I knew that if I wanted a family someday, that adoption was a definite option. My husband and I were very surprised when we found out we were expecting our son in 2008 without any help from doctoring. Trying for baby #2, however, proved to be a long, difficult journey with many disappointments. After 4 years of trying, 2 years of doctoring and numerous miscarriages, we felt God calling our hearts to adoption in March of 2014.
We started the application and home study process in April, 2014 and were a waiting family at the beginning of August. One of the things we worried about most was the cost of adoption. Throughout the process, though, we have been so overwhelmed by the support of our family, friends, community, and church family through our fund raising efforts and by keeping us in their prayers. It is so amazing when looking back to see God’s hands guiding us in our journey! There were so many times throughout the process that we wondered how it would all work out and by God’s grace and provision it could not have turned out more perfectly.
On November 13, 2014 we got a call from our agency in Georgia about a baby boy born the day before; his birth mom chose us to be his parents. We spoke to her briefly that evening and she mentioned that one of the reasons she chose our family is because she could tell from our profile book that we were strong in our faith and that was very important to her. We also agreed together on what to name him…Oziah Ayden is what we chose. Oziah means strength of the Lord and was a name I had picked out months ago and Ayden is the name his birth mother chose for him. We also spoke about our longing to continue a relationship with her. We look at her as part of our family and are so thankful to her for giving us this precious gift.
We drove the 21 hour drive to Georgia and picked up our son on November 26, the day before Thanksgiving. What a memorable Thanksgiving it was! We spent 2 weeks in Georgia and have been home as a family of 4 for 2 months now. We could not be more in love with him! He is a precious gift from above and we are so blessed that he is ours!
We found out that we had received a grant from Katelyn’s Fund a couple weeks before we got the call from our agency, what a blessing and what perfect timing! Thank you to all the donors who made our grant possible, we are eternally grateful to Katelyn’s Fund for helping to bring our son home!
