” When Josh and I met in 2012, we talked about a lot of things that were important to us before we decided if we should date. Adoption was one of those things. We both agreed from day one that we felt the Lord’s call to grow our family through adoption in the future. Though we still planned to have biological children, we felt sure that we would adopt as well. We got married in 2014 and by the end of 2016 we felt ready to start a family! Our plans shifted in January of 2017 when we found out that my mom, who had been struggling with her health for a couple of years, was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease. This disease is a rare genetic disorder that currently has no cure, and with her diagnosis came the news that I now have a 50% chance of developing the disease later in life. This also meant that if I carry the gene, there would be a 50% chance that the disease would be passed onto our biological children as well. Though we struggled with this news, the Lord gave us an overwhelming peace about it and confirmed what we had already known all along — that we were called to adopt!

We started the adoption process in August of 2017 with Faithful Adoption Consultants (FAC), which is a referral service that specializes in infant domestic adoption and networks with adoption agencies throughout the United States. They essentially “held our hands” through the adoption process and offered constant support as we navigated all of the chaos that comes with adopting – paperwork, home study, fundraising, applying for grants, and creating a profile book, just to name a few! We became active clients with FAC in January of 2018 at which point we began receiving emails (sometimes several in a day!) with expectant mother situations. As we received these situations, we had the opportunity to share our profile with expectant mothers. On July 18, we found out that we had been matched! Our baby girl, Amelia Kaiori (aka Mia!), was born on August 27, 2018 in Florida. She weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 inches tall! We were able to meet and spend a lot of time with Mia’s first mama, who we love so very much! We also were able to choose Mia’s name with her first mama which is very special to us. We feel so honored that she chose us and entrusted us with such a great responsibility, and that she gave us the most amazing gift. Looking back, we can see how the Lord orchestrated all of these events in our life to lead us to this moment, where we now get to be parents to the sweetest baby girl that God had chosen for us from the beginning. “

I am so truly excited for this season of life that the Carl family has entered in to!! I know God is going to do amazing things through their family! Congratulations on your baby girl, Sarah and Josh!

Hugs, Tiffany