Jennie, Jeffery, and Autumn officially welcomed Baby S into their lives on April 13, 2024. Their journey has been full of heartache and disappointment. Jennie and Jeffery experienced two miscarriages before they were blessed with Autumn. They wanted to continue growing their family but experienced FIVE more miscarriages. Pursuing adoption in the past without success, they decided to put their trust completely in the Lord this time. They were willing to accept whatever He wanted their family to be. This act of surrendering was what they needed to do most.

Unexpectedly, Jennie and Jeffrey got a call from a friend about a baby who may need to be adopted. Jennie couldn’t believe it, and thought, “This isn’t going to happen.” However, she chose to continue surrendering her doubts to God and began to get excited. Jeffery was at work when he got the call, and his mind was racing. He was over the moon. They began calling adoption agencies and lawyers to get the process started, but they were told that the timing would not work out for them to adopt Baby S.

Jennie and Jeffery were living in Canada and planning to move back to Indiana when they received the call about Baby S. They needed to get all the paperwork done, find a place to live in Indiana, and prepare for a baby. It was stressful finding a place to live in Indiana that would meet their family’s needs, but God provided. They were able to find a home that met the needs of their growing family in the timeline that they needed.

After they talked to Gateway Woods about their situation, our staff immediately started the process. We saw God at work and were thrilled to play our part in this family’s journey. Through this experience, Jennie and Jeffery felt comforted, knowing God was making a way for this adoption. We were able to complete their home study within a couple of weeks before Baby S was born.

Baby S is home and doing well. She is being loved by her big sister, Autumn, who loves to help feed and hold her. Jennie and Jeffery thank God for what He has done for their family.

If you find yourself in a season of waiting, Jeffery and Jennie want you to know you are not alone. Keep trusting God and surrender to what He wants for your family. Then, watch what God does.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Get to know Hope

Challenges in Adoption

If you would have asked me a year ago, I would not have been able to tell you much about the nuances of adoption. Approaching this job as a 24-year-old newlywed, fresh out of college with a bachelor’s degree, and very little personal experience with loss and grief proved uniquely eye-opening. I found myself coming face-to-face with person after person who carried great burdens on their shoulders. For our expectant mothers, it’s the confusion and fear of being pregnant without the resources, ability, or support system to step into motherhood. For our adoptive families, it’s often the grief of infertility, or a burden on their hearts for the children of all over the world in need of a family.

It's difficult for anyone to grapple with these challenges. Early on I feared that because I couldn’t personally relate to their situations, there was in some way an unbreachable separation between them and myself. That the only role available to me was the distant social worker that types up the reports, sends them where they need to go and shakes your hand when I’m done. However, from observing my fellow workers in this mission field, I learned that the far more courageous thing to do is to follow Jesus’ example. 

What Jesus Does

When Jesus traveled back to Judea after hearing word of his beloved friend Lazarus falling sick, Jesus knew that he would already be dead upon arriving. He knew Lazarus’ sisters Martha and Mary would be in the depths of grief and fear for the future, and that all of that would soon be changed to joy when he raised Lazarus from the dead. Yet, in John 11:35, we are given a sweet glimpse into the type of person Jesus truly is, with just two words we can see that He is a far more compassionate God than one that just answers prayers. Those two words are this: “Jesus wept.” Jesus, before doing the impossible and redeeming a hopeless situation, went to Mary and simply wept with her. Allowing himself to be “deeply moved and his spirit greatly troubled.” 

What I can do

I know I cannot pretend to have even a drop in the ocean of Jesus’ power and omniscience. I can’t sit with a grieving couple, pursuing adoption after a miscarriage or stillbirth, and know what’s going to happen for them. I can’t promise an adoptive family that they won’t experience new forms of grief in the adoption journey, and I can’t sit with a birth family and answer all their questions about what the future will look like, or whether the confusion will be done at the court finalization.

What I can do is sit with you, weep with you, and support you in the coming days. I hope and pray that we as an organization can give you even a glimpse of the life-changing immensity of love that Jesus has for you and share every joy and sorrow along the way.

Love and Respect for Family of Origin

When a parent makes a plan of adoption for their child, they become the first part of the adoption triad, which includes the family of origin, the adoptive family, and the adopted child. This decision is brave, loving, and painful. The family of origin should be treated as equals during the adoption process, with love and respect.

Throughout the adoption process, special care should be given to the expectant mother. We value her as a person, knowing the difficult decision she is making. She should never feel pressured to follow through on the adoption plan, and more than that, her hopes, desires, and wishes should be honored. Remember, she loves this baby as much, and oftentimes more, than the agency or adoptive family.

The adoption process can be intimidating, with a lot of legal language, paperwork, and very personal questions. Every effort should be made to make sure that the family of origin understands each step of the process. Sometimes this will include hiring an attorney to explain the legal process, other times we will give extra time for the expectant mom talk with the child’s father or her extended family. Giving time, answering questions, and making sure there is understanding is a way that we give value to the family of origin.

We also want to make sure that the expectant parent is loved and cared for. They should be helping to make all the decisions about the relationship they want with their child and the adoptive family. There should be special care given to preserving the relationship between a birth parent and their child. 

Finally, the expectant parent’s needs should be met throughout the process. There will always be physical and medical needs, including making sure she can get to all the medical appointments, ensuring she has a safe place to live, and having nutritious food to eat. Beyond this, we give special attention to the emotional and spiritual needs of these women through offering counseling, connection, and support through the grief process.

In these ways, and so many more, our goal is to give expectant moms a voice in their adoption plan, maintain a connection between all members of the adoption triad, create a process that is easily understood, and meet all of the needs of the expectant mom. In doing these things, we want to show that we value, love, and respect these brave families!

Hello, I’m Nichole! I’ve been with Gateway Woods for almost 15 years. I am married to my high school sweetheart Paul for 20 years and counting. We are currently neck-deep in the teenage years with our son and two daughters (and trying not to think about the fact that we started dating each other at the ages our kids are now!). Paul is a high school science, math, and Bible teacher. We are an active family, often signing up for road races, looking for new hiking trails, or working our little homestead on our 2-acre plot of land. I’m a writer and blogger and try to squeeze in any time I can for that as well. Prior to the Social Work field, I worked as an Occupational Therapist with children in schools and with the elderly in nursing homes. God has gifted me the skills of organization and love that He has led me to use in my role at Gateway Woods.