1 00:00:00,569 --> 00:00:04,000 The thing about our story is they told 2 00:00:04,010 --> 00:00:06,150 us it would take about 18 months 3 00:00:06,159 --> 00:00:08,289 because for people that are older or 4 00:00:08,300 --> 00:00:10,522 for couples that are older that already 5 00:00:10,522 --> 00:00:12,869 have Children , birth mothers tend not 6 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,309 to pick them . Um So we kind of laid 7 00:00:16,319 --> 00:00:20,049 back with it . And um three weeks later , 8 00:00:20,059 --> 00:00:22,229 we got the call that we were picked . 9 00:00:35,220 --> 00:00:37,276 So it's the , the military family uh 10 00:00:37,276 --> 00:00:39,560 assistance uh trust I believe is what 11 00:00:39,569 --> 00:00:42,529 it stands for . Um It's uh and it's a , 12 00:00:42,540 --> 00:00:45,090 it's a , the state has set it up to 13 00:00:45,099 --> 00:00:47,099 assist families uh that , that need 14 00:00:47,099 --> 00:00:49,321 support . Initially , it was set up for 15 00:00:49,321 --> 00:00:51,155 families uh of , of , you know , 16 00:00:51,155 --> 00:00:53,321 soldiers and airmen that were overseas 17 00:00:53,321 --> 00:00:55,488 that needed support back home in there 18 00:00:55,488 --> 00:00:57,655 is a uh a fund set aside uh to support 19 00:00:57,655 --> 00:00:59,970 those , those needs that they have . Uh 20 00:00:59,979 --> 00:01:02,035 And at some point , it , it did roll 21 00:01:02,035 --> 00:01:04,257 over into assisting with adoptions . Um 22 00:01:04,257 --> 00:01:07,099 The active duty has , has a similar uh 23 00:01:07,110 --> 00:01:09,709 a similar fund . So , um you know , the , 24 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:11,776 the state saw the need for , for the 25 00:01:11,776 --> 00:01:14,239 serving military folks . And uh again , 26 00:01:14,250 --> 00:01:16,417 we are just fortunate beneficiaries of 27 00:01:16,417 --> 00:01:19,660 that we struggled to get pregnant for 28 00:01:19,669 --> 00:01:21,819 uh years and that's when it first 29 00:01:21,830 --> 00:01:23,980 popped into our minds and we ended up 30 00:01:23,989 --> 00:01:26,980 getting pregnant , uh , twice . Uh , 31 00:01:26,989 --> 00:01:29,156 but it was still always in the back of 32 00:01:29,156 --> 00:01:31,322 our minds to adopt . So when we hit 40 33 00:01:31,349 --> 00:01:33,809 or I hit 40 you hit 42 34 00:01:35,059 --> 00:01:37,279 we decided that , um , we were gonna 35 00:01:37,290 --> 00:01:39,720 pull the trigger and , and do it and it 36 00:01:39,730 --> 00:01:41,897 was , it was not the , not the easiest 37 00:01:41,897 --> 00:01:44,008 decision for sure . I was , I was not 38 00:01:44,008 --> 00:01:47,279 at 42 . I wasn't real interested in uh , 39 00:01:47,620 --> 00:01:49,860 in starting over again . But , uh , but 40 00:01:49,870 --> 00:01:51,981 Miranda had been talking about it for 41 00:01:51,981 --> 00:01:54,203 years and uh , she was , she was pretty 42 00:01:54,203 --> 00:01:56,426 assertive and , and kind of let us know 43 00:01:56,426 --> 00:01:58,537 that that was the best , best for our 44 00:01:58,537 --> 00:02:00,759 family . So it definitely was a calling 45 00:02:00,759 --> 00:02:02,926 for us to , to try to help one baby if 46 00:02:02,926 --> 00:02:05,092 we could , we only had , you know , 18 47 00:02:05,092 --> 00:02:07,092 days after we went active , uh , we 48 00:02:07,092 --> 00:02:09,360 ended up picking up at a Joe never 49 00:02:09,369 --> 00:02:11,591 expected it . It's usually a year and a 50 00:02:11,591 --> 00:02:13,591 half . But what happened was , uh , 51 00:02:13,591 --> 00:02:15,702 whenever there's a , the agency has a 52 00:02:15,702 --> 00:02:17,869 case where a child needs adopted , you 53 00:02:17,869 --> 00:02:19,980 put in for it and Miranda was putting 54 00:02:19,980 --> 00:02:21,925 in for a lot of cases and a lot of 55 00:02:21,925 --> 00:02:21,660 times that comes with a , you put a 56 00:02:21,669 --> 00:02:23,669 picture book together and then they 57 00:02:23,669 --> 00:02:25,836 said the agency sends it to the mother 58 00:02:25,836 --> 00:02:28,002 and so on , uh a Sunday morning , just 59 00:02:28,002 --> 00:02:30,113 a random Sunday morning , Miranda got 60 00:02:30,113 --> 00:02:31,891 an email that there's a case in 61 00:02:31,891 --> 00:02:34,520 Elizabeth Town . Uh And so she , she 62 00:02:34,529 --> 00:02:36,640 decided , she said we're interested , 63 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:39,279 um said that the baby is , is here . Uh 64 00:02:39,289 --> 00:02:41,389 There is no family uh that , that's 65 00:02:41,399 --> 00:02:43,809 associated with the baby . So Miranda 66 00:02:43,820 --> 00:02:46,042 just took a long shot and put , put our 67 00:02:46,042 --> 00:02:48,264 name in and we got a call back about an 68 00:02:48,264 --> 00:02:51,050 hour later . I know . I know . So we 69 00:02:51,059 --> 00:02:53,115 got an hour later , it said you have 70 00:02:53,115 --> 00:02:55,226 four hours to get to Elizabethtown to 71 00:02:55,226 --> 00:02:57,170 pick up your new daughter . We had 72 00:02:57,170 --> 00:02:59,281 nothing . We had , she had bought a , 73 00:02:59,281 --> 00:03:01,392 she had bought a car seat a few weeks 74 00:03:01,392 --> 00:03:00,830 earlier and I'd kind of gotten on to 75 00:03:00,839 --> 00:03:03,119 her about wasting money . But uh but 76 00:03:03,130 --> 00:03:05,297 that was all that . We had . The Guard 77 00:03:05,297 --> 00:03:08,800 Services came as a surprise to us . We 78 00:03:08,809 --> 00:03:10,820 um I knew a lot of people in the 79 00:03:10,830 --> 00:03:13,509 adoption world and so , um we went 80 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,850 through a state owned agency . 81 00:03:17,300 --> 00:03:20,559 Um And then so we didn't 82 00:03:20,570 --> 00:03:23,559 have the funds available that , that 83 00:03:23,570 --> 00:03:26,119 quickly . And so the guard money really 84 00:03:26,130 --> 00:03:28,529 did step in and help us a lot to , to 85 00:03:28,539 --> 00:03:31,539 get because they want their checks , 86 00:03:31,550 --> 00:03:33,779 the adoption agency , you know , at a 87 00:03:33,934 --> 00:03:36,274 certain days , uh You know , that go by 88 00:03:36,285 --> 00:03:38,452 three days , go by nine days , go by , 89 00:03:38,452 --> 00:03:41,115 they're expecting money um to pay the , 90 00:03:41,125 --> 00:03:43,904 the birth mother to pay the resources 91 00:03:43,914 --> 00:03:45,970 that , that go along with it . So it 92 00:03:45,970 --> 00:03:48,136 really came in handy . The way the MFA 93 00:03:48,136 --> 00:03:51,279 adoption benefit works is uh the Guard 94 00:03:51,289 --> 00:03:53,289 will reimburse at the time . It was 95 00:03:53,289 --> 00:03:56,380 $2500 . Now , it's $5000 for a regular 96 00:03:56,389 --> 00:03:58,445 adoption , but they'll reimburse you 97 00:03:58,445 --> 00:04:00,556 after you give them the , the receipt 98 00:04:00,556 --> 00:04:02,778 that you've paid . So they'll reimburse 99 00:04:02,778 --> 00:04:04,945 you . They're not gonna pay , uh , pay 100 00:04:04,945 --> 00:04:07,000 it for you . Um , the work was on us 101 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,167 but it's still , uh , to pay $5000 out 102 00:04:09,167 --> 00:04:11,111 of an adoption is incredible . And 103 00:04:11,111 --> 00:04:13,278 adoption . Well , it seems like a huge 104 00:04:13,278 --> 00:04:15,333 number , uh , with the guard support 105 00:04:15,333 --> 00:04:17,556 and , you know , with some of the , the 106 00:04:17,556 --> 00:04:19,667 tax benefits , it's , it's , it's not 107 00:04:19,667 --> 00:04:21,722 as , as daunting as it , as it might 108 00:04:21,722 --> 00:04:23,889 sound . So , you know , that's kind of 109 00:04:23,889 --> 00:04:25,945 the , the , the , it's not a crusade 110 00:04:25,945 --> 00:04:25,774 but that's what we like to tell people 111 00:04:25,785 --> 00:04:27,896 is that if you're thinking about it , 112 00:04:27,896 --> 00:04:30,063 it's , yeah , it's not as unreasonable 113 00:04:30,063 --> 00:04:32,285 as it would sound like you , you know , 114 00:04:32,285 --> 00:04:34,507 and , uh , it's a substantial amount of 115 00:04:34,507 --> 00:04:33,954 money but it's a lot easier when you 116 00:04:33,964 --> 00:04:34,934 have these benefits .