Michael & Kaitlyn Sproles

are adopting a child from Hong Kong

A story 20 years in the making…

This story isn't about me or the journey that my family is about to go, this story is about what God has done to lead my wife and I to the decision to adopt!

I was adopted from Russia in 2006. My father still tells the story that he was sitting at church in May of 2005 and they had an announcement that they were planning a trip to Russia through the Slavic Gospel Association at the end of the year. When he was sitting at church he still remembers to this day he heard God's audible voice telling him that he needed to go to Russia. While the man that I was going to call my dad was sitting at a country church in rural Indiana, 5,000 miles away in Russia I was a small boy of only 11 who had just lost his mom to a horrible disease called alcoholism.

BUT GOD had a plan in place already! Little did we all know that plan was going to include another great adventure that God was going to take us on almost 20 years later. I met my father and my older sister when they came to visit my orphanage as part of that trip with his church. They were the first ever Americans I was meeting in my life and for a kid in an orphanage, I was excited! We exchanged addresses and agreed to start writing to each other! When they left that day from our orphanage I remember something telling me that they would be back, the kids who had been in the orphanage for a longer time then I told me that they were just “one day” Americans, they wouldn't be back.

Looking back now I can see it was God letting me know that he had a plan already in place! What I didn't know is that my father went back to the hotel that night and called my mother back in the US to let her know that he met their son. My parents started the adoption process in the US pretty soon after my father and my sister got back from the trip. They did a lot of fundraising work, they had Show Hope (among many other organizations, many of which we are now using for our own adoption) to donate to my adoption. In addition they had many people who donated money and helped to bring me to the US. My parents were faithful in their answer to God and on November 30th 2006, I was adopted! If God didn't orchestrate this big journey I would never be writing this today. I’ve had many more opportunities in my life that I was able to take advantage of that I wouldn't have if I was never adopted.

So now let's fast forward to 2017 when I met my wife Kaitlyn. After we had met and started dating we knew pretty fast into our relationship that we would eventually get married. Before Kaitlyn had met me, she went on several trips abroad to many different countries, she had been in Paraguay with the Peace Corps for two years and she did mission work at an orphanage in Rwanda. We started talking about how our future would look, and we knew that adoption was going to be part of that future. Kaitlyn and I got married in 2017 and had a fun filled marriage (with so many great adventures domestically and internationally) making sure that we built a Godly foundation for our marriage before we started having kids. In 2021 we found out we were expecting the bright and joy of our lives, Bradley. My wife had a hard pregnancy and a hard delivery but she was a trooper and we were blessed with a healthy baby boy and yet God wasn't done yet! After Bradley's birth the doctors were honest with us and told us we shouldn't have any more biological kids because there is a good chance that we would lose Kaitlyn in the process. Although that door may have closed for us we knew that God still wasn’t done with our family yet.

Here we are two and half years later, I can't say I heard God's audible voice telling us “to go” but things are feeling so at peace! We feel like we are at a great place in our lives to start the wonderful journey that my parents went on almost 20 years ago! If my parents didn't answer that call I wouldn't have been able to have the life that I have today, a second chance in life so to speak.

According to the US Department of State adoptions peaked at almost 23,000 in 2004. They have decreased nearly every year since, to a low of 1,275 in 2023 — a 95% drop. A song that often brings tears to Kaitlyn’s eyes is Audio Adrenaline’s ‘Kings & Queens’ and part of it says:

Little hands, shoeless feet, lonely eyes looking back at me, Will we leave behind the innocent to grieve On the road, on the run when their lives have only begun These could be our daughters and our sons And just like a drum I can hear their hearts beating I know my God won't let them be defeated Every child has a dream to belong and be loved … These are the lives that the world has forgotten Waiting for doors of our hearts and our homes to open…

So here we are answering the call to open our hearts and our home to a child(ren) from Hong Kong. We feel like God is leading us to a hard, yet fun new journey ahead. We would love to open up our home, to show them love, to give them a family instead of an orphanage, and to give them a second chance in life, just like the second chance I received almost 20 years ago.

~~~~~

So many have already been asking how you can help and we are already so thankful for so many of you across the country…

-The first thing we are asking for is PRAYERS. Prayers for our family on this journey, prayers for our future child(ren)- may they know how much they are loved by their Heavenly Father and by us already, prayers for the adults who are caring for them, and prayers for the doors to continue to open (and close) on this journey.

-After prayerful consideration, you may make a donation here on this website. We are estimating that the total cost of this adoption will be at least $28,000. If you like more detailed information about these expenses please just ask. Also if you're interested in making an off-line donation just let us know.

-We have also started an Amazon wish list that we will continue adding items to as we know more. Right now it’s filled with children's books about adoption that we can start using with Bradley, and great resources for us to be using now as a family. https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/2JPJXGHBY6DR6

-Share- would you consider helping us by just sharing our story- on your favorite social media platform, text message, or even email!

-Thank you so much in advance for your continued prayers, this is a very long journey for us as a family. We are always happy to answer any of your questions that we can about our adoption, so please reach out to Michael or Kaitlyn with those questions. We hope to keep this website updated as much as we can with updates, current prayer requests, and more.

Blessings! The Sproles- Michael, Kaitlyn & Bradley

Adoption Status

Waiting To Be Matched

Adoption Agency

Hand in Hand International Adoption (Albion, IN) https://www.hihiadopt.org/

Updates

  • Update 9

    Show Hope- Video!

    November 14, 2025

    It was such a blessing to share a Saturday in August with two amazing individuals Murray & Claire to share our adoption story. They did an amazing job & thanks to all on the Show Hope team who made this video a reality, and to all of the generous donors who help this organization thrive. We hope you enjoy the video as much as we do and that it can bless many more families! Thank you Show Hope!

    https://showhope.wistia.com/medias/83wxkt86ki

  • Update 8

    September Adoption Update

    September 28, 2025

    It’s been several months since an update on our adoption and honestly it’s because we don’t have much of an update right now. This journey (now over a year into it) has been full of so many ups and downs, joys and heartbreak, and stretched us in so many ways we didn’t even know was possible. While we would love to share the light at the end of the tunnel we’re just not there [yet] but we know that one day it will be so we wait in hope for that time. We also want to give a big thank you to so many who have been beside each each and every step of the journey- sharing in the joys and the tears, sending notes of encouragement, and so much more, thank you!

    We do have a major blessing to share. One of our large Show Hope Grants was approved earlier this year, and we are so thankful for continued blessings in the waiting. This is a grant that Michael’s parents also received that helped to fund his adoption from Russia, so it’s such a blessing to see this program come full circle. With that generous grant it brings our total left to fundraise about $5,000 which is simply AMAZING thanks to so many of you generous supporters! In August, Show Hope reached out to us and told us that they thought that we are the first generation that they know of an adoptee receiving the same grant now over 20 years later. They sent out an amazing couple from Mississippi who helps tell the Show Hope story and we got to share our adoption story with them over an entire Saturday. They are planning to show the video sometime in October or November at their fundraiser events in Tennessee and as soon as it’s public we can’t wait to share it with you all!

    Kaitlyn and I went to a Healing Childhood Trauma conference in Warsaw that is put on by the Lost Sparrows organization. We got to learn about some tools that we can use when we do get a match and get to bring a child home and it was great to meet so many wonderful adoptive & foster parents who have been through the many ups and downs. Lost Sparrows also hosts a monthly support group for fostering/adoptive families that we have been enjoying and Bradley went with us for the first time this month which was so much fun for him as well.

    On the child matching side we have now been turned down for five beautiful little girls who were matched with other families. While it is heartbreaking for us, we are so thankful that there are other families out there going through the adoption process, and we know that we will be matched with just the perfect little girl to make our family complete. We did apply for another child this month so we continue to wait patiently on the committee’s decision. This process is so unique to Hong Kong that we apply for specific children, but it continues to stretch and grow us closer together as a family. Bradley continues to tell everyone he meets that he has a sissy that will be here soon, so he is helping us keep the faith in this process even on the hard days.

    Over the past several months we have been very busy and just spending a lot of time together as a family. We’ve had a wonderful summer full of day trips up to Lake Michigan, 10 year Peace Corps Paraguay reunion in Illinois over Labor Day weekend, precious time spent with friends and family, and even tackling some home improvement projects. For now we continue to wait, one day at a time, leaning in and looking up for His perfect plan for our family.

    Please continue to…
    -PRAY- prayers for our family on this journey, prayers for the right child to come to us at the right time, prayers for all of the beautiful children on the list to be adopted- may they each find loving families, prayers for Bradley as we continue to prepare him for a sibling, prayers for the adults who are currently caring for these precious children, pray for us as we read through each month’s list and may you protect our hearts each month, and prayers for doors to continue to be opened (or closed) on this journey.
    -PRAY- for our last grant applications. We have one more to be reviewed in the coming months, so pray we are able to receive the funding we need for this adoption at just the right time.
    -Share- would you consider helping us by just sharing our story- on your favorite social media platform, text message, or even email!

  • Update 7

    February Update- Patience (continued)

    February 12, 2025

    A few exciting things have happened this past month that we thought we would love to share with you all. One of our grants ($1,500) got approved a few weeks back! Praise God for that! It has been wonderful to watch Him work everything like it needs to and put the right pieces into place! Our USCIS (US Citizenship & Immigration Services) application has been approved! One step at a time!

    This past week we found out that the little girl that we applied for back in November got matched with another family. When we don't see the bigger picture, God has it all figured out. While we were bummed that we didn't get matched with the little girl in November, another little one showed up just this past week that we feel like we should apply for! Bradley told his babysitter last week that we are going to get sissy next week…all in God's timing little bud, all in God's timing!

    We were also blessed to celebrate Bradley’s third birthday this past month, how is he already three? Bradley was also able to travel back with Grammy & Pawpaw to Missouri and spent a week getting spoiled & becoming a pro at riding his new bike!

    Please continue to…
    -PRAY- prayers for our family on this journey, prayers for the right child to come to us at the right time, prayers for all of the beautiful children on the list to be adopted- may they each find loving families, prayers for Bradley as we continue to prepare him for a sibling, prayers for the adults who are currently caring for children, and prayers for doors to continue to be opened (or closed) on this journey.
    -PRAY- for our grant applications. We have two more to be reviewed in the coming months, so pray we are able to receive the funding we need for this adoption at just the right time.
    -Prayerfully consider making a donation. We are estimating the total cost to be close to $28-37,000. We have been generously blessed with finances coming through at just the right time thus far, and we are so thankful for that. So far we have spent $13,012, and have been blessed with $11,450 of grants or funding from friends and family so far with many holiday financial blessings. We have a long way to go so would you consider making a donation here (5% administrative fees that stays with Adopt Together), or offline donation- talk with Kaitlyn or Michael.
    -Or if you’re interested we have an Amazon wish list here which contains a lot of great resources to help us as the entire family prepare- https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/2JPJXGHBY6DR6
    -Share- would you consider helping us by just sharing our story- on your favorite social media platform, text message, or even email!

    Blessings! The Sproles- Michael, Kaitlyn & Bradley

  • Update 6

    January Adoption Update- Patience

    January 4, 2025

    But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. ~Isaiah 40:31

    We hope each of you have had a blessed holiday season surrounded by many family and friends. We have had an amazing holiday break and we were able to get away and spend some time together as a family, and hopefully took our last big trip as a family of three. In November we applied for a beautiful little girl and at this point we have still not heard anything from the committee in Hong Kong, so for now we wait patiently for a decision to be made. We received the December list of adoptable children and the little girl is still on there so that is promising, but with the holidays and the Chinese New Year coming up towards the end of the month we are still awaiting news. So as hard as it is right now we are just trying to be patient- to enjoy time with Michael as he celebrated a birthday in December, to spend as much time with Bradley as he’s about to turn 3, and to continue to prepare our homes and our hearts for another child.

    Please continue to…
    -PRAY- prayers for our family on this journey, prayers for the right child to come to us at the right time, prayers for all of the beautiful children on the list to be adopted- may they each find loving families, prayers for Bradley as we continue to prepare him for a sibling, prayers for the adults who are currently caring for children, and prayers for doors to continue to be opened (or closed) on this journey.
    -PRAY- for our USCIS (US Citizenship & Immigration Services) application to be approved, we have completed our biometric screenings and now await final approval.
    -PRAY- for our grant applications. We have one grant application to be reviewed this month (fingers crossed) and two more to be reviewed in the coming months (one keeps getting delayed) so pray we are able to receive the funding we need for this adoption at just the right time.
    -Prayerfully consider making a donation. We are estimating the total cost to be close to $28,000. We have been generously blessed with finances coming through at just the right time thus far, and we are so thankful for that. So far we have spent $13,012, and have been blessed with $9,800 of grants or funding from friends and family so far with many holiday financial blessings. We have a long way to go so would you consider making a donation here (5% administrative fees that stays with Adopt Together), or offline donation- talk with Kaitlyn or Michael.
    -Or if you’re interested we have an Amazon wish list here which contains a lot of great resources to help us as the entire family prepare- https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/2JPJXGHBY6DR6
    -Share- would you consider helping us by just sharing our story- on your favorite social media platform, text message, or even email!

    Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. We pray that each of you has had a blessed holiday season and eagerly await the New Year.

    Blessings! The Sproles- Michael, Kaitlyn & Bradley

  • Update 5

    December Adoption Update- HOPE

    December 3, 2024

    I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my HOPE. -Psalm 130:5

    It is so fitting right now as we enter this season of Advent that this week the word is HOPE. Right now we have so much to be thankful for, and so much hope for our future and along our adoption journey.

    We were so blessed to travel out to Virginia over Thanksgiving week to spend time with our family! It was so fun to see Bradley sitting on Great Grandma (Maw Maw) lap reading a story or running around with all of my cousin’s children in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. While in Virginia we received the November list of adoptable children from Hong Kong and after a lot of prayer, reading all that we could about the children, research, and consideration we have made the leap and applied for a child. We realize this decision is completely out of our hands at this point and that there are probably so many great families also applying for that same child we are trying our best to not get too attached yet. So for now we continue to wait and HOPE to hear a decision right around Christmas time before the December list comes out.

    Please continue to…
    -PRAY- prayers for our family on this journey, prayers for the right child to come to us at the right time, prayers for all of the beautiful children on the list to be adopted- may they each find loving families, prayers for Bradley as we continue to prepare him for a sibling, prayers for the adults who are currently caring for them, and prayers for doors to continue to be opened (or closed) on this journey.
    -PRAY- for our USCIS (US Citizenship & Immigration Services) application to be approved, Michael and I are traveling up to Michigan City this week to complete our biometric screenings.
    -PRAY- we have two grant applications out to be reviewed this month and another one almost finished so pray we are able to receive the funding we need for this adoption at just the right time.
    -Prayerfully consider making a donation. We are estimating the total cost to be close to $25,000. We have been generously blessed with finances coming through at just the right time thus far, and we are so thankful for that. So far we have spent $13,012, and have been blessed with $9,172 of grants or funding from friends and family so far. We have a long way to go so would you consider making a donation here (5% administrative fees that stays with Adopt Together), or offline donation- talk with Kaitlyn or Michael.
    -Or if you’re interested we have an Amazon wish list here which contains a lot of great resources to help us as the entire family prepare- https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/2JPJXGHBY6DR6
    -Share- would you consider helping us by just sharing our story- on your favorite social media platform, text message, or even email!

    Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. We pray that each of you have HOPE this holiday season and are able to spend some time surrounded by family & friends.

    Blessings! The Sproles- Michael, Kaitlyn & Bradley

$2,350 raised of $7,000 goal
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Donations 15

  • Mark and Leslie Tacosik gave $500
    God Bless!!!!
  • Jared and Jessica Hill gave $30
  • Anonymous gave an undisclosed amount
    Hi Sproles Family! In this time of waiting, I pray you can remain strong in the promise that God's timeline is above and beyond what we could ever hope for or ask. Not an easy truth, but one to cling on. Cheering you guys on!!
  • Erik & Joanna Smith gave an undisclosed amount
    Excited for your journey & testimony y’all will share through the adoption! Praying for y’all.
  • John Blakeslee gave $500
    God's grace be with you!
  • Anonymous gave an undisclosed amount
  • Anonymous gave $30
    Keeping you all in my prayers!
  • Anna Jank gave an undisclosed amount
    From your Sister in Christ who lives in and loves dearly this corner of the world we call East Asia - I am so excited for this opportunity and calling and blessing before you!
  • Mary Uhlemeyer gave an undisclosed amount
    Prayers and love as you grow your family
  • Barry & Candice Yeakle gave $100
    Here's our little part in this giant adventure of the heart you've undertaken. God bless you and your growing family!