Welcome to our fundraiser! We are so grateful you’re here!
Our names are Joshua and Sara Pilgrim. We met as college students at Harding University in 2008. We started dating soon after we met, and we got married in the summer of 2012, right before Sara started veterinary school at Louisiana State University. Joshua is now an engineer, and Sara is a veterinarian specializing in spay and neuter surgeries. We have two daughters: Leah is 5, and Hannah is 2.
Early in our marriage, before we had our girls, we dreamed about someday growing our family through adoption. After having two biological babies, instead of feeling like our family was complete, we only felt our sense of calling towards adoption grow stronger. We are so excited to finally be in a place in our lives where we can act on this sense of calling, and take steps towards welcoming a child into our home through adoption. We believe there is a child whose story God has always intended to join with ours, and we can’t wait to meet them and love them for the rest of our lives!
After much consideration and prayer over what type of adoption to pursue, we decided to partner with a local agency that ministers to women in crisis pregnancy situations. This agency provides support to expecting moms whether they choose parenting or adoption. At the time of this update (5/29/24) we have journeyed with this agency for 18 months, which included a match with one expecting mother who ultimately chose to parent her baby.
Last week (5/21/24), we learned that another expecting mom had chosen our family! She is due in mid-July. We are beyond excited to be part of her and her baby's story. We ask for prayer that we may navigate this new relationship in a way that brings the greatest blessing to all the lives involved. We especially ask for prayer that this precious young Mama may feel deep peace in whatever decision that is the right one for herself and her baby.
The cost for our adoption will be $27,500 in agency fees, plus a variable amount (usually several more thousand dollars) to cover medical and living expenses of the expecting mom we are matched with. Like any other new parents, we will also be navigating the financial challenge of unpaid maternity leave, for which I hope to take the maximum amount of time allowed. God has been so faithful in providing for our journey thus far, and we trust He will continue to be faithful to provide what we need.
To anyone who feels called to support us financially in this adoption, and who has supported us already, we are so deeply grateful for you! If you would like to designate your donation to an envelope in our Adopt-an-Envelope fundraiser, please include a note telling us which envelope you are "adopting!" Please feel free to include a note to our family or our baby. We plan to print these out and put them in the envelopes, and later we will make a scrapbook with all of the notes to show our child how much love went into their adoption story.
