Jeremy and Rachel Smith

are adopting 3 children from Liberia

Here is our Adoption Journey so far…

We started this process of adopting 2 little girls from Liberia in April of 2022.

After visiting Liberia for 5 months in 2024, we decided to additionally adopt a little boy. This little guy, already bonded to our Liberian daughters, also became very close to our entire family during our time in Liberia, and now, life without him with us is unimaginable.

We chose Liberia because we are impressed by Liberia’s resilience and progress as a war torn country that is healing from so much. Liberia works hard to allow adoptions when necessary and to reunite families whenever possible. We are grateful Liberia is allowing us to adopt our daughters, and hopeful as we watch Liberia grow as a country.

We started this journey in April of 2022.

In May of 2023, with the help of our friends and family, church, community, and organizations like Noonday Collection, Phill the Box, Funds2Orgs, and Adopt Together, we reached our fundraising goals to make our adoption possible. At that time, we anticipated our Liberian daughters would be joining our family in 3-6 months time.

We did not get any solid updates for months, until November of 2023, when adoptions for multiple agencies, including our agency, were suspended in Liberia, which prompted our visit to bond with our kids and explore all avenues in person in February of 2024. We returned home in July of 2024 after exhausting all resources to unite our family permanently.

There are multiple political conflicts that brought adoptions to a halt in November of 2023. Although these political conflicts put Liberian children at risk, the layers of the conflicts are multifaceted and complicated beyond the adoption process itself.

As we continue to wait, we are committed to intentional international parenting. We will continue to visit as much as we can and continue to pursue every avenue to unite our family on one continent. We appreciate any encouragement as we continue to walk this road.

Adoption Status

Travel Planned

Adoption Agency

Small World Adoption Agency

Updates

  • Update 293

    Court is done!

    November 18, 2025

    We have completed court in Liberia! Our next step is to meet with the U.S. Embassy in Liberia and submit our I-600 forms for each child. This is the first step towards getting their visas for travel home to the U.S., and can be quite stressful. Our appointment with the embassy is tomorrow at 1:30pm. We spent most of today finalizing our I-600 forms and are hoping for a quick approval!

  • Update 292

    Travel day 1 in Liberia

    November 12, 2025

    We got to see the kids today! Court is postponed until Friday. We are still hoping for the i600a extension approval before we meet with the U.S. embassy on Wednesday, November 19th,

  • Update 291

    Good news!

    November 8, 2025

    We have our son’s signed case history report! He is now eligible to be adopted with our girls and emigrate home with them on this trip. Thanks to the Liberian Government for doing his paperwork in 75 days! We are so grateful for their work, and the work of our in country agency director, Albert Ballah, for advocating on his behalf to get this done. We are still waiting on USCIS to confirm our i600a extension. We expect to get that any day now. We need it before November 19th, but I will be willing to wait in Liberia alone beyond that date if the US embassy is willing to work with us. Please keep our family in your prayers during the next month. Our next big financial hurdles are paying our son’s $6000 international agency fee, as well as his $325 immigration fee and his $900 plane ticket home. All of this is due now. Thanks to all of our friends that are caring for our American kids while we travel! Stay tuned for video updates!

  • Update 290

    Travel Dates

    October 24, 2025

    We have travel dates! We officially have our appointment dates set for November 19th! We continue to hear positive things regarding our son’s paperwork as well, and continue to hope to get all of the signatures needed to process his case history report in time to add him to the court docket for the adoption proceedings scheduled for November 12th. What that means for us. We now get to pack! And we are grateful to all the brave volunteers who are caring for our American kids while we travel. It is possible we will arrive back home before Christmas with all of our kids on the same continent. Although still statistically unlikely, that is the thing we want most, and it is possible. It seems like moving an insurmountable mountain to complete this task of just uniting our family. Should God decide to throw that mountain into the sea for me for Christmas, I cannot imagine my reaction. But, I do know that God made giraffes, so He is funny. And God made oceans, so He is vast. And God made volcanoes, so He is powerful. And God made my kids, so He knows what they need. So, why not a Christmas together? It could happen…. Keep…. …going.

  • Update 289

    Travel Dates!

    October 12, 2025

    We received news from our agency that we are next in line for the U.S. embassy in Liberia to offer an appointment for visa applications for our children. We are hoping to travel in November, but have not received confirmation yet on exact dates. We also have heard that our son’s paperwork is miraculously moving along faster than expected, and we may be able to proceed with his adoption while we are in Liberia adopting the girls. This is amazing news, since we had originally thought this would be something that we could not complete until next year. This development does give us a more urgent fundraising need for his expenses, which still lack $9000 to be fully funded. If we do get his paperwork completed this month, we will have to come up with those funds while we are in Liberia in November. I am not sure where that money will come from, but, I know that if God decides to do miracles in the hearts of the Liberian government to get that paperwork done, hopefully He has a plan for that $9000 we still need. We appreciate your prayers for that as well. We might be able to bring the kids home in 1 trip, or might have to make 2 short trips fairly close together, depending on what the USCIS determines regarding our case. We do plan on doing YouTube videos while we are traveling so we can keep our friends and family up to date on this last chapter of our adoption adventure.💙
    Thanks to those of you who have donated clothes and textiles this past week and those that have shopped noonday! Every little bit continues to help with the costs of our expenses to bring our kids safely home. We appreciate each of you more than you will ever understand. Keep…. …going.

$56,937 raised of $68,000 goal
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Matching Donors

  • Devon (Happy Birthday Sadie!!) matched $500
  • Devon matched $500
  • Anonymous matched $1,000

Donations 123

  • Trina Grier gave $30
    Every little bit helps! Fantastic news today!
  • Trina Grier gave $100
    This is such exciting news! Fingers crossed that you will come home with three children!

    Matched by Anonymous

  • The Clothing Donation Services of Tennessee gave $180
  • The United Clothing Donation Services, Inc gave $600
  • The United Clothing Donation Services, Inc gave $1,560
  • Clothing Donation Services of Tennessee gave $269
  • Devon gave $210
    Keep…. Going!

    Matched by Anonymous

  • Anonymous gave an undisclosed amount

    Matched by Anonymous

  • Trina Grier gave $30
    I know every little bit helps! I'm so excited for you!

    Matched by Anonymous

  • The United Clothing Donation Services, Inc gave $235