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

Matched

Adoption Agency

Small World Adoption Agency

Updates

  • Update 241

    Day 894. What international parenting looks like…

    September 8, 2024

    So many things….

  • Update 240

    Day 877. Adopt from Liberia.

    August 21, 2024

    Hi friends! We still have no news of any forward motion for our kids. We have heard positive feedback from our agency’s attorney and the government officials in Liberia that things should be resolved soon. “Soon” is such a curious word. We have heard the word “soon” and the word “hope” so much in the last 2 years.

    We appreciate all of the support we continue to get from all of you. We are both back to working our regular jobs, plus teaching swimming lessons and selling Noonday, and collecting textiles for Phill the Box.

    See the YouTube video below for further details.

  • Update 239

    Day 872. Adopt from Liberia.

    August 17, 2024

    Thank you for watching our Adoption story unfold.
    I plan to visit our Liberian daughters in November to see how they are doing. Although we are ever hopeful for progress on our adoption case, we know this trip may just be a check-in with them, and no progress may occur. We appreciate any support for this effort. We know the separation from us for them is traumatic and detrimental to their emotional well being. This is why we plan to visit at least every few months so they can see one of us in person.

    Number of Days Home from Liberia: 46
    Number of Days we lived in Liberia: 139
    Number of Days Adopting from Liberia: 872
    Number of Days our daughters have been in Orphan Care: 1,213

    https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhvmF_X0zoUuAwUF7WzqlfZaskzIBmns2&si=0SE6xFYPJoXfkGIY

    Shop Noonday to help with Rachel’s November visit to Liberia:
    https://noondaycollection.com/rachelsmith-smithadoption

    Click here to make a tax deductible donation to assist with our adoption expenses: https://bit.ly/adoptfaster

    Venmo option to give to our travel expenses to Liberia:
    @Rachel-Smith-964

  • Update 238

    Adopt from Liberia. Day 853.

    July 29, 2024

    We have been back in the US for 27 days. It feels like an eternity away from our Liberian daughters. We appreciate all the encouragement and support we have received from so many people. We hope to have good news soon.

    Number of Days Home from Liberia: 27
    Number of Days we lived in Liberia: 139
    Number of Days Adopting from Liberia: 853
    Number of Days in Orphan Care: 1,194

    Shop Noonday Collection for Hope of Blessing International (HOBI) orphanage:

    https://bit.ly/noondayforHOBI

    Venmo option to donate to HOBI orphanage:

    https://www.venmo.com/u/HOBICHILDREN

    YouTube link to subscribe:

    https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhvmF_X0zoUuAwUF7WzqlfZaskzIBmns2&si=0SE6xFYPJoXfkGIY

    Click here to make a tax deductible donation to assist with our adoption expenses: https://bit.ly/adoptfaster

    Venmo option to give to our adoption expenses:
    @Rachel-Smith-964

    To learn about other matched families whose children wait with our daughters in their orphanage, click a link below:

    Bruce Family:
    https://adopttogether.herokuapp.com/families/the-bruces
     
    Butler Family:
    http://adopttogether.org/families/the-butlers-1
     
    Coffman Family:
    http://www.adopttogether.org/families/the-coffman-s

    Godfrey Family:
    https://adopttogether.herokuapp.com/families/the-godfreys 
     
     Lipe Family:
    https://adopttogether.herokuapp.com/families/the-lipes
     
    McGafee:
    http://adopttogether.org/families/the-mcgaffees
     
    Smith Family:
    https://adopttogether.herokuapp.com/families/the-smith-s
     
    Whitney Family:
    http://adopttogether.org/families/the-whitneys

  • Update 237

    Day 834. Adopt from Liberia.

    July 10, 2024

    We have been back on US soil for 8 days. Still no change in Liberia.

$56,767 raised of $68,000 goal
Two ways to give
Donate
 Match Donations to this Family
FUN600212

Matching Donors

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

Donations 121

  • Devon gave $240
    Keep …….:: going
  • The Noonday Collection gave $261
  • Ivonne Liebenberg Noonday gave $935
  • Anonymous gave an undisclosed amount
  • The Bonfire.com gave $3
  • Anonymous gave $100
    Excited for you! Love you all!
  • Anonymous gave an undisclosed amount
    Best to you on this journey!
  • Devon Crews gave $170
    Next group picture: 11 kids. Keep … going.
  • Anonymous gave an undisclosed amount
    I was the biggest loser in the competition 😂 but mostly because I knew my failures were going to a good cause. Love you guys!
  • Tori Paisley Newman gave $100