Since before we got married, we both knew adoption would be a part of our story. The Lord has placed a call on both of our lives to bring a child into our family through adoption. For the last 4 years we have gone back and forth about when the right time was to make this move. Through prayer and seeking guidance from the Lord and those around us we quickly realized there was no better time than now! As soon as we said yes we have felt such peace in this decision and how God has already blessed us so much in this process. Since finding out about Together As One, we are so excited that they will be helping us along the adoption process and we are so grateful for them! We cannot wait to see the child that God has planned since the beginning of time to be a part of our family! 
-Olerud family

Hello everyone, my name is Katie Mingle, and my husband Cody and I are currently in the process of trying to start our family through adoption. I am an elementary special education teacher who has the honor of working with students with severe and profound intellectual and developmental disabilities. I also serve at our church every Sunday as a one-on-one buddy for a student in the children's ministry with autism. When I was still in utero, I was diagnosed with a genetic abnormality called Turner Syndrome, where ninety-nine percent of pregnancies result in the baby dying. Thankfully, I survived and was born a healthy and happy child who has grown into a young woman with an amazing husband and career she loves. My Turner Syndrome has no effects on my daily life or health; however, it does cause me to be unable to have biological children. My entire life, I have known that adoption would be how I would grow my family. I am beyond thankful that the Lord sent me an amazing husband in Cody, who did not hesitate when I told him very early on into dating that adoption was in my future and asked if that was something he would be ok with. I entered that conversation firm in the fact that if he was unwilling to adopt that he was not the man God had planned for me, and Cody blew me away by immediately talking about how excited he was about the prospect of adoption. Cody is a Histology Technician who cuts patient tissue onto microscope slides that are interpreted by pathologists to reach diagnoses for patients. Cody is an amazing leader and loves the Lord with all his heart. He serves on the tech team at church operating cameras and directing the live stream service. Cody has a passion for audio/visual work as well as a passion for the lab.

We got married in July of 2024 at our church, and want to express
how important our faith is to us and how we will raise our future
children to love the Lord and to treat everyone they encounter with
respect. Cody and I are eagerly awaiting God’s timing for the start of our family. We are beyond grateful and humbled to be going through this adoption journey. There have been many nights filled with tears, anticipating the start of our family, and many days of praise and thankfulness for how God has already provided through the love and support our community has shown us.

-Cody & Katie

We’re Ben and Katelyn! Our story began in 2011 through what we like to call a God-written whirlwind. From a camp crush in 2007 (with a surprise twist), to long-distance dating, a Chick-fil-A parking lot engagement, and finally marriage in 2014—we’ve seen God’s hand in every step.

Even before we were married, God placed adoption on our hearts. Katelyn felt this calling early in life, and when she shared it with Ben during their dating days, he embraced it wholeheartedly—having experienced himself how love extends far beyond biology. Adoption became part of our shared dream from the start.

After finishing our degrees and diving into ministry, we began the adoption process in 2019. The journey took unexpected turns with COVID delays, but God faithfully guided us. In 2023, we received the incredible gift of being chosen by our daughter’s birth mother, a blessing we treasure deeply.

This journey has been marked by the love of community from the start. Friends, family, and organizations like Together As One have surrounded us with prayer, encouragement, and financial support that made adoption possible. Their generosity has not only carried us but also inspired us to keep moving forward.

Now, we are thrilled to be a waiting family again—excited to see how God will grow our family and hopeful that our children will one day share a beautiful bond through their adoption stories. We are so thankful for every person who has walked with us and continues to walk with us on this journey.

-Ben & Katelyn

We are Dylan and Morgan! Even from our years dating, we have always known that we wanted to adopt. Morgan's dad was adopted, and hearing his story of how God completely changed his life has always inspired us to pursue adoption. Dylan has experienced the blessing of adoption through God’s people stepping in to fill vital roles throughout his life. We have also experienced friends who have adopted and have seen the tremendous impact it has made in their lives.

Without the impact of adoption in both of our lives (and God's grace to us), we would not be where we are today. Though we have experienced infertility, adoption has always been a clear and intentional path for our family from the very beginning.

Our adoption journey has been marked by God’s faithfulness with every step. We hope that God will use the ministry of adoption and allow us to impact a child’s life in the same way that adoption has impacted our lives.

-Dylan & Morgan

Our journey toward parenthood has been a testament to resilience and unwavering faith. For eleven years, we navigated the quiet, often painful struggle of infertility a decade marked by both hope and heartbreak. Yet, through the years of waiting, our perspective underwent a profound transformation. We began to see that our path was not being diverted, but rather directed. Today, we view adoption not as a backup plan or a secondary option, but as the beautiful, intentional destiny God has had in motion for our family since the very beginning.

We are thrilled to share that our profile is officially live and we are now waiting! Our hearts and home are fully prepared, and we are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to be considered for an adoption match. We are stepping into this next chapter with open arms and hopeful hearts, ready to welcome the precious child meant for our family.

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-Watson Family

We are Anthony and Melissa. Our adoption journey began back when we were still dating. In some of our earliest conversations we both expressed our openness to adopting if the Lord led us in that direction. After walking through the pain of unexplained infertility and a miscarriage following costly fertility treatments, we began to sense this path was not simply a backup plan, but rather how the Lord was leading us to grow our family—something he has continued to affirm in some unique and special ways. While it's true we have longed for a baby and longed to be parents, more than these things, our desire has been to trust God with our future family.

Our adoption story has already included both hope and heartache. After our first match, we experienced a painful disruption and failed adoption resulting in significant financial loss. During this confusing and difficult time, Isaiah 26:3 has been our constant anchor and prayer, as we cling to the perfect peace we have from trusting the Lord and fixing our eyes on him. We have since been re-matched with a baby girl due in November and are eagerly awaiting her arrival!

We see adoption as a beautiful reflection of our lives as believers. God choosing to love us into relationship with him is the ultimate picture of adoption. Our prayer is that one day our daughter would come to know the beauty of that truth—that through this adoption our family would continually be reminded how good God is, how much he can be trusted, and that we love because he first loved us.

-Anthony & Melissa
 

We’re Eric and Mary! We have always wanted to be parents. We see in God’s word what a

blessing children are, and it has been our prayer for many years that God would give us that

sweet gift to experience one day in His perfect timing. Since before we got married, both of us

have had a desire to adopt. We have walked with friends through adoption and have seen the

beauty of how it can be a picture of the spiritual reality we experience as Christians–being

adopted and chosen as children of God. Over the past year, we have seen the Lord work in

miraculous ways as He has clearly been leading us to start pursuing adoption sooner than we

were originally anticipating. It has been made so clear to us that this was part of God’s plan all

along in the way He has so clearly led us to where we are right now. We are eager and excited to

see how God will grow our family through adoption!

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For

as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts

than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

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-Eric & Mary