SEARCH RESULT
We’re Andrea and Nelson! We’ve been together for twelve years and married for eight (this March), and about five years ago we were blessed to adopt our amazing son, Oliver. Andrea is fascinated by a lot of things, ranging from shark biology to crazy celebrity beef. Nelson enjoys working with his hands and BBQing on our smoker. As a family, we love going on adventures together, spending quality time, and exploring whatever is making us curious at that moment (like animals at the zoo, the jellyfish at low tide, or what we can build with Legos or cardboard boxes). Our family believes in open communication, unconditional love, and asking questions. No topic will ever be off limits in our home. Oliver is very excited about welcoming a sibling home and has been praying for it to happen “tomorrow.” We, too, are excited for another little one to join our family. Thank you for considering us!
One of the greatest things we can share as parents is access to our friends and family. We are unconditionally loved and supported by so many people whether they be biological or adopted relatives, or dear friends. We have strong relationships with some special people – some who have been in our lives for 30+ years. Several of our friends live minutes from us, and a few have recently started their own families so are itching for play dates. Both sets of our parents are still married and are wonderful grandparents. Andrea has an older brother and sister-in-law, and Nelson has 2 sisters, 3 brothers and 2 sets of in-laws. We are aunt and uncle to 13 nieces and nephews and combined, we have 10 aunts, 10 uncles and over 60 cousins. Simply put, we have a lot of family and friends! And everyone is beyond excited to welcome home a new member!
Along with our extended human family, we have two fuzzy members of our family - our adopted animals Indy and Obi. We rescued Indy as a 3 month old puppy. And 2 year old Obi chose Oliver. Really! He came right up and head nuzzled him. It's been love every since! These two pets are characters who love us, but most especially they love kids.
We are each other’s missing piece, extremely different but alike in so many ways! We met through a dating app when Daniel gave it one last shot before deleting the app and coincidentally was Rochelle’s first match. The timing was meant to be! We hit it off immediately and started dating in early 2019. Daniel proposed in 2020 in Florida at Marco Island when we were walking along the beach. He had asked a kind stranger to take a picture of us on the beach but quietly asked her to record everything. After posing for the picture, Daniel got down on one knee. We were married a year later right after everything open up after Covid. It was a small intimate wedding on the beach in Key Largo, Florida. Rochelle’s Grandma was the flower girl and our pup was our ring bearer.
Getting married when we were older helped us start our relationship strong because we knew who we really were. Our life experiences helped shape us into adults who know to communicate effectively and appropriately. We are able to truly understand each other and tell each other what we need in our relationship. We are both hard workers and love to have fun and enjoy each other’s company.
I would like to introduce you to our family. My name is Julie, and my wonderful husband's name is Will. I am 30 years old, and Will is 31 years old. We have been married for a little over eight years. Will and I met at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. We had both grown up very involved in our churches, so it seems appropriate that we met at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry. We were friends for two years before we started dating. Will's kindness drew me to him. We dated and were engaged for a year and a half before getting married in 2015. Will and I love to travel, and some of our favorite places that we have visited are Spain and Portugal, the Grand Canyon, cruises to the Caribbean, and camping at State Parks, beaches, and other beautiful campgrounds around the Southeastern United States. We can't wait to share our love of travel and the world with a child. We spend a lot of our weekends going to football games, camping in our camper, hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains, and spending time with family either in East Tennessee or Middle Tennessee. I love to capture family adventures and memories with my camera. Since I am a professional photographer, I love to take pictures while we travel and around the local area. I look forward to capturing precious memories of our adopted child as they grow up.
Greg and I always enjoy our time together. We like to spend time outdoors, on a kayak or paddleboard, and are always up for a competitive driveway basketball game! We also like working in our yard. I plant flowers and watch them grow, and Greg keeps them watered. Together we make a great team! We love grabbing ice cream with our nieces, cheering on our favorite teams, and watching funny movies together. Christmas movies are in season all year! Whether we’re at home on game night or out sharing a pizza, we always have fun laughing together.
Our love story:
Greg and I met through my younger brother, Will. Will and Greg met shortly after Will graduated from college. Years later, Will bumped into Greg at the grocery store. He told Greg he should give me a call. Will had never set me up on a date before, so I knew this guy must be someone special! I agreed to go out with Greg, and we have been together ever since.
We dated for one year before becoming engaged. On a cold New Year’s Day, Greg and I went on a romantic walk along the riverfront in Nashville. We were on the beautiful pedestrian bridge overlooking the city when snow began to fall and music began to play. A man on an electric keyboard was playing Ed Sheeran’s song, “Thinking Out Loud”— a beautiful love song about growing old with your true love. I looked at Greg and he was down on one knee. He told me how much he loved me and asked me to marry him. I enthusiastically said, “Yes!” I complimented Greg for having the musician play the lovely music for the proposal, but Greg said he had not hired him. The musician just happened to be on the bridge performing the perfect soundtrack for our engagement! Every time we pass the pedestrian bridge, we remember the wonderful night we promised to belong to each other forever.
Our wedding was a dream come true! The fun began at our rehearsal dinner. Instead of a traditional dinner, we invited the wedding party to a baseball game. We enjoyed the fireworks display over the ballpark that night—it was as if everyone there was celebrating with us. Our wedding was held at the Nashville Symphony Center. The wedding was a family affair. All our siblings, their spouses, and their children were included in the wedding party. We had an amazing band and everyone danced all night! Our wedding was a joyous event and a true celebration of God’s promises.
We have always felt called to adopt, and passionate that families can be defined by LOVE as well as biology. We are grateful to be considered as you make such a loving decision for your baby.
*Links to our Instagram and Profile Book are in the "Letter" Section* =)
"Adventure is out there!" UP is our favorite movie. It would be awesome to talk more with you and see if you'd like to go on this adventure together!
Both transplants to South Alabama, we met via Facebook in 2010, after mutual friends suggested getting to know one another, and hit it off immediately! We initially spent hours chatting via messenger until Mark conveniently misplaced his phone during one our conversations and asked Katy to call it–an easy way to get her phone number. Since that time, we have never gone longer than 48 hours without talking, and that was only because Katy was out of the country!
Though born in Tennessee, Mark spent his early years in Alabama before moving to Colorado in elementary school. As an only child, Mark quickly made friends with the neighborhood kids and kids from church–some of these relationships have spanned not only miles, but years! A childhood cancer survivor, Mark, is resilient and determined, qualities that serve him well in his position as a project manager and architect. Mark loves being outside, woodworking, anything sports related (especially the Atlanta Braves and his alma mater, Texas Tech), and making memories!
Born and raised in North Mississippi, Katy is the oldest of three; each of her siblings is the answer to her little girl prayers, and they are two of her best friends and biggest supporters. Married for almost 40 years, Katy’s parents instilled in her a love for God, the value of hard work, and the importance of family, all of which Katy, along with Mark, is working to teach to their own child. A teacher/librarian at a small private school, Katy enjoys reading, baking, crafting, watching girly movies, and traveling!
Our son, Jaxon, was born in the summer of 2018. He is an absolute joy, even in his most stubborn moments, and inspires us each day to be better and do better! Knox was born in the fall of 2023 and placed in our arms by his wonderful birth mother shortly after. The perfect addition to our growing family at just the right time, Knox is hands down Jaxon’s favorite person and the feeling is mutual! Our life can be a little crazy and a little messy, but we wouldn’t have it any other way because it is also absolutely amazing, and we cannot wait to share our life, our love, and our family with a new precious little one!
We met at the gym where we both attended the same exercise class. Katy knew Kelly was a dentist and when her dog ate her retainer, Katy asked him after class if he could help make her a new one because her dentist was out of town. (That’s right…the old “my dog ate my retainer” trick!) And it worked! ? Katy got her new retainer and Kelly asked Katy on a date. And the rest, they say…is history! Almost a decade later, we are celebrating 7 years of marriage and growing our family!
Katy works part time as an academic advisor for a local college, and is able to spend lots of time at home with a new little one. She loves gardening, playing pickleball, trying new restaurants & recipes, and volunteering. Katy describes herself as empathetic, warm, fun, resilient. Katy loves being a mom and watching children grow, change and become who they are while loving and laughing with them along the way.
Kelly is a dentist and owns his own practice, which allows him to work 3 days a week and be at home with my family. Kelly loves learning, biking, baseball & snowboarding. He describes himself as practical and adventurous. Kelly loves being a dad and interacting in different ways with children as they grow and sharing experiences with them.
Katy said “Kelly’s calm demeanor, kind heart, and willingness for adventure make him a great dad and husband.”
Kelly said “Katy is smart and curious. With her warm and welcoming manner she draws people in whether they are dear friends or complete strangers. She is amazing at helping children grow and navigate the world.”
A ping pong table in a small Bible college in Pennsylvania is where it all began. Our friendship in the beginning laid the foundation for our relationship later and we got to know each other over games of ping pong. When we started studying together and spending more time with each other, we realized we had a strong connection. Rob thought Jessica was beautiful and fun to be around. Jessica admired how much Rob cared for his friends and family. It didn't take us long to see that we were meant to be together and have been inseparable ever since.
Each day is a blessing as we spend time together doing the activities we love. Walking around local theme parks, visiting the beach, and meeting up with Rob's family are some of our favorite things. Jessica enjoys cooking healthy meals, and Rob helps out around the house. An evening walk around the neighborhood is a nice way to catch up and enjoy nature. We plan weekly outings and look forward to our annual summer vacations. It will be a joy to have our little one in our lives!
We met while we were both in college. There was an immediate connection. On our first date, we danced to country music for hours. We both love to laugh and be silly and watch funny sitcoms like The Office and Schitts Creek. We share a passion for reading and like to discuss books. We also are huge foodies and love to try new restaurants and cuisines. It quickly became evident that we were meant for each other and got married. Growing our family was not as easy as we expected, and we were faced with many losses and pregnancy complications along the way. However, we have been blessed with two great kids. Fast forward a few years and we feel led to complete our family through adoption. We both have strong faith and raise our children to follow God. We try every day to set the example for them of love and compassion and model a healthy marriage.
We first met at a Salsa Dancing Social. After months of dancing and getting to know each other, we had our first date. As we learned more about each other, we realized how we felt at home with one another. It was the Halloween season, so we enjoyed getting dressed up and attending Halloween salsa socials and family friend Halloween parties. We were falling in Love.
At Thanksgiving time, Reena began talking about Joel with her other family members with so much excitement. Reena introduced Joel to her brother, and they hit it off immediately. When Reena invited Joel to meet her parents, Mom gave Reena the Thumbs up. It was Christmas time and there is a cute little ornament with Reena’s picture that Reena had made at school in the first grade. We were decorating our Christmas tree, and Joel took that ornament and placed it at the very top of the tree. Reena’s heart melted and her family invited Joel to our larger family Christmas party where he was immediately welcomed with open arms.
That same Christmas, Joel had invited Reena to his family’s church for their annual Simbang Gabi Mass. This is a Christmas tradition within the Filipino community where Joel’s whole family was present. It was so wonderful to meet Joel’s family in such a beautiful setting. Shortly after, Joel and Reena would attend Joel’s family church on Sunday’s after Dance class, and then meet at his parent’s home for Sunday Dinners.
The following Easter, Joel took Reena to the Easter Vigil, which is the Saturday before Easter Sunday. She learned about the RCIA process where she could learn about the Catholic Faith and be confirmed as a Catholic. That fall, she enrolled in the program and Joel sponsored her. As they went through this beautiful journey together, Joel proposed that following Fall. The following Easter, Reena was confirmed as a Catholic, and Reena and Joel were married that Summer.
The Adoption Council steers, guides, and directs the adoption education, standards, and practices of the Christian Adoptions Alliance. It is a collective effort to stand for and promote adoption from a Biblical perspective.
Are you looking for an accredited Christian adoption agency?
The Adoption Council is comprised of professionals across the pro-life and adoption spectrum directly connected with adoption education and support services.
The council is in a state of development. Current members include the following representatives.
Angela Boblitt is the Founder and Executive Director of Choosing Hope Adoptions, which was founded in 2014. She was born and raised in rural Minnesota. She graduated with a Bachelor of Art in Music from Winona State University in 2002. In 2003 She accepted a job as the Director of Children and Youth Ministries in Springfield, OH, where she served in that role for nearly a decade.
Angela and her husband Brett have 4 children; Noah, GeorgiAnne, Xander, and Lucy. Their oldest two children are biologically theirs, while their youngest two joined their family through adoption. Angela is committed to seeing adoption practiced with Biblical definitions and Christian practices.
Melissa is the Adoption Director at Catholic Charities Diocese of La Crosse, WI. She has been with the agency since 2003, when she was hired as an Adoption and Pregnancy Support Social Worker. Prior to coming to Catholic Charities, she worked with homeless families for over 9 years. She oversees the Family Services Program, which includes the Pregnancy Support and Adoption Program, as well as the Wisconsin Adoption and Permanency Support Program. She has a Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology. She also serves on the Children, Family, and Youth Services Committee for CCUSA, as well as the Adoption Steering Committee.
With the Wisconsin Adoption and Permanency Support Program, she is able to continue to support all members of the triad after the adoption is completed. Adoption is ever-changing, and she has enjoyed being a part of those changes over the years.
Robyn serves as the Executive director of Advocacy for Children, Focus on the Family. In this role, she oversees the following programs: Foster Care and Adoption, a program that exists to raise awareness for children in foster care needing forever families; our pro-life content and children communications, Sanctity of Human Life campaign, and all aspects of Option Ultrasound, which provides ultrasound machines and sonography training to qualified pro-life medical clinics.
She supports the Wait No More events, which are designed to recruit families to begin the journey of becoming foster parents and/or adopt from foster care. She has served at Focus on the Family for more than 25 years. Robyn and her husband are kinship adoptive parents for their two oldest grandchildren.
Jeannine Floores has been involved in maternity ministry since 1990, when she began the work of planting “Sarah’s House,” her first maternity home in southern California. She was ordained by the Christian Church into ministry in 1992 and continued her work in full-time church and maternity ministry. She moved to Austin, TX in 1996 with her husband Brian and two sons, where God continued to use her there to plant a second ministry, “Breath of Life Maternity Ministries, which includes the Loving Hearts Christian Adoption Agency.
She has two sons, Travis, 27, and Matthew 25 who have recently created her newest and favorite title to date, “Grandma.” As both a birth mother and an adoptive mom, as well as the sibling of an adopted child, Jeannine Floores has certainly experienced adoption from all angles.
Sharen is a nationally recognized child welfare consultant and the retired Manager for Permanency Services for the Colorado Department of Human Services in the Division of Child Welfare Services. She retired with 30 years of comprehensive work history with the department. She oversaw six programmatic areas, including the Foster Care and Adoption Program, and supervised a team of professional staff.
Dr. Ford is the former President of the National Association of State Adoption Programs (NASAP) and the Association of Administrators for the Interstate Compact on Adoption Medical Assistance (AAICAMA). She currently serves as the Director of Foster Care and Adoption at Focus on the Family and is as committed as ever to raising awareness regarding the need for every child to have a quality family.
Carol serves as the Executive director of Covenant Care Services, a nonprofit, pro-life ministry in Georgia. She earned a Bachelors in Sociology and her MAT from Georgia College & State University. As Executive Director, Carol is responsible for overseeing our home study-ready families, our expectant mothers, and post-placement services for birth mothers. She is deeply invested in all aspects of the adoption triad.
Carol has a strong desire to meet the needs of women in an unexpected pregnancy and is committed to placing children in two-parent Christian homes. Carol, and her husband Clay, have one son Hobson. She is an active member of the praise team at her church and is a Task Force for Life member. Carol brings a passion for seeing adoption in place of abortion.
Anna serves as the Chief Operating Officer at America World Adoption, a domestic and international child placing and humanitarian non-profit organization, headquartered in Washington, DC, with over 25 domestic state and international offices. Working in adoption since 2004, Anna has an extensive breadth and depth of experience in adoption, serving vulnerable children and parents in both the United States and overseas.
With personal experience in adoption as an older adoptee, adoption is an intricate part of Anna’s life. She lives in Northern Virginia along with her husband and three children.
Brad serves as the President of the Christian Adoptions Alliance, which is committed to advancing adoptions from a Christian perspective, standing on Biblical definitions and Christian practices. The Alliance does this by providing education, training, and aligning with agencies, attorneys, and ministries that serve the adoption community from a Christian perspective.
He has been serving the pro-life and adoption community for over 20 years. He is adopted and had the opportunity to meet his birth mother at the age of 20 and learn the journey she went through to choose life and adoption for him. His family grew through the blessings of two children through open adoptions.
Over the years, Brad has served the adoption community by providing home studies to prospective parents, post-adoption counseling to birth mothers, and education to those involved with the different aspects of adoption.
Kathy Jerman is the Executive Director of New Hope Family Services in Syracuse, NY. New Hope is a New York State certified adoption agency as well as a pregnancy resource center. Since 1965, they have placed over 1,000 children in forever homes. Kathy earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Arcadia University in PA. She has been at New Hope since 2016, when she began as a volunteer Client Advocate. She became the Executive Director in February 2019. She oversees the pregnancy center, adoption agency, and their newly launched mobile ultrasound ministry.
Kathy is passionate about empowering women to make life-affirming choices and helping them to see that abortion is not their only option and giving birth does not mean sacrificing their education or careers. She is committed to ensuring that New Hope provides ethical and Biblical adoption services that focus on all sides of the adoption triad. She and her husband Mike have four children.
Christie Mac Segars is the Vice President of Domestic Programs for Lifeline Children’s Services. She earned a Bachelors’s degree from Samford University and a Master’s in Social Work from The University of Alabama. She has been the Domestic Director at Lifeline since March of 2013.
Christie is committed to delivering adoption services from a Biblical and Christian perspective, and she is passionate about taking the gospel to hurting families and the ministry of reconciliation and redemption that exists in the various domestic programs. She and her husband Croft have three daughters, Ila, Elizabeth, and Harris.
Kevin is the Senior Director of Christian Adoptions Services, where he has served for the last five years. Prior to CAS, he served for twenty-two years as a pastor in North and South Carolina. Kevin received his Bachelor of Science from Gardner-Webb University in 1993 and his Masters of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1996.
Kevin has preached in over 100 churches since coming on board at CAS in 2016, raising awareness of orphan care. He is passionate about serving vulnerable children and pregnant moms in need, and he has a deep conviction from the Gospel to serve this population. He is married to Kim, and they have three children.
Robin Stephenson is the Founder and President of Lifetree Adoption Agency, a Christian-based adoption agency located in Dallas, Texas. For her, adoption is a ministry calling where she is committed to helping fulfill the dreams of birth parents and adoptive families while carrying out God’s will for our lives.
Jimbo Savley is President/CEO/Executive Director of Small World Inc., a Christian ministry offering services that are a positive alternative to abortion, domestic adoptions, international adoptions, and family support counseling. He has a BSW from Middle Tennessee State University and has been with Small World since 1991. He has worked pro-life and orphan ministry in numerous states and countries. He is an ordained minister and currently serves as College Ministry Director for his church, in addition to his work at Small World.
Jimbo and his wife Kristena have 2 adult children and look forward to being grandparents someday. Jimbo’s passion is to bring solutions through adoption to children who are orphaned, to help women in a crisis or unwanted pregnancy find real solutions which give a quality life to both her and the child, and to assist potential adoptive families as they follow God’s will in their lives to fulfill James 1:27 and take care of orphans.
Marlys Ubben is the founder and Executive Director of New Horizons Adoption Agency, Inc. Founded in 1987, New Horizons is a Christian adoption, foster care, and orphan care agency located in Blue Earth, Minnesota. Marlys has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, in Education, and is a licensed Social Worker and Certified Adoption Investigator. She has over 40 years of social work experience working in both international and domestic adoptions.
Marlys and her husband, Verlyn, are parents of six children, three of which are adopted. They have also parented three additional children who lived with them for many years. Marlys, with her family’s help, has committed her life to help families, birth parents, and children to a better life and future.
Tom Velie is the President of New Beginnings Adoptions & Family Services, where he has been serving since 2002. He earned a Bachelor’s in Social Work from the University of Mississippi and then a Master’s of Social Work from the University of Southern Mississippi. Tom served as a Master Trainer through the National Council for Adoption’s Infant Adoption Awareness training program, as an adoption agency accreditation evaluator for the Council on Accreditation, and is a member of the National Council for Adoption Hall of Fame.
Tom and his wife, Debbie, have two adopted daughters (international adoption) who have made him a grandfather with an abundance of grandchildren.
She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and Sociology from Gordon College and a Master’s in Social Work from The University of South Carolina. Tricia has been working in child welfare since graduating from college and she began her work in the field of adoption in 1992.
She has worked in foster care, domestic and international adoptions and pregnancy counseling while engaging churches and the community to support vulnerable children. She joined the Lifeline staff in June of 2021 and is grateful to be a part of an organization that seeks to share the Gospel of Jesus with a lost and hurting world. Tricia is committed to caring for women in unexpected pregnancies and providing adoption services with Biblical integrity.