VB Gives Back

#VBGIVESBACK: Becky Fawcett

March 1, 2016

We are honored to support Helpusadopt.org as part of our ongoing #VBGIVESBACK program and will be donating $10 of every VeronicaBeard.com order in March to the cause. Learn more about Helpusadopt.org’s mission and Becky’s journey in the Q&A below.

It took Becky Fawcett and her husband Kipp 46 months to have their first child. After multiple sessions of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), they turned to adoption. “I really never gave having a baby a second thought. It never occurred to me that I would have trouble getting pregnant,” says Becky. “And then once it did, it never occurred to me that IVF wouldn’t work and I was really caught off guard when it didn’t.” The Fawcett’s weren’t alone in this journey: 80% of adoption families are failed IVF patients. The adoption process was lengthy and virtually drained their bank account. Afterwards, Becky was left asking the question: What happens to those who wanted to adopt but don’t have the financial means to afford it?

“I really never gave having a baby a second thought. It never occurred to me that I would have trouble getting pregnant.”

In 2007, she started Helpusadopt.org, after finding that many of the existing adoption grant programs placed restrictions on applicants based on religion, marital status or the types of children they wanted to adopt. She wanted to empower people to build the families they wanted to have, without facing any kind of discrimination and she wanted to help support these families financially. To date, the organization has given out $1.4 million in grants and has helped to build 168 families.

What was it like going through the IVF process and then deciding to adopt?

I really had a hard time personally letting go of the biology of having a baby. People would say to be “just adopt” but it’s not that easy mentally, at least it wasn’t for me.Some may judge me for saying that but I’m just being honest. I am also grateful that I had a husband who was completely open and supportive to us building a family through adoption.

What inspired you to start your organization?

The average adoption costs $40,000 and the average house hold income is $54,000. [The Fawcett's spent over $100,000 on their two adoptions.] You do the math. This just doesn’t work. An adoption is paid in full and upfront before you take placement of the child. This is an insurmountable obstacle for many seeking to adopt and what does that mean for all the children that need homes? The minute I realized all this, I knew we had to give back to help solve this problem and Helpusadopt.org was born.

How does it feel to know that you’ve been a part of creating families?

I am beyond words most of the time when I think about what we’ve accomplished in the past 8 years. Our grant recipients and their children mean more to me that they will ever know.

What do you wish you had known going into the adoption process?

I wish I had known that even though I wasn’t going to share biology with my children that they would be connected to me in every way just as I am to them. Sometimes I have to pinch myself that they didn’t come out of my body.

Tell us about motherhood in 3 words?

Changed. My. Life.

How do you hope Helpusadopt.org will grow in the future?

We turn away so many grant applicants simply because, as a young organization, we don’t have the funds to grant every request. This is what is in the back of my mind every day when my feet hit the floor. Someday, somehow, we will be able to reverse this inequity.

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