We are the Conley’s – James and Amanda and we have been married since 11/11/2011. Together we have 4 adult children, and at the time of our wedding there were 2 teenagers still home and one of the adults came back home. I can honestly say that I was happier and more in love than I thought I could ever be, and still am. We worked and spent time with the teenagers and took family trips and even talked about having a baby together. Then almost 5 years into the marriage we were granted physical custody of my husband’s biological grandchildren, at the time they were 6, 2 and 1 years old. This is a true testament that God knows what he is doing, we never conceived and came to the resolve that it was not meant to be and were fine with it. We have had them in our care since April of 2016 with court ordered physical custody awarded in June 2016.
The children are thriving and we have talked about and always hoped to give them a more permanent sense of security through the blessing of adoption. The oldest is 12 almost 13 years old and going into the 7th grade – he loves art and music and has decided that he wanted to try for football this year. The middle is the sweet and sassy girl of the group she is 9 years old – she was born 12 weeks early at only 28 weeks weighing 2.1 pounds and only 14 inches long. She started her life having to fight and she still fights to this day as she struggles in school and gets frustrated not understanding why. The baby boy is the tough one – but he is my baby too. He is only 9 months and 3 weeks younger than his sister – yes they are what is referred to as “Irish Twins” – meaning born less than 12 months apart. He is one tough cookie and will be the first to take up for the “little” guy, family friend or foe….he does not like to see anyone getting hurt.
We have an attorney that actually was the Guardian ad Litem for the children during the custody case in 2016, and she is willing to work with us and give us a great deal because it is a “family” adoption but also because all three children have the same biological mother and father. We have been trying to save and come up the money for 4 plus years – but much like everyone else Covid took a toll on our savings and income. I became sick the months leading up to Covid and ended up taking time off and then Covid happened and I was unable to go back to work and my position was ultimately dissolved. My husband was considered an essential worker but his hours were cut and it was a real struggle to pay the bills and eat. Then we start trying to build ourselves back up and the apartment we lived in refused to renew the lease due to changes made with management – so we were saddled with trying to find a new place to live in Feb 2023. We were able to get into a place – God provided us a house that is nicer and did not come with 3 flights of stairs (as this was becoming a physical issue for my husband). We are trying to get on our feet and stand and even climb further – and while we are not exactly paycheck to paycheck we struggle to do much else than pay the bills and buy groceries.
Help the Conley’s raise the funds needed to adopt. To read more about their story and to donate, click here.