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Please help our family grow |
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The Rhomberg Family |
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The Rhomberg Family Mike, Ilysse, Tessa & Brianna |
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Our Story |
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Dear Family and Friends, Most of you know our story but I thought I should recap to keep you up to date. It began almost 12 years ago when Mike and I met, by chance, on an internet dating website. We spoke by phone and email for some time before finally meeting. It didn’t take long for cupid to work his magic and we fell in love. Mike and I decide we didn’t need marriage to prove our commitment to each other and since we didn’t want children this wasn’t an issue. We were together for 6 years before thoughts of a ’real’ family snuck their way into our minds and hearts.
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Mike and I are both adopted so for us adoption seemed the only logical answer. We both hope for a day when adoption becomes a natural option for growing a family rather than a last resort. We have been blessed so much through our adoptions and wanted to share this with our own adopted children. We felt that we could be more empathetic to the issues adopted children face and could help our own adopted children face and overcome these challenges. The ink was still wet on our marriage license when we signed up with the Georgia Department of Children and Family Services for their Foster & Adoption training. We jumped every hoop they required and had faith that it would all be worth it in the end; and it was. On January 17th 2007 Tessa and Brianna entered our home and our hearts. We will never forget the day the phone rang and the social worker told us she had 2 little girls who needed a home, do we want them? There would be no guarantee of adoption, but we couldn’t let the opportunity slip away. Four hours later there was a knock on the door and our lives were changed forever. I will save the details of the next year. Suffice it to say there were challenges including some nail biting moments when we feared they would have to leave us as well as some frustrating moments as we all adjusted to our new circumstances. We made it thorough and grew to love each other like a family. On March 17th 2008 it became official. We stood in front of a judge and pledged our commitment to Tessa and Brianna, as if there was any question. They were ours from the moment they entered our home. Meanwhile, Mike and I, ever happy with our family, thought adding to it could only be a blessing. We had secretly been trying to create one of our own with no luck. I was becoming extremely frustrated and on the brink of giving up, I prayed for help. Fast forward to Christmas day of this year; at David and Julie’s (my brother and his wonderful wife). My mother mentioned a friend of my Aunt’s, who works with adoptions, needed a family for a baby that was yet to be born. Mike and I looked at each other incredulous as to our luck. Could this be fate? When Aunt Gayle contacted this man, we were too late. Gayle said she would make sure to keep us in mind for the next time. Last night, Friday, January 9, 2009 we got a phone call from my mom. There is a baby, yet to be born, if we’re interested call Kevin Cohen. My prayers were answered. We called, we’re interested. We got as much information as we could. The birth mother is 22 and has her life planned. This plan doesn’t include a baby. The birth father is 23 and not ready to be a daddy. Their families are supportive of their unselfish decision to choose adoption for their baby. Mike and I would like to be mommy and daddy to this baby and Tessa and Brianna are excited about the prospect of a baby brother or sister.
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Our Plea |
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We have no doubt that we can love and care for a baby. We also know we can afford to take care of another child properly, however, the cost of adoption is prohibitive. I am afraid that without help, we will not be able adopt this or any baby. We are in desperate need of financial assistance. Our first instinct was pride, but as Mike put it, “why would this opportunity fall in our laps if we had no way of making it happen?” I truly believe my prayers were answered and this baby is meant to be ours. But we can not do it without your help. Please donate any amount you can to this very worthy cause. We promise to use it for the adoption ONLY and if for some reason we don’t generate the required funds, everyone will get their donation returned. We were told to have reserves of $30,000.00. We truly need help to get to this amount without going into additional debt. If nothing else, we need your prayers to see this through.
Please help us! With Love, Ilysse Rhomberg and family |
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To contact us: Email ihr101505@yahoo.com |
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To donate:
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