In the next few months, Levi will finally join is forever family with Tyler, Greta, and Myka. Even though Tyler and Greta can't wait to give their first hug to Levi, it is important to remember that is not the beginning of Levi's story. Levi was born in 2012 to a young woman in South Korea. Although she worked hard to take care of Levi, she could not afford to support him. With her mother's help, she tried to care for her son for a year. After realizing she could not afford to take care of him anymore, she put him up for adoption.
This is when God helped make lemons into lemonade! After years of struggling with infertility, Tyler and Greta started the adoption process. Struggling to narrow it down to one country, they knew they had to rule out South Korea because of the high cost and long wait. Marshall Islands and China were the last two countries to pick between, so the paperwork and home study began. However, God seemed to have a different plan. When finally enrolled in the China program, the agency threw a curveball and asked if they would accept a referral from South Korea. They had paperwork for a little boy, but all the couples in the Korea program wanted to adopt girls. After praying about their decision, they knew God had control and was providing a long awaited answer to their prayers.
Levi was extremely lucky to be put into a foster home. He travels to the adoption agency every couple of months to have check ups and measurements taken. Levi also needs to visit a specialist at the Yonsei University Severance Hospital Ophthalmology Department for retinopathy. The extent of damage to his eyes, or the treatment needed has not been communicated, other than ongoing visits are requested. The family continues to pray that permanent damage to his eyes will be minimal and that more can be understood and treated once he is home.
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Tyler and Greta began the adoption process for Levi in the summer of 2013, and are still waiting for the South Korean government to finalize the adoption. Their prayer is that they will be able to travel and see him for the first time in August 2015, and that they will get to bring him home in September. In the meantime, they continue to learn about Levi through photos and yearly growth updates the adoption agency sends.