Alicia and Josh Dougherty are from Pittsford, NY. Josh is a special education teacher with the Pittsford Central School District. Josh also coaches football and Track and Field in Pittsford.

Alicia is a former teacher and nanny who now stays home to raise the kids. We have 7 kids with special needs, which equals a lot of appointments, therapies and activities throughout the week to manage. 

After 9 years of infertility and pregnancy losses we adopted then 5-year-old Alex from the foster care system. Two years later we adopted then 6-year-old James from the foster care system. Two years ago we got foster placement of our now 3 year old twins, who will be heading into adoption soon. During all of this we were blessed with 3 miracle pregnancies. Included in the mix of our kids we consider our adopted son’s biological sister, Bryanne, to be an honorary Dougherty, and her 3 children to be like our grandchildren. 

So in the past 7 years we’ve gone from zero children to:

Bryanne-25

Alex-11

James-10

Zoey-5

Dash-3

Twins-3

Bodhi-1

Plus our grandkids:

Ellianna-8

Berto-4

Maverick-4 months

(Foster twins blurred per media rules)

Family YouTube documentary: 

https://youtu.be/46kq-1d_m4Q

For more information on adopting from foster care contact Children Awaiting Parents 585-232-5110. childrenawaitingparents.org 

Photography by Melissa Siena of A Snap In Time Photography.

Videography by Todd Elliott Media at Toddemedia.com 

November is National Adoption Month! Help us in raising awareness and funds for our endowment.

History of National Adoption Month

For over two decades National Adoption Month has been promoted and celebrated every November in communities across the country. Many national, State, and local agencies as well as foster, kinship care, and adoptive family groups will help spread the word through programs, events, and activities that help raise awareness for thousands of children and youth in foster care who are waiting for permanent, loving families.

To learn more information visit ChildWelfare.gov and National Adoption Day.org

National Adoption Day 2017 is on November 18. We are asking for your support of $18 to build our endowment and open the grant cycle for 2018.

You can visit our website to submit an on-line donation or send a check. We are a 501 c(3) non-profit charity.

Help us make the dream of parenthood a reality. Help us build families through adoption.

Help us spread awareness with our, “I am a Dream Come True” t-shirt campaign. #Iamadreamcometrue

We are selling baby and toddler t-shirts to help raise funds for our endowment.

The shirts come in sizes 6-12 months, 12-18 months, 2T and 3T.

They are $12.00 plus $3 for S/H. Visit our paypal page to purchase.

We are in the process of the 2106 grant submission process- the deadline is January 15, 2016. All applications must be postmarked by that date.

Visit our Grants page for more information.

To receive an application email us at info@parenthoodforme.org. Make sure to put “Adoption” or “Medical” in the subject line.

We wish you all peace and prosperity in the new year.

Today we start our Season of Hope Grant Cycle.

Deadline for applications is January 15, 2016.

Eligibility Requirements are as follows:

Parenthood for Me, Inc. does not base our grant applicant decisions on religion, marital status or sexual orientation.

We do take applicants who are experiencing infertility from a medical diagnosis such as cancer. And we do support our Veterans dealing with fertility issues due to their injuries.

• Must be a US citizen residing in the US.
• Must show financial hardship
• Cannot currently have children
• If adopting must have a completed homestudy
• Must provide a letter from a Reproductive Endocronologist with your diagnosis/prognosis

Please check the FAQ page for any questions and further details.

PFM does not reimburse for a completed adoption or procedure.

Remember the Cheerios commercial that raised all the controversy with the interracial family? The ad received so many negative comments that it was pulled from the air. General Mills decided to reinstate a new version of the ad many months later after receiving more attention when it disappeared. People praised the company for depicting an interracial family and putting out a really cute ad.

I recently saw an ad for E.ggo waffle that hit home with me. The family is a white mom, dad and daughter in the first scene and then walks in an Asian son. I thought it was so awesome to see a family similar to mine in a mainstream tv ad. It gave me hope that when my children are a bit older, they will see more families like ours shown in the media.

But, my mind also turned to the fact that many people would have hateful and negative things to say about this commercial- making a bigger deal out of the fictional family and focusing on things that are unimportant.

If you haven’t seen the commercial yet, check it out here.