Michele and Todd Ingram are adopting four sibling brothers from Colombia to unite them and prevent their separation. They have extensive experience fostering and adopting children internationally, including two children they previously adopted from Kenya. They need $21,000 to complete the adoption and bring the boys home. They are asking for donations to help fund the remaining costs of this special needs adoption.

1. Dear Friends,
It is with great excitement that my husband, Todd Ingram, and myself, Michele Ingram,
wish to announce that we are adopting four sibling brothers from Colombia.
Todd and I have wanted a large family and have talked about it extensively prior to and
throughout our marriage. I had a hysterectomy just before we were married and can conceive
no more children. We agreed early on to adopt. We adopted each other’s children the first year
we were married in order to create a stronger family tie with our children. With three
adoptions completed, Todd and I left for Kenya, Africa, in our third year of marriage.
We went to Kenya to counsel families and to help teen girls that were being sold into
marriage. The first year we were there, we took in and attempted to adopt an eleven year old
girl, Florah. Sadly, Florah aged out before we could complete the adoption. She lived with us
from eleven until we returned back to the states. We did have guardianship of her until she
turned twenty-one last year. She is working as a pre-school teacher just outside of Nairobi.
The second year we were in Kenya, we were brutally attacked inside our home.
Approximately twelve men, armed with machetes and sticks broke into our home and beat my
husband and myself for several hours. Todd suffered lacerations deep into his chest area, I was
bruised on much of my body and one of our daughters had her jaw cracked. We knew the act
was one of desperation as the area we lived in was very poor. Todd and I made the decision to
remain in Kenya and continue with our work.
I decided I wanted to do more than counseling. The law had just been passed that
unwanted babies could be left at police stations or hospitals, no questions asked. The babies

2. were previously being tossed into trash containers and/or killed. I had been working part time
with a local orphanage doing after school tutoring. When the law passed, the orphanage went
from twenty infants to over one hundred in a matter of days. Todd and I decided we would
start foster caring a baby to lighten the load. We picked up Moses when he was six weeks old,
and started a new project. Two weeks into the foster care, Moses’ father, Elphas, came to us
and asked us to please take Zipporah, his sister of three, as well. He could not take care of the
littlest ones as their mother died during Moses’ birth. Over the next six months, Todd and I
fielded questions about adoption. Elphas came to us and asked us to please adopt Moses and
Zipporah. Over the next six years, Todd and I adopted Moses and Zipporah.
During this time, Todd and I also opened a home for orphan teen girls who were at age
to be sold into marriage. We worked closely with the social workers in Kenya to bring the
neediest of the girls to our home. We housed five to seven teens at a time and paid for their
school fees. The girls lived with us as though they were our own.
After eight-and-a-half years in Kenya, Todd and I returned to the United States in 2011.
We needed to complete the adoptions of Moses and Zipporah on American soil. We were
blessed with a home and Todd was able to find work after more than two years looking.
In June of this year, Todd and I were presented with a special needs adoption. We both
fell in love with the boys, Carlos (17), Willington (12), Jeison (10) and Victor (7). They are
considered a special needs adoption because there are four brothers who want to stay together
and the eldest is aging out of the system. No family came forward in the almost six years since
they were abandoned. At the time they were found the youngest (Victor) was two years old. He
weighed ten pounds at the time. All the boys were seriously underweight. The oldest (Carlos)
was only eleven at the time and was doing everything he could to feed and keep the others
safe. A neighbor called the authorities and the children were placed into foster care. They have
remained in the same foster home with good care. The foster parents are unable to adopt for
unknown reasons. Right after they were placed in the foster systemthe mother and a grandma
came forward claiming they wanted to get the children back. The paperwork was done and no
one showed for the court dates. The boys were abandoned yet again. The boys have suffered
much abandonment and rejection.
Carlos is now seventeen (17) and told the authorities that he wanted to separate himself
from the others to give them a better chance to stay together. The authorities gave the
orphanage one month to find a family or they would separate the boys. Todd and I are that
family. We are about a month away from traveling to pick up our boys. We are working on
completing the Colombian immigration paperwork and then will travel to unite with our new
children.

3. Todd and I are familiar with adopting older children. We have a great love for children
and can offer a wonderful family for these boys. We currently have eight children (counting
Florah). Five are now successful adult children living in all parts of the country and one in Kenya.
Having worked with abandoned girls in Kenya we know the hardships the boys will undoubtedly
face. We are ready to love and care for the boys as our own.
The cost of international adoption is very high. We have paid for more than 60% of the
fees but a remaining $21,000, of an original cost of $71,000 dollars is needed to complete the
adoption and to bring our children home. Todd and I get to live in Colombia for six to ten weeks
to complete the adoption and immigration paperwork. We will need eight Visas’ as we are
taking Moses and Zipporah with us. Eight airline fares will be needed and most of the
Colombian immigration is not paid as yet. We have remaining incidental fees here as well. Todd
and I do not believe that finances should hold back an adoption. We are more than able to care
for the children once they are here but the adoption costs are beyond our means at this time.
We need an ANGEL DONOR.
Thank you for any support you can give us. Adoption is a wonderful opportunity to help
kids find forever families and to grow into the adults they desire to be. We are partnered with
Come Alongside, which is a 501(3)c non-profit, organization. We also have a Go Fund Me
account online. If you need a tax donation receipt, please use Come Alongside
Todd and Michele Ingram
Send tax deductible donations to:
Come Alongside (with notation on check: Ingrams adoption)
4815 South Magnolia St.
Spokane Washington 99223
Or go to: gofundme.com/z5rnrk