Waiting for the baby call

November is adoption month. Ticats wide receiver, Cary Koch, and his wife Tyler aren’t just waiting for the big game next weekend. They’re waiting for a baby to call their own.

The Koch’s are adopting and right now, they’re waiting to be matched with a birth mother.

They’ve been blogging about the experience online. With help from the team, the Koch’s posted a video of their adoption journey to get more people talking about what sometimes still considered a taboo topic.

When Tyler and Cary Koch first shared their story online, they were nervous how people would react.

Tyler: “It’s scary to put yourself out there, but we’ve been so blessed by the response we’ve had.”

Cary: “This blog has been able to really see the heart that Tyler has and I have for .”

They were married in 2011. After a year of trying to start a family, they found out they couldn’t conceive. Immediately, they decided to adopt.

Tyler: “We said let’s just go ahead and do it. We know there’s a baby for us and we feel like we’re being drawn to adoption because there is a baby that’s supposed to be in our family.”

They’re originally from Louisiana and are trying to adopt a baby boy or girl through a U.S. agency. Like it is for many couples, the journey has been difficult.

Tyler: “Putting yourself out there to a birth mother and hoping, are you going to choose us?”

The emotional rollercoaster of waiting to hear back from a potential birth mother is one of many stressors. Adoption can also be incredibly expensive.

In Ontario, you can adopt through the Children’s Aid Society, which is basically free, through a private local agency, which costs about $10,000 to $20,000 or through an international agency which can cost upwards of $30,000.

The Koch’s expect their adoption to cost $45,000. They’ve been fundraising by selling t-shirts and trinkets online. But that effort is made easy when they picture their future family together.

Tyler: “Laughing a lot. And just kind of taking each day as a family and realizing that baby’s such a gift. No matter who he or she is.”

Because Tyler and Cary are American, their adoption rules are a bit different.