Struck by the sheer number of orphans in Africa, Mark and Andrea Wittig began researching adoption while Andrea was pregnant with their now 5-year-old son, Evan.
They started the process a few years later, but after they moved to Chicago from Los Angeles in 2011 for Mark's job, their savings were depleted.
The Wittigs were the first family to fundraise on nonprofit crowdfunding site AdoptTogether, which officially launched in January 2012. After 10 months, the couple met their goal.
In April, they were matched with a young Ugandan boy who is currently in foster care. Soon, they will make two trips to Uganda, and hope to bring their son home in the next 12 months.
"We wouldn't have been able to adopt at this time in our lives, if it weren't for AdoptTogether," Andrea Wittig said. "We weren't in the financial place."
