All business

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A lot of us carry business cards to hand out to potential clients, customers, or to the media for contact information.

A northwest Iowa couple has their own business cards, but these are a little different, because they’re not really business cards per se.

“We got married in October of 2020 and we already knew at that time we wanted to grow our family,” Courtney said.

Marcus and Courtney Johnson already have the nursery ready to go. There’s a crib, a stroller, even baby clothes hanging in the closet. But there’s one thing still missing: a baby.

The Johnsons have been trying to have a baby, but in 2023, Courtney was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome.

“Which makes it really hard to get or stay pregnant and we were like oh there’s our problem,” Courtney said.

That’s when they began to look at adoption to fulfill their dream of becoming parents.

“We talked to friends who had adopted and they kind of guided us to who they were working with,” Courtney said.

That was Lutheran Family Services of Sioux Falls.

They’ve been looking for a newborn to adopt, but weren’t having any luck, so the Johnson’s started looking on their own with these business cards that read Marcus and Courtney Hoping to Adopt.

“I came up with the card idea because we wanted to be able to invite our friends and family into our adoption journey, so they were more than willing to help spread the word, but this gives them an easy way to do it,” Courtney said.

Each card has a QR code that when you scan it, it takes you to their social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.

“It’s kind of a way to explain to the mother who we are and just a little bit about us instead of this whole stranger that she just happens to choose and doesn’t know anything about the adoptive parents,” Courtney said.

They know it’s a little unconventional, but they feel like it’s worth a shot.

“We love Lutheran Family Services, they’ve been great to us, we are just ready to be parents, whenever the Lord wants us to be parents, so we want to try different avenues as well,” Marcus said.

They’ve also designed this book that tells a little bit about their love story, who they are and their adoption journey.

“So that’s kind of the route we’re taking right now, I mean we’re open to open adoption, closed adoption, but mostly whatever the mother wants so yeah that’s where we are going right now,” Marcus said.

They also use their dog Daisy as an attention-getter while in public to start the conversation about adoption.

“They always want to take a picture with her, well here instead of a picture I can give you this business card, it’s got our dog on there but it also has hoping to adopt with the QR code on there so that can spread the word more through that avenue,” Marcus said.

They’ve been handing out the business cards for a little less than a year, but they’re not giving up.

“We are ready to be parents, we are ready to show love to your child if we can help you in any way please reach out to us,” Marcus said.

“The hope is that somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody finds us,” Courtney said.