Adoption costs

[KYBelle1102]

It is so easy to get discouraged about money, but don't...If you are committed to it, you'll find a way to make it happen.

I'm not a regular in this forum, but I'm an adoptive mom. We did a domestic adoption and were all set to work with an independent agency out of state. We got a call from a friend who knew of someone who had a sister that was expecting. They had told her all about us and she wanted to talk to us about adopting her child. After referring her to our local agency (who was only planning to do our homestudy) we were in the delivery room for his birth and now he's our forever.

I'm not shy about talking about money and adoption. It's a necessary evil. We had budgeted $30K--and we wouldn't have had that if FIL hadn't passed away 6 months prior and left us a comfortable inheritance. As it turns out, we were very lucky. Bmom needed very little financial assistance, was on Medicaid, and the local agency fees were much less than the out-of-state agency we had originally planned to work with. Our final expenses will be less than $10K, which will all be recouped when we get our Adoption Tax Credit.

The least expensive option on the spectrum is to adopt a special needs child (which is a very broad definition) through your state/county or do foster-to-adopt.

As for "Deserving" to adopt...think of all the 'unfit' parents out there who truly don't deserve to have children. I'm not going to lie and say the homestudy process is a barrell of laughs...it's not. If you can pay your bills reasonably well, keep a roof over your heads, and food on the table, you'll do fine. The social workers who handle adoptions aren't looking for reasons to turn you down. They're looking for all the reasons that you should have a child.

[Dscvrlifewith3]

Hi, I wanted to comment on your post. We did a private adoption (not all states allow them) and were matched with our birthmother through networking. Most the networking I did was at very little cost to me, and mostly money for long distance. Had we not had to travel our adoptoin would have been less than $6000. We traveled twice. The first to meet his birthmother and the second time when she had him. Because she lived on the other coast in which we lived our flights were very expensive short notice. We also had to stay in that state for two weeks. So our travel cost were very $$$. (I refused to stay in a Motel 6 with a newborn)
Like other says, many companies offer adoptoin help. My husband company offers up to $5000 in related adoption expenses. Plus we got the taz credit which was very very nice.
There is a lot of misconception about adoptoins, so I say read read read, and then read some more. You can adopt for free or for little cost in the US. Most of my friends who have adopted through the foster care system did adopt children under 3 at no cost to them. Some of them it took a short time, others longer. Of course all of them were at risk placements. More than half of those placements took place when the child was less than one.
Also, look at smaller less prestigious agencies. You dont have to go with flashy names or designer furniture. A good non profit agency will do and are often affordable, even doing fees on sliding scale. Not jsut infants are placed either, but toddlers and sometimes older children too. The agency social worker we worked with is affordable and you can pay over time.
If you are open to adoption a biracial/mixed race child, unfortunately their adoption fees are less because they are not as in "demand". :(

[smkinc]

Hi Julie,

I'm just checking the boards after many weeks away. I think it can be 'easier' to have a bio child than adopt. How much hassle it is I think depends in part on your reasons for adopting. Our attitude was--hey, they're giving us a child, so they better make sure we're good people. So for us, the hoops didn't really seem that big. Also, as a PP mentioned most SW's want to find reasons to place a child with you vs. the other way around.

Financing wise, we were fortunate to get an interest free loan from some family members to adopt and then pay them back with our tax credit money. Between the federal and state tax credits, our adoption will not end up 'costing' us anything, but it really is a cash flow issue--you'll have to come up with the money at the time the adoption occurs, and you don't get reimbursed until tax refund time. One advantage of domestic vs. international is that now you can claim adoption expenses on your taxes before your adoption is finalized if it is a domestic adoption. So, if you go through a multi-year process, you will be able to claim your adoption expenses (and get the credit) even before you have a placement.

I think you are in the Portland, OR area. I can PM you some specific OR info. I found as we went through the process.

HTH,
Mary
Mom to Jeremiah 2/4/03