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Adoption
I hope this is ok to ask here.
DH and I have been talking about adoption. I am very interested in it, but the main issue that keeps popping up is the cost. We don't have a lot of extra money since I SAH.
I hope it isn't rude to ask this, and please don't answer if it makes you uncomfortable. How much did your adoption process cost total?
I would just like a ball park number so I can decide if adoption is a realistic option for us financially. Thank you!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: I hope this is ok to ask here.
You're going to find a wide range of answers here, because the cost can vary significantly. Foster-to-adopt can be extremely low cost. Other types of adoption can range anywhere from the low $10Ks to mid $40K.
Our adoption is going to run about $34K when all is said and done. We are using an adoption agency that has done everything for us, from performing the homestudy to finding birthfamilies to handling the legal paperwork. Some situations let you do the "advertising" for birthfamilies, etc.
Some companies have adoption reimbursement programs (DH's is quite generous), there are grants available, and there's a federal adoption tax credit.
I would encourage you to find a beginner adoption book, like Adoption for Dummies or The Idiots Guide to Adoption. They lay out the different types of adoption available, and the avenues to pursue it, and they address cost. Check out adoption agency/law firm/facilitator web sites. Many are very transparent about cost. Then see what works for your family.
GL
I agree with Dr. Loretta, your answers will vary greatly depending on the different types of adoption. We are doing Domestic Adoption with an agency and our total cost ( not including finalization) will be $14,500. Our agency has a sliding scale based on your income. They were the cheapest agency I looked at ( although that was not our ultimate reason for choosing them!).
I also recommend Adoption for Dummies. It has lots of good information!!!!
Our domestic adoption was roughly $25k. That tends to be the avg. with our agency. International adoption (with the countries our agency works with) runs $18k-almost $50k.
Fees vary with both. For domestic, added expenses that might be considered "extra" can include birthmother fees (hospital, medical, rent, food, etc -- depends on what your state allows). Our agency also charges fees for locating a birthfather if he's unable to be found to sign termination of right papers (so that could add on private investigator fees.)
In our case the only extra fee was to cover a couple of ultrasounds and a prenatal class.
We were able to get a loan to cover a large portion of our costs. We are going to take the adoption tax credit next year. My husband's company also offers an adoption 'grant' for their employees, so that will help us as well.
I've heard of families holding fundraisers to help raise money to cover the cost, too.
Good luck to you - welcome to the board!
Our adoption will be significantly less than the PP's. We are doing an african american/biracial adoption and our agency fees are $15,000 (no added birth mom expenses, they cover those).
I believe we will need to pay another fee for the lawyer after that, but they estimated that would be about $1000-2000 and I think it will be 6 months after placement. We have payed everything in chunks. First $250, then $2250, then about 6 months later $3250 and then we'll pay the rest at placement.
DH and I plan to adopt the rest of our children as well and trust me, we are not the people to have that kind of money laying around. But when you make a decision to expand your family through adoption, the money finds a way to happen. You'd be amazed....
Also check with your DH's employers, we get $5000 through DH's, so we only have to pay $10k out of pocket which is AMAZING.
Good luck!
I really hope that you won't let money be the issue, bc pretty much NO ONE I know has the money to adopt... but if you're suppose to do it, it will work out.
Don't let the money scare you off. There is a program out there for every budget. You just have to do some research and find what's right for you.
We did domestic infant adoption. Our agency fee was 18k, and that included everything from the homestudy to adoption training to placement and finalization. I think our total expenses for this adoption will come in around 20k. The additional 2k comes from agency mileage, profile book, medical co-pays, FBI check, police reports, and BM medical expense (which was only $250 for us).
Hope that helps!
((opps see post below haha))
"I have four children. Two are adopted. I forget which two. -Bob Constantine
"All for Love,' a Saviour prayed 'Abba Father have Your way. Though they know not what they do...Let the Cross draw men to You...."
Thats a fine question to ask here....we would know...lol
Our situation had some bumps in the road and ended up costing about 40K but the normal fee for our agency is more like 25K - I think it can be as low as 10K but really thats just an estimate....GL sweetie!
"I have four children. Two are adopted. I forget which two. -Bob Constantine
"All for Love,' a Saviour prayed 'Abba Father have Your way. Though they know not what they do...Let the Cross draw men to You...."
The average cost of adoption is $25k, but there are a lot of different options. I never added up all the numbers because I'm a little scared to, but I think we probably spent $40k+ with birth mother expenses, travel expenses, an adoption consultant on top of agency fees, etc. However, I was impatient and wanting the adoption to happen fast, so we were willing to pay a lot of money (it happened in 8 weeks!).
We could only afford to do that once and we want at least 3 children, so we will have to go another route next time. We will either adopt through foster care (nominal costs) or through a local agency that has very reasonable fees. The fee for the agency we may use next time is $18,000 for their traditional program and only $10,000 for African American or bi-racial (seems strange, but they charge less to make more families able to adopt harder to place children). Our first LO is bi-racial, so we would do the AA/bi-racial program.
I really appreciate all of you posting this info! My DH and I have already decided 100% to adopt... we are just waiting for me to finish my master's degree in November before signing with the law firm. I want to end one expense before gaining another one!
I have been stressing lately about how much this is all going to cost. But you all have really helped me put it all back into perspective and understand that it IS all worth it. Even if I have to spend $30,000 (gulp).
My DH and I adopted through fostercare. We adopted both of our girls at the same time ( they are bio sisters) A was 15 months old and R had just turned 3.
Our final cost was $1,092.
The money scared the hell out of me in the beginning because we do not have much in savings and do not have a lot of extra money after the mortgage is paid. In fact, it came pretty darn close to causing the collapse of my marriage since I could not possibly budge on the decision to adopt and my husband was so worried about the cost. We are still unmatched so I don't know what the final cost will be, but something close to $35K. We found little ways to help save/raise the money. First off we simply put it off for a bit of time to gather up some savings. We did an online fundraising campaign (chipin.com) and got a few extremely generous contributions, adding up to almost $8,000! You'd be surprised how much your friends and family will want to help you. The Adoption credit is somewhere around $13K now. In the end, we'll pull it together somehow. If we have to put a little on the credit card, well it's worth it to us. Like many things in life, it's a bit of a shock when you first start researching. Over time, you'll accept it and find a way to slowly come up with the money.
Good luck!!
I don't know as much about other states, but in Pennsylvania there is very little cost for adopting children through foster care. In addition, there are adoption subsidies where the child continues to receive a daily stipend (several hundred $ per month) and maintains state health insurance (which includes good mental health coverage) after the adoption is finalized. Not that the money is enough reason to take this route, but if you feel a calling to serve children who have experienced abuse, neglect, or abandonment this can be a very feasable and rewarding option! Check out www.adoptuskids.org for more info.