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Adoption
BananaPancake
member
Adoption Expense?
BananaPancake
member
in Adoption
My DH and I are young, but we love children and would love to know more about adoption. I'm really interested in finding resources to help us understand the process and how to pay for it! Can anyone link me to some reliable sites to start reading up?
Also, I'm interested in how fostering to adopt works. Can anyone give me a little more info on who/why not to do it and where to look for resources?
Thanks!
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Re: Adoption Expense?
My suggestion is to get some books. The Complete Adoption Guide is a pretty good one- and lots of people recommend The Complete Idiots Guide to Adoption. There are many other similar ones out there.
As for foster to adopt, go to an informational meeting - many organizations have them set up so you can check it out. And they'll do a great job explaining.
for foster/adopt it is a similar process as far as timing goes - and it has a few differences, but it is a wonderful program. It varies dramatically from state to state and even county to county. I recommend contacting social services where you live to get more information.
I am foster/adopting and it has been a great experience thus far. And there are no fees associated with this method of adoption.
I was under the impression that there were some legal fees associated with foster adoption (I heard around $5k, I think). Does this vary state to state?
If there really are no substantial fees, we may be getting started earlier than I thought!
It may vary from state to state, but we have not spent a penny. They told us that at the every end, there is paperwork that needs to be filled out and filed with the court, and some choose to use a lawyer for that, but most dont. Our adoption home worker volunteered to that for us, but DH step father is a probate lawyer, so he is going to do it for free.
We did not go into foster/adopt for financial reasons, but the foster/adopt program will allow you to receive WIC (food/formula assistance) during adooption process and beyond if you choose. This gives us approx $160 in free formula per month. We also receive about $400 per month to care for the child while we are in the process of adoption. The Federal govt has a program to continue the monthly support until the child is 18, but I think you have to be a "relative placement" for that. Not entireley sure.
Again, we had no idea that it would be free, let alone them paying us to care for DD...it has just worked out that way. I am sure state-to-state rules change, but I have never heard of anyone having to pay for foster/adoption.
Thanks so much for the info! We're not doing foster/adopt for financial reasons either, but we are waiting until we own our own home and we don't want to go into any debt paying for the adoption. If this will save us from a few extra months of saving, then that's awesome. I'll check out what our state fees are.
I agree with all the information given, but also thought you might enjoy reading some on adoption.com. They have a good questionnaire you can use to see if you and your husband are on the same page about many of the particulars, too.
Good luck!