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Adoption
How are you girls affording this?
I just got my first information packet with a list of expenses. How in the world are you affording this? 10% of adjusted gross income just for the home assessment, not to mention the 1,000 other fees and everything! Do you have savings? Are you taking money out of your home - like a 2nd mortgage? We already owe $6,000 on our 1st IVF and our failed FET. It looks like this is going to be WAY more expensive than another couple IVFs. After my miscarriage, I thought I was done with fertility treatments, but now I'm not sure. IVF did work once for us, and my m/c could have just been one of those bad things that happen and things might be ok next time. I just don't know what to do. I'm not getting any younger, so if we do IVF again we probably should get going. Ugh! This sucks!
Baby #1: 19 cycles, failed IUI, and 1 + IVF 3-5-07
Baby #2: 12 cycles, 1 failed FET, natural miracle but m/c at 9 weeks then another natural miracle that stuck! 9-30-09
TTC #3 - 4 cycles - no BFP yet!
Baby #2: 12 cycles, 1 failed FET, natural miracle but m/c at 9 weeks then another natural miracle that stuck! 9-30-09
TTC #3 - 4 cycles - no BFP yet!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: How are you girls affording this?
Every agency is different - so start with knowing that what you find at one agency is not the set-in-stone rule for all agencies. Our agency for domestic newborns has varying fees. For a non-black baby the fees are generally 25,000 and up (the more you pay the less your wait because you are buying advertising). The initial agency fee is 7,000 plus about a 1000 for homestudy + background checks + profile fee - which is all in addition to the match fee of 25,000 and up.
For a black or bi-racial baby the fees are substantially less, the match fee is on average between 9000 and 24,000, the agency fee of 7000 is waived, and the home study, criminal background and profile fee still come in about a 1000 total. Of course, depending on where the baby is born, there are travel and hotel costs + post-placement home study costs.
All total we expect to spend between 15,000 and no more than 30,000 because we are in a program for a black or bi-racial newborn.
We are fortunate to have savings to cover the cost. While it might not help you upfront, there are tax credits, some times employers have credits, and the such that might be able to help pay for some of your adoption costs. I have seen some people have fundraisers to help also.
Everything is averages, some go over - some under the fees and wait time depending on how your agency is structured. This is why it is soooo important, regardless of excitment level, to be diligent about your research and interviewing of agencies. Every agency is different and you need to find the one that is right for you and your situation. Also the path you choose will also dictate the fees (international, domestic, state-foster to adopt programs).
Good luck!
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It is huge sticker shock and makes having a family seem so out of reach. ?But it is also a matter of perspective. ?People spend this kind of money on a new car or their weddings. ?I agree with the pp as far as tax credit, employer reimbursement, etc. ?A couple of other things we are doing is putting as many expenses on my discover card each month as possible and paying it off to get the cashback bonus. ?That will be money we can use to set up a nursery. ?Another thing we did with our wedding is put stuff on a credit card with zero interest and paid it off by the time it went up.
We will also be doing international adoption and opting for a child around 2. ?So then I put things in the equation like the fact that I won't need maternity clothes, no deductible for labor and delivery, no diapers or daycare for the first two years, etc. ?Daycare alone would have been $25k during those two years. ?It helps me accept the price tag to think of it that way.?
Maybe it's our area and our agency, but our fees weren't that bad. Our total, including placement and homestudy fees, ended up being about $12K- and that's for TWO babies. It was sort of a buy one, get one 1/2 off deal.
However, we had just started saving when they asked us to parent the twins (we hadn't even finished our homestudy yet) so we hadn't gotten very far. We had enough for all the upfront costs, but not the placement fee. We had to use the Family First loan. We just pay interest, but with last years and this years tax credit, we will have it paid off. We also had a HUGE yard sale and everything we made went to our loan. People donated things for us to sale and our grandmothers baked things for us to sale. We didn't do as well as we had hoped, but we have friends who have made close to $2k at their fundraising yard sales. They are now saving up to adopt #5 (they save enough to pay for the entire adoption upfront before proceeding) and she has some SUPER-creative ideas.
You can do it! You just have to get creative
The agency we're leaning toward runs about $20K for an adoption, with fees paid along the way. We have put aside $ for this, and we're hoping to sell our rental property in the near future, which will give us the $ to fully fund an adoption. DH just found out that his company is offering a $10K reimbursement after an adoption is finalized, so we're looking at that as well as the tax inecentive.
10% of adjusted gross income sounds ridiculous to me.
I agree with the pps--look around. Each agency has a different fee schedule, and you may be able to find another agency you like that has lower fees. Also look into adoption grants.
Our agency sets it up so that you pay their fees as you go...$500 here and $1,000 there and then about $4,500 at the end.
DH gets about $7,500 every year as a holiday bonus at work and he is really well-paid. Also, we didn't do anything with fertility treatments once we found out we were infertile...we just went directly to adoption.