Affording Adoption
When my husband and I decided to buy our first home we were a young married couple fresh out of college. Jason was no older than 23 years old and I a year less. We were kids and the thought of dishing out an amount of money that had never near graced our bank account was intimidating to say the least. Through discussion with the bank we learned about the process of buying a house and we learned about programs that made home buying easier. This took the financial decision and broke it down into a reasonable amount that we could manage. Like many young couples we succeeded in buying a house and learned to take the mortgage payments and incorporate them into our monthly budget. When people choose to adopt a child domestically or internationally it can cost upwards of several thousand dollars. Just as in buying a home, however, the adoption process has a time frame for payments and programs to make the financial commitment affordable. Adoption is affordable and the more prospective parents learn about the process the less intimidating and unattainable it becomes.
What is the Cost of an Adoption?
The cost of an adoption will vary depending on several factors. International
adoptions tend to be more expensive than domestic adoptions. However, parents
wanting to privately adopt a healthy infant domestically will have costs that
are close to the same or higher as adopting internationally. The most
affordable adoptions would be to adopt a waiting child from the United States
Foster Care System. There are healthy children, children with special needs,
sibling sets and older children in the foster care system that are available
for adoption immediately. Choosing to adopt a child internationally is an
expensive, but manageable, choice. Each country has a different adoption fee
which range drastically in expense. This will greatly determine the exact cost
of an international adoption. In general, the information below will lay out
the cost of adoption.
The following are estimates and are subject to change. Contact your adoption
agency for exact costs.
Application Fee- $0-$300
Processing Fee- $1000-$5000
Country Costs -$3000-$20,000
USCIS I-600A -$545
Fingerprinting $70 per person in household, plus an estimated $15 per person for
state and FBI fingerprint processing
Escort/Travel Costs- Depend greatly on where/when parents or escorts are
traveling
Home study Fee-$500-$3000
State and Federal Notary Verification -$25
Post Office (stamps, sending certified mail, envelopes)- $35
Post Placement Visit Costs- (Often included in home study fee) $100-$350 each
It is very hard to decided how much an adoption would cost based on the
estimates since they range from lows to highs with a wide gap in between.
Countries that tend to have a lower country fee for adoption are countries such
as Kenya, Liberia, Thailand, and Ethiopia. Adoption from countries such as
China, Guatemala, and Russia are higher in cost.
There are numerous myths concerning the financial state that a person or family
must be in before they can adopt. These myths keep many prospective parents
from pursuing adoption. For example, it is not important to own your own home
before you can adopt. Each year many children are adopted into families that
rent rather than own. Another popular myth is that in order to adopt you must
be rich. Frankly, a moderate income is important in order to adopt. However,
the adoption agency and home study agency are more concerned with how families
manage the resources they have. They are not so much concerned with how many
resources a family has. A person or family may have a mortgage, car payments,
even school loans remaining and still adopt as long as those other debts are
being managed and paid for appropriately.
When deciding if this is the time financially to pursue an adoption there are
several things to keep in mind.
- There are many adoption agencies that have a sliding scale system. They
charge the processing fee conservatively based upon the income of the
prospective parents. - Most adoption agencies have a payment schedule for the fees and costs. When
adopting you do not pay for the adoption up-front, rather the cost is spread
out over the course of the entire adoption process. - There are grants and subsidies available for prospective parents who are
willing to do some work to find them and apply for them. Each state offers
subsides to adoptive parents. - In 1994 Congress approved the Adoption Tax Credit which is a great benefit
for adoptive families. - Many companies offer adoption benefits to their employees. Ask your employer
if this is something that they do (if not- tell them they should!) - There are several no interest credit cards and very low interest loans
offered to adoptive parents. - Creative fund-raisers may be done to raise money for your adoption.
In the end an adoption may require some sacrifice. Is it possible that your
family can take the money that would have been spent on a new vehicle and
postpone this for a year? If you live in a dual income house hold would it be
possible to take ½ of one parents income and put this into a high interest
yielding savings account? This money could become the official adoption money
and in the mean time your family learns to live beautifully off of a smaller
income. In most cases, families learn that this can actually be done with a
greater ease that what it may seem. We do not usually need all of the things
that we think we do! Can you put some time and energy into fund-raisers that
will pay for some of the smaller costs of the adoption? Take a look at the
adoption program that you are interested in. Calculate the cost and try to
imagine paying for this cost over the course of a year on a no-interest or low
interest loan. Is this something that you can indeed fit into your monthly
budget?
Adoption is expensive, however, when compared to many expensive things bought
everyday an adoption is a reasonably priced investment in a life that will
forever be changed. If you desire to be adoptive parents but are not able
to invest this large of a sum please consider adopting a child through the
United States Foster Care System. Parents may call their local Department of
Child and Family Services. Adopting a child through this system has little to
no cost and will give stability and a loving home to an American child.
Hold near and dear to your heart one other suggestion. Taking care of the widows
and orphans was mandated by God for his people to do. Adopting a child is
expensive, sometimes even with the benefits provided. The same God that
mandated that we take care of the widows and orphans will be your provision
during the adoption journey. Among all of the little logical steps that you
take towards financing your adoption remember to trust in the provision of the
Lord.
