Options for Affording Adoption
In her book, The Unofficial Guide to Adopting a Child, author and adoptive mother Andrea Della Vecchio, gives suggestions for affording adoption. She encourages prospective parents to be creative in finding ways to afford an adoption and also reminds us that the cost of an adoption is expensive, but spread out over the course of a year or more.
- Borrow Money From Yourself
- Borrow money from your savings account
- Borrow money from your own stocks, bonds, or 401k plan
- Borrow Money From a Bank
- Look into bank Adoption Loans (they do exists!)
- Take out a Home Equity Loan
(Benefits of a Home Equity Loan: usually low interest, tax deductible, often provided with a checkbook to write checks towards adoption expenses, interest is paid on the balance and as the balance decreases to does the interest).
- Borrow Money From A Credit Card
- Credit card companies have created credit cards with little to no interest that are available for adoptive families in the process of adoption.
- Use good judgment when putting expense on a credit card, even one with little or no interest. If this is the best option for your family have a well established payment plan set.
- Borrow Money From a Family Member
- Family members such as parents may be willing to demonstrate support for your adoption through financial assistance. This may be in the form of a gift or loan. If borrowing money from family members make sure to put into writing the agreement.
- Raising the Money
- With a bit of creativity and hard work money can be raised towards adoption costs. Author Andrea Della Vecchio suggests selling something that you own, asking your church to sponsor your child, asking extended family to sponsor your child in lou of gifts, making crafts and selling them at local markets, and holding a variety show with volunteer performers. See Fundraising For Your Adoption for more creative money making ideas!
- Saving the Money
- Begin by taking your current income and taking out of this money all the money that would be spent each pay period on expenses related to your child, such as day care if needed. This will not only demonstrate the cost of child rearing, but in the meantime will save a good amount of money toward adoption expenses.
- Using Employer and Military Benefits
- Find out if your employer offers an adoptive benefit. There are companies which offer an average of $2000 towards adoption costs.
- The military will reimburse $2000 per child (up to $5000) towards adoption expense each year after an adoption is finalized.
In addition to these suggestions there are numerous adoption grants available through helping organizations that have a mission to see children adopted by their forever families. At times organizations required an application fee to apply for an adoption grants, however, not all require this fee (estimated at $10-$20). To see a listing of some of organizations providing adoption grants go to the Adoption Interactive Learning and Financial Center and click on Adoption Financing.
Some information from this article was taken from:
The Unofficial Guide to Adopting a Child
Author: Andrea Della Vecchio
Wiley Publishing Hoboken, NJ 2000
