financial assistance for home study, adoption fees?

[gkb2215]

Hi mamas,

My husband and I plan to adopt at some point in our lives--maybe sooner rather than later, maybe not.

I was wondering if anyone knows of govt. programs/organizations/foundations that offer financial assistance for the adoption process, e.g., financing the home study.

A lot of the things that would be our strengths as adoptive parents (young & energetic, and my husband is a stay-at-home father) also make adoption cost-prohibitive for us. We live comfortably but frugally on my salary, but being less than 5 years out of college I don't yet have a lot of earning power. We could afford to provide for another child, but we just can't afford thousands in fees.

Would love to hear if anyone knows of financial resources for adoption. Thanks!

[queenjane]

Adopt America Network often provides funds for homestudies to adopt special needs kids.

Have you considered adopting a state child, or fostering? That will be at no cost (or very minimal cost, often reimbursable) to you. Or are you only considering domestic newborn?

I adopted my foster baby, placed at three weeks old, finalized at 11 months old. His case was pretty clear cut for adoption, though nothing was guaranteed until a few months in. I may get to adopt my (almost)2 yr old foster son, trial is next week, his case was much less clear cut and he could still go home to one of his parents. With state kids...you can choose to adopt only legally free children who have no chance of reunification because parental rights have been terminated, you can ask to foster children who they believe will ultimately become adoptable (though there are no guarantees), or you can just be a regular foster parent and adopt a child in your care if they become adoptable.

Often the "straight adopt" (legally free, no fostering) kids are older or have more special needs but not always. It just depends on many factors including your area, and lots of luck.

[m.m.m.]

The home study part (if you're doing agency/private adoption) is going to be the least expensive part of the process. That vaires between states widely. Some can be done under $1000, and some average $2500.

Generally to qualify for help in adoption (financially speaking) home study needs to be complete. Many grants and ways of assistance, but almost all of the ones I've seen want the official part of the process started.

Fostering makes it way cheaper, or even free.

And depending on when completed (entire adotion process) you may qualify for the tax benefits (can be huge, and would cover the home sudy portion).

Good luck!!

[annethcz]

I agree, with any sort of private adoption (domestic or international) the homestudy is one of the least expensive portions of the process. If it truly is out of your reach, perhaps a state adoption or fostering would be a better route for your family.

Others may disagree with me, but I think that saving for (or cash-flowing) an adoption is good practice for learning to balance the financial demands of raising children. Yes, babies are cheap, but kids get more expensive as they get older.

FWIW, we were in a similar position as you when we adopted our DS. I was a SAHM, we had 3 children already at home, and we were in our mid- and late-20s when we started the adoption process. We cash-flowed most of the expense, just paying as we went along. It wasn't a gigantic chunk of money at once, it was more like $1200 one month for the first homestudy payment, $400 the next month for immigration paperwork fees, etc. The largest amounts we had to pay at one time were the $5500 placement fee, and then the travel expenses.

[gkb2215]

Wow--thank you all for this very useful information. It really helps to hear from folks who have experience navigating the process. Thank you.

[Sierra]

One other recommendation, or underscoring of a previous recommendation...definitely check into whether you could recoup much or all of your expenses through the tax credit. It isn't a deduction. It is a credit. I know for many that makes a big difference.

I don't ever end up paying taxes, so it wouldn't make a difference for me, but some folks finance entire adoptions on that premise.

I adopted through foster. ds came to us at 1.5 days old and was adopted at 13 months. dd came to us at 6 months and it was a long, painful journey, but we did adopt her at 3 years. We paid only attorney fees for our adoptions, and these were completely reimbursed by the state.