If money is the issue (as it is with me)

[Miss Kitty]

Can some of you please (if it isn't being too nosy) suggest some creative ways to pay for an overseas adoption.
We would love to adopt a girl from China, or Guatamala, however, money is an issue! There are a lot of us who can afford to raise another child but cannot afford the expense of the adoption.
How did some of you do it? Are there some sources I am unaware of?
It seems unfair that we have the love, the home, the means but not the money for the initial expense.

[fromscatteredtribe]

lack of money is one of the many reasons we are primarily considering domestic adoption. dh spent some time in russia and would love to adopt from there or any other place in the world. we are instead going to wait a few more years until our finances are in better order and our three sons are a bit older and we are planning to adopt a "minority" child (whom we will not call that ever) from dcfs or the equivalent. i wish you luck and i know some employers reimburse a portion of adoption expenses, but overseas is pricey....

[EFmom]

Currently, an adoption from China runs about $16-18K. Adoption from Guatemala was around $25K for my friend who just completed one, although some are more. There are some countries that are cheaper--Haiti comes to mind, where I understand it is possible to spend around $9-12K. You can adopt from Russia or Ukraine independently and spend less than you would for an agency adoption. It is a lot of money, no doubt. But, consider that many people spend over $20K on a car and it's no big deal.

We adopted from China twice. We raised the money the hard way. We saved. We went into what I call "austerity mode," meaning we cut out ALL non-essential spending. We stopped eating out at all, including no coffee, snacks, lunches, etc. (It was amazing what how much we spent on this and we didn't eat out all that often.) I cook from scratch. We don't have any expenses for frills like cell phones, long distance carriers, caller id, cable TV, etc. Each one of those things doesn't cost much per month, but it all adds up. We stopped spending money for entertainment and relied only on the public library and free stuff. We bought practically nothing that we couldn't literally live without. We drove ancient cars. When I would start feeling deprived, I'd think "Which do I really want more--new shoes or a child?" No contest.

I found the Tightwad Gazette to be very helpful (from the library, of course :) ). I don't do everything the author does, but it's the mindset that was important.

In both cases, we managed to come up with the money in about a year. We don't have big salaries--dh is a teacher and I'm a librarian. It was harder for the second one, since we have daycare expenses for the first, along with all the kid costs. Keep in mind that you don't have to have all the $ in the bank to start. Most agencies don't require most of the money up front--if they do, that would be a red flag anyway. You pay during the process, with most of the fees toward the end.

Lots of people take home equity loans if that's an option. We don't like non-mortgage debt, so we saved instead. Also keep in mind that there's a $10,000 tax credit that you get after the adoption is complete, and note that it is a credit, which is way better than a deduction. So, some people borrow from relatives and pay it back with the tax credit.

Best of luck. It seems daunting, but it sure can be done.

[steph]

i agree with fromscatteredtribe that sometimes domestic adoption can be less expensive than foreign - our cost around $14k - which was less than most foreign adoption costs we looked into... that said, we took out a home equity loan to finance ours - though we also thought about doing it through credit card cash advances... remember, that you'll get a tax credit of $10,000, that will roll over for a few years if you don't use it all at once (which unless you're rich most of us don't)... so while that doesn't put money in your pocket to get the ball rolling, it can help pay off debt after you've completed the process. the great thing about tax credits vs. tax deductions, is that it's actually taken off the tax you owe. so if you owed $5000 in taxes, and have your taxes taken out of your paycheck (or if you pay quarterly), then you'll get $5000 back from the IRS. i think taking out a loan to finance the process is fairly common.. you might want to talk to a bank or lender and see what they say - best wishes!

[gurumama]

See if your or DH's company pays partial expenses--my DH's company pays up to $5000 for adoptions. That's IN ADDITION to the $10,000 IRS credit.

A friend was able to adopt because her DH's company did the same as well.

Mostly large corporations do this.

Mel

[steph]

i just found this
http://www.nafadopt.org/LoanPrograms.htm

maybe they can help!

[fromscatteredtribe]

in a thread i posted a month or so ago someone posted about their domestic adoption which cost them next to nothing....i mean like 35 dollars to be fingerprinted. they went through the state. i would love a foreign adoption but with three little sons extensive travel is not an option for me and dh and i looked through listings of waiting children here and felt very moved. good luck. i know there are low cost options and some of these posts have made us more hopeful too. thanks for the thread.

[geekmom]

Probably not what you're looking for, but my 3 adoptions through the Department of Social Services are completely free and they will actually be paying me a stipend once they're adopted. Remember the children from other countries are not as un-traumatized as some may think. The children from this country are often not in worse shape.

[Miss Kitty]

We did one domestic, special needs adoption from Fl. Cost me $60. My dd was a cocaine baby that was our foster child.
I just really wanted to offer a loving home to a girl from China after seeing the conditions of the orphanages there and knowing how poor they are.

[EFmom]

Miss Kitty,

I've adopted twice from China and know many, many, many people who have done the same. I hope that you can realize the dream to adopt a child from China.

I'd like to warn you though, that if you talk to any social worker about a desire to rescue a child from poverty or from a sub-standard orphanage, they might come down on you in a way you don't anticipate. SWs take a very dim view of what they call the "rescue mentality," and feel it can be extremely detrimental to the adopted child.

I'm not saying that you feel this way--just that you might be taken by surprise by the SW or agency. If you feel you have enough love in your heart and room in your family for another child, that's reason enough to adopt.

As to the actual condition of orphanages in China, the two our girls and the one my God daughter came from were quite good. My girls were in perfect health and had no developmental delays at all. My God daughter was also in good health, although she did require early intervention to improve her muscle tone when she first got home.

Conditions in general have improved a great deal since intercountry adoption has been instituted. Obviously, the quality of the orphanages varies across the country. We were not allowed to visit either of the Social Welfare Institution, but a doctor I know was allowed to visit and video my older daughter's orphanage. While it doesn't have all the frills of a modern facility in the US, it was clean, spacious, fairly well-equipped, with nice grounds. My God daughter's Social Welfare Institution was actually quite modern and attractive.

If you are interested in adopting from China, the most fascinating book that gives the big picture IMHO is The Children Can't Wait by Laura Cecere, an attorney, adoptive mom and social worker. You can buy it at http://www.chinaseasadopt.org/book.html She talks a great deal about the social welfare system in China. BTW, I have no affiliation with Laura or her agency, but from my understanding, her agency, China Seas, is one of the least expensive. I'd also recommend you join the a-parents-china group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/a-parents-china/ It is a very high volume list, but you can read it on the web if you want. I found it hugely helpful.