Where do I begin with Adopting?
The first question you need to ask yourself is what type of adoption you are looking to pursue.
- Independent Domestic
- Foster Adoption
- Private Agency Domestic
- Private Agency International
- Special Needs
Once you have answered this question you will be able to determine the agency, lawyer, or facilitator you would like to go with. A few Adoption Agency recommendations we would give are
A Guardian Angel Adoptions (We personally used them)
Heart & Soul Adoptions (We have friends that have used them)
Adoption Advertising (We have friends who have used them with outreach situations)
Wood Jenkins Law (Our lawyer, great one if you are looking for someone to complete an independent adoption)
Jeanna Smith (Great Consultant with a lot of contacts)
WACAP (Great International Agency)
Spence-Chapin (Great ASAP Special Needs program)
I know which type of adoption I want to pursue, now what?
- Contact the adoptive parent representative and see what is required to get started with that agency. The first thing is usually an application (some agencies charge for this and it is non-refundable, be careful if a agency asks for a lot of up front money. You could get stuck with an agency that has no situations for you).
- The next step will be to have a social worker, either affiliated with the agency or an independent licensed social worker in your state conduct background checks and a Home Study (this can take 1-6 months depending on the state and social worker, costs are around $600-$2000)
- During or after you home study you can start to put together your paper profile, online profile, pass along cards and dear expectant family letter.
- Once your home study is approved you will than become a active family with your agency or you can actively pursue situations.
- The process is different depending on which route you take. International adoptions require a Dossier(collection of documents and paperwork) sent to the country. Some agencies require training, we did ours online. Foster adoptions require you in most cases to become foster certified in your state.
Ok, How much does adoption cost?
I will give you a quick breakdown with some pretty broad ranges. Remember every adoption is different. Country fees, Birthmother living expenses, medical fees for the birth, travel fees, etc.
Foster Adoption: Usually no cost or the state will usually reimburse expenses
Independent Adoptions (using a lawyer and locating expectant mother on your own): Can be done anywhere from $4,500-$30,000 I know a broad range
Private Agency Adoptions: Anywhere from $16,000-$35,000 + Medical and sometimes + Legal fees
International Adoptions: This varies greatly depending on the country you are going to. Usually the least for a international special needs adoption is $13,000 and can go all the way up to $50,000 if you have to stay in the country a while or make multiple trips.
I need help with my Blog profile or PDF Profile book, who can help?
There are a number of different companies that offer this service. I have also offered to help people with their profiles to help raise funds for our adoption. A service that also does this is Little Blessings Adoption.
These adoption fees are so high are there any resources for me?
We understand we completed our first adoption with all of our savings and I had a second full time job that I put every paycheck into the savings account for a year to afford it. That is possible for a hopeful adoptive mother/ father that has no kids at home, but usually not once you are caring for kids at home (as we have experienced). So there are some resources below, but really you need to get creative.
- Can you start selling things on ebay, etsy at craft fairs.
- Can you organize a 5K or carnival to raise funds (usually I like to offer a service or product so that your friends and family actually receive something and help at the same time).
- Have a garage sale, go through everything and see what you dont need or what you could live without.
- I have heard of people holding raffles(legal in some states not ours). I heard one family held a raffle for one of their prize horses or a ATV
- Apply for grants, these are hard to come by unless you are pursuing a special needs adoption. But organizations like Helpusadopt.org offer grants from $1000-$15,000 for couples looking to adopt.
- Does your employer offer adoption benefits or your health insurance company
- Are you a member of the military, they have adoption benefits.
- There is a adoption tax credit still available if you finalize before 12/31/2012. It has not been extended past that yet
I want to pursue a independent adoption like you, what do I need to do?
NETWORK!!!NETWORK!!!NETWORK!!!NETWORK!!!NETWORK!!!
Ok I said it and in bold. Most adoptions are formed from someone you know, knowing someone that is looking for a family to place their child with. This is why we have a online blog, digital pdf profile to email quickly, facebook page, hopingtoadopt.org page, active on several forums (but be careful of scammers, I hate to say it but they are out there posing as adoptive parents and expectant parents). Pass along cards in your christmas cards. Email adoption lawyers, crisis pregnancy centers, midwives. Tell everyone you know. You never know where you will make a connection.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me I am happy to answer any questions that you may have.
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