This post is a difficult one for me to write because it is the one in which I will be asking for financial help in bringing a child home.
Can we just talk for a second how much I DON'T enjoy asking for help?!? I am quite content to be on the other side of the equation- the one offering help and encouragement and support to someone less fortunate.
I am not used to being on THIS side of things.
And to be honest I am not entirely comfortable with it.
In fact, I nearly didn't begin this adoption because it meant I would be asking for donations.
I read several adoption forums daily, and have for months, even before I decided to adopt. And often the question comes up: what do you all think about people soliciting donations for their adoptions? The answer is usually something like this: I think it's tacky. I wonder if they can afford to have a child. You wouldn't ever catch me doing it.
Now, I struggle with that attitude. Generally speaking, the ones giving the negative feedback regarding fundraising were adoptive parents who had struggled with infertility and finally, as a last resort, turned to adoption of healthy infants. PLEASE do not misunderstand me- every family who adopts is giving a child a home. However, healthy infants do not, generally, have to wait for an adoptive placement to be found; on the contrary, parents wanting to adopt healthy babies are placed on waiting lists, sometimes for years, until one becomes available. On the other hand, there are quite literally millions of children who have special needs who are sitting, waiting, abandoned, forgotten, alone. I strongly feel that those of us who want to parent these children, who can afford to care for the child once home but don't have the estimated $30-40k handy for adoption expenses, should do everything we can to bring these children home. Because otherwise these children will sit, alone, abandoned, unclaimed. Many of them are transferred to adult mental institutions at the age of 4. A vast majority of those transferred die within the first year of starvation and neglect. Those of us WANTING to parent these special children must do whatever we have to in order to bring them home!
Including, yes, fundraising.
So I have resolved myself to being humbled through this experience, to risk being vulnerable to criticism, to do what I have to do to bring a child home. I know it's the right choice.
This is a list of costs associated with my adoption (some are estimated based off others' recent experience in the same area I am adopting from):
Phase 1 (getting ready)
Home study $1200
Initial agency fee $2000
Passport renewal $110
Psychological evaluation $300
Physical $20
Labwork for physical $50
State background check $20
FBI background check $50
Adoption training courses $200
Certified birth certificates (4) $100
USCIS (I-600A) immigration filing $800
Apostilles for each document, at $15/document $1350
Dossier prep agency fee $3400
Mailing everything to agency $20
TOTAL: $9895
Phase 2 (Trip 1)
Visa $500
Round-trip airfare ~$1500
In-country living costs for 7 days (food, translation services, driver, accomodations) ~$1500
Facilitation fees $3250
Final agency payment $1900
TOTAL: $8650
Phase 3 (Trip 2- court)
Visa $500
Round-trip airfare ~$1500
In-country living costs for 7 days (food, translation services, driver, accomodations) ~$1500
In-country parent medical (required) $700
Orphanage donation $500
Required gifts for orphanage director, etc. $300
Facilitation fees $3250
TOTAL: $8250
Phase 4 (Trip 3- bringing her home!)
Visa $500
Round-trip airfare ~$1500
One-way airfare for child ~$750
Child's medical (required) $150
Child's passport $50
Child's visa $400
Train to capitol city $400
In-country living costs for 7 days ~$1500
TOTAL: $5250
Grand Total (estimate): $32,045
Please be assured that I am looking into any and all ways to minimize costs (for example, I may try to stay with a missionary couple in-country to avoid having to pay for a hotel or apartment, or I will travel with a group of other adoptive parents and we will share accommodations). I will be eating pb&j while there (and likely at home too!). Every penny will be stretched.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this and if you feel urged to contribute to help me bring my child home, you will likely never know how appreciative I am. The $5 and $10 contributions REALLY add up! If you donate through the Chip-In at on the top right of this page, donations are tax deductible.
Please watch for fundraisers coming soon!
