Money

Money: Why Does Adoption Cost so Much and How Are Middle Class People Like Us Going to Pay for It?

            Good question, hard answers. A typical adoption costs between $28,000 and $30,000. This hefty cost breaks down lawyer fees, paperwork fees, court fees, and agency fees as well as potentially assisting in the medical costs of the birth mother.  How are we, a one income, middle class household going to pay for it? Have you ever hear the phrase, “a wing and a prayer” or just “prayer, prayer, prayer”?  Simply put, without assistance, we can’t afford it. We have been doing some fundraising and will be doing lots more (if you have any great fundraising ideas we would love to hear them). There are scholarships and grants you can apply for, each of these pay up to $3,000 and so we will apply to as many of those as we can but the applications are about as tedious as applying for an adoption itself so it is a long process. There are also non-interest loans you can apply for with adoption based mostly on the agreement that you will pay them back with your adoption credit from your taxes the next year. We will probably do that as well. We are already down to $23,000 so we have a little ways to go yet.