We are adopting!

[superme80]

How exciting! Best of luck! I also agree on the foster to adopt. I have had several friends who have successfully went that route. I was personally adopted. I honestly was not offended by the "unwanted" comment. I was 100% not wanted by my birth family. No worries to me. My adopted family wanted me,and still want me. We may have our differences, but I have the one family who IS my family. As for the open adoption, I personally am not a in favor of them. I am all for keeping information so the child can find birth families if both parties want to be found. I just do not think they are always the best way to go about it.

 

[Chocolate Cake]

Exciting news! We have started the process to adopt! We are so excited. I am looking for any recommendations on creative funding options or resources. I don't know why I did not think to ask here sooner! I welcome any ideas!

Congratulations! What a wonderful decision!

If you don't have enough money saved to adopt, consider taking out a loan. It's not creative, but it's a great option.

Also, you will get a tax credit after you adopt. I think up to $13,000!

 

[ronandannette]

Congratulations! What a wonderful decision!

If you don't have enough money saved to adopt, consider taking out a loan. It's not creative, but it's a great option.

Also, you will get a tax credit after you adopt. I think up to $13,000!

That's a nice option! @princess sparkle p - just out of curiosity, how much do you expect an adoption to cost?

 

[sk!mom]

Congratulation! I also don't have any suggestions, but I think it's horrible that it costs so much for people to give an unwanted child a good home. Best wishes to you. I hope you find the help you need.

Ouch, "unwanted" is so harsh and hurtful. The decision to release a child to adoption is heart wrenching.

In terms of funding - there are lots of small things you can do that will save a few dollars here or there or earn a few dollars here or there (check out the budget board there are always threads like that), but short of someone throwing a major fundraiser for you (like a church) none of them will net you that much in the end. My personal advice is the part time job. It's hard to give up the time that working at target or delivering pizzas will cost you, but it will help out on the money side more than odd things here and there.

Also congrats - what an incredible and exciting time for you.

Agree with the bolded. A dear friend is starting this journey, as well. Her DH has worked as much overtime as possible for several years. First, to fund IVF attempts and now to fund the adoption expenses.

Best wishes in this journey.

 

[Allison]

What about selling your DVC points? Can you cancel the trip you have planned? Garage sale, part-time job, loan? Nothing really creative to offer, just the basic ideas I guess.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Congratulations on your decision, and my best to you!

 

[Dan Murphy]

That is wonderful, princess sparkle. We are adoptive parents of 2 great kids. My son was 1 week old and my daughter was 2 months old. They are now 40 and 28. And they now have kids, our 5 grandkids.

No suggestions on funding from me though.

Congratulations, best wishes, it's a wonderful journey.

 

[aprilgail]

Congratulation! I also don't have any suggestions, but I think it's horrible that it costs so much for people to give an unwanted child a good home. Best wishes to you. I hope you find the help you need.

seriously? geez you do know that many many children given up for adoption ARE wanted- but the birth mother may find herself in a position that she can not care for that child, or she feels the child would be better off with parents that could better take care of the child even though she did very much want the child.

 

[Patience]

How exciting! We adopted one of our children and she is wonderful and amazing and one of the best things that ever happened to us. We are so lucky to be her parents!

As to funding, we were determined not to borrow and not to touch retirement accounts so we ate a lot of bag lunches, my husband worked extra shifts, we gave up eating out except on special occasions, and just tightened our belts in every way we could. As someone mentioned, once you have completed your adoption, you may be able to claim an adoption tax credit of up to $13,000 (give or take a little as I don't know the exact amount anymore) and that will offset a lot of the cost. There are groups that offer interest free adoption loans but I don't know the names of these groups but your agency or social worker should be able to put you in touch with them.

Best wishes to you and your husband as you begin your adoption journey. It's not an easy road but it is so worth it.

 

[Poohforyou]

Best Wishes, my daughter is adopted from China. As for funding the adoption, that's something you're going to figure out and budget for. The process is expensive but so is raising a child. Go fund me has really gotten out of hand in my opinion.

 

[Sleepy425]

We did foster to adopt, so I don't have advice much on fund raising (although I will say our decision to go this route has been a financial blessing to us - our daughters ended up being medically complex, and had we not been able to keep them on state insurance their medical bills would be a big strain on our family. Also the monthly stipend we receive helps to fill in the gap for all the work we miss taking them to appointments. And the college tuition that CT offers to children adopted through foster care will be awesome if they choose to go to college). If you have questions about what criteria you are open to (age/race/drug exposure/open or closed adoption/etc) and want to bounce some questions off of someone, please feel free to PM me. Although we have had our girls since they were released from the NICU at 3 weeks old, there are some nature vs nurture type issues that we are still overcoming and the girls will be fighting against for the rest of their lives. It isn't easy, and nobody can really prepare you for what raising a child with drug/alcohol exposure is like, but I will be happy to pass along our experiences (we are still foster parents, so we have had many kids come through our home)
There are many groups on Facebook for adoptive/pre-adoptive parents. I am sure they can point you in the direction of some great fund raising ideas. Best of luck!
If you are on Facebook, start to follow Mark R Miller, Esquire-Adoption Attorney. His fees are high from what I hear, but he seems to do a lot of work with the birth families prior to the baby being born to ensure that the adoption is in the best interest of all involved (he is in Florida and makes sure he does his due diligence in regards to birth father's rights. There are some states in the US that have horrible birth father rights - some unscrupulous agencies have even been known to fly birth mothers to these states so they can get away with avoiding the legal process of terminating fathers' rights. These are things you should become acquainted with if you do domestic infant adoption. Also be aware of if a child qualifies under ICWA - some agencies don't do a great job explaining the risk of taking one of these kids if you do not have a link to a registered tribe.
There is a lot to research while you are getting your home study approved. Take the time to try to understand as much as possible, so you will be better prepared when you're approached with possible matches.

 

[ols386]

Great news. Best Wishes with the adoption.

 

[CrankyDad]

Can you not spam this on all the sub forums?.

 

[GreatLakes]

I hate to break it to some of the people here but while some kids are given up for adoption out of love some are also given up because they are unwanted. The world isn't all unicorns and parades, some really crappy people give birth and don't want their kids. Some are given up voluntarily, some are taken from them against their will because they are just garbage parents. Some are also literally abandoned and left to die because their parent is more interested in their next fix than taking care of the life they created. Hopefully those kids are found in time and turned over to CPS but that doesn't always happen. It is what it is.

Good luck OP. Becoming a parent no matter what road you take to get there, is an exciting new chapter in life.

 

[ronandannette]

Can you not spam this on all the sub forums?.

{{sigh}} I noticed too, as well as the fact the OP hasn't answered any of our posts here once the idea of crowdfunding wasn't enthusiastically supported. Oh, and then there was the poster that suggested foregoing Disney vacations and liquidating DVC...they didn't get a response either.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I noticed too, as well as the fact the OP hasn't answered any of our posts here once the idea of crowdfunding wasn't enthusiastically supported.

OP was last on the DIS at 8:51 AM Sunday, so has read some of the responses.

 

[msjprincess]

seriously? geez you do know that many many children given up for adoption ARE wanted- but the birth mother may find herself in a position that she can not care for that child, or she feels the child would be better off with parents that could better take care of the child even though she did very much want the child.

Exactly. My mother gave a baby up for adoption. It was the hardest decision of her life. She knew at the time she couldn't provide the life that her child deserved.

 

[DopeyDame]

Congratulations!
Both of my kids were adopted and I know you're about to start the adventure of a lifetime.
For fundraising... I don't have any other advice other than to be *very* careful about what you chose to do and how you word things.
For example, make it clear that you aren't fundraising for a child, but to pay for the professional fees associated with adoption - social workers, lawyers, medical professionals, etc. Basically, just be very sure that all your actions and words are all done with respect for the potential birth parents and children.

 

[Allison]

For fundraising... I don't have any other advice other than to be *very* careful about what you chose to do and how you word things.

I hope creative funding options didn't mean fundraising as in directly asking others for money.

 

[aprilgail]

Exciting news! We have started the process to adopt! We are so excited. I am looking for any recommendations on creative funding options or resources. I don't know why I did not think to ask here sooner! I welcome any ideas!

Funding? I have never known anyone to fundraise to adopt a child but maybe it is common in other places? My friends each got a second job when they were looking to finance their adoption.