The cost of adoption

Adoption is a funny thing.  It brings out some REALLY funny HILARIOUS comments and questions from people.

Here are some of the winners so far and what I would like LOVE to say to them:

• "It costs money to adopt?" (No, we've decided to pay with Chuck E Cheese tokens this time!)
• "HOW MUCH DID YOU SAY????" (you heard me correctly)
• "Shouldn't they be paying you to adopt?" (If only...)
• "Can't you just fly to the country and find a baby?" (Is there a store for that I don't know about?)
• "Isn't there a pregnant teenager that will just give you their baby?" (I wish! Why don't you get pregnant and just give me your baby?)
• "What if the baby has a different color skin than you?" (GASP! I never thought of that!?!!?)
• "What if the baby has something wrong with it? (What if your biological baby has something wrong with it???)

Now don't take this the wrong way, (especially if one of the above questions came from your mouth and we are now laughing at your expense) but adoption is just not that simple.  It is a complicated process with reasons behind every cost, fee and hurdle to jump.

So here is some basic info about the Russia program:

• The wait time from start to finish is estimated to be between 12 and 20 months right now. (A little perspective: The wait may be double the length of pregnancy!)
• Boys are more readily available for adoption than girls. 
• We can request the youngest child possible, which is what we are doing.  Our child will be between 9-36 months at the time of referral (which is when they match us with a child). 
• The fees/cost covers the application, adoption agreement, all of the legal issues/court costs, language translation, travel, home study, agency needs/paying the awesome caseworkers, helping the community where the child is from (one reason we like CHI), in-country agency workers, hotel, food, airfare, document preparation, medical evaluations, psychological evaluations, fingerprinting, immigration, visas, passports, etc...
• We must make 3 trips to the country, with each trip being between 3-7 days long.  We will most likely be able to bring our child home from Russia about 3 months after meeting her for the first time.  
• The estimated cost to adopt our daughter from Russia is $50,000!

We are of course overwhelmed with the length of time, costs involved and the magnitude of this decision. We have not come to this decision lightly; it has been our heart's desire since the foundation of our relationship.  It is a call upon our lives from God.  It will definitely stretch our faith and build our character!  We pray that everything we do during the journey and afterwards will bring God honor and glory!

I am so thankful for supportive family and friends that will be taking this journey of faith along with us. I just hope I don't annoy any of you dear ones with my onslaught of fundraisers!  ;)

Blessed Beyond Measure,

Stephanie

Requirements? You mean they don't just give you a kid?

I've been researching different adoption agencies, country programs and their requirements. 

That is a ridiculous understatement.  My family does not just casually "read up" on subject matter.  We get obsessed and consumed by research.  I come from a long line of dorks, I guess!  ;) Don't hold it against me!

I found it interesting that each country has its own set of requirements for an adoptive couple.  Some requirements are: age, income, net worth, number of children already in the home, education of the parents, BMI, health problems, depression...

We were completely ruled out of adopting from certain countries by some of these requirements.  I've had to come a long way in my thinking about this.  At first, honestly it didn't bother me because none of the countries we were interested in were affected from first glance.  The more I thought about it and found out the vast numbers of orphans around the world, it frustrated me. Perfectly good, loving families were seeking to adopt only to be disqualified for seemingly unrelated reasons.  Obviously you have to have enough income to care for the child, but how dare "they" decide your standard of living!?!?!? So a child is better left in an institution rather than be adopted by a loving family that might not be able to afford the latest gadgets or fashion item?  Then I came full circle in my thinking and just accepted that each country has reasons for their requirements based on their cultural ideas and past experiences with adoptions.  

We have jumped some initial hurdles in meeting requirements and have another big hurdle ahead. I will be calling the agency we want to work with on Monday to see what all can be included in estimating our assets.  We do not own many large items (and we are fine with that).  Because of that, we don't have much debt either!  Pray with us to have at least $30,000 in positive net worth so we can apply to the Russia program! 

Blessed beyond measure,

Stephanie