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I wish I had as many things prepared as you do but I have a little time to get things ready as my homefinder expects that I will finished being licensed in late february/march and that I will probably have a baby by march/april.
The only reason I am so prepared is because I have literally been planning for this for years and I have bought stuff SLOWLY over time and A LOT was given to me from FREEcyclers.. You should see if they have a Freecycle group in your area...If you PM me I will give you the link....
I also talked to my cw last week, she seems to think they can get all my info submitted to the state by the end of this month and the state has 30 days max to respond...and they have been taking less time from what she told me So it will most likely be Feb or very early March for me as well.
The fortunate thing about the agency that i am working with is that they have a program called Babies Can't Wait which is for babies from newborn to 1 years old only and it is strictly for parents looking to foster to adopt. This program was developed a few years ago and it has been a great success especially due to the fact that over 80% of the babies in the program are abandoned and have already had termination of parental rights signed so most parents are able to complete adoption within a year and a half. It is an amazing program for people looking to adopt infants that do not have the financial ability to go for a straight adoption. I also have been told that there are many times where they don't even have homes for the babies they have available. I mean if anything could break your heart more than the idea of a baby laying in the hospital with nowhere to go.
WOW ..that is great.. I wish they had something like that here....There are however many infants placed here in my county, due to the VERY unfortunate drug problem we have here, but the majority are not TPR'd at time of placement....
Anyway, my family is somewhat supportive but they are also worried about me overextending myself and putting too much on my plate. I think that they worry that it is just too much to handle alone and my mother also fears that I will decrease my chances of meeting a "good" man to which I reply that a good man would love me and my child and would have to be open to adoption and a house full of children in order to be with me anyway since that is my hearts desire. So I so understand all that you are going thru
WE ARE SO MUCH ALIKE!!! I also want a house full of kids..MOSTLY adopted! I WILL NOT marry a man who does not share that vision....If he can't love my kids and be open to the idea that there IS GOING to be a house full of kids, then I don't want to marry him anyway...
I just moved myself and I am so happy to have just purchased my first home but it is a financial challenge and I am doing all I need to now to ensure that I am financially stable before the baby comes- now that I finally have a stable home environment and all the space I could ever need.
I plan to purchase my first home later this year once my lease is up..I am moving to a 2 bedroom in the same complex I live in now on this coming wed... It's not where I want to live, but it will do for now...I understand the financial stability part.. I have an EXTREMELY tight budget....I did get a MUCH higher paying job in Nov , but I also will be increasing my expenses by moving to a larger apt and I am trying to have all my debt (except my student loans, cause that will take a while) paid off by the year end....add that to the fact will be bringing in at least one new child this year....so you can imagine my dollars have to get stretched as far as possible....
I am also cutting out a bunch of stuff for a while, like buying DVDs( although I mostly buy prewatched from Blockbuster) won't be buying anymore for a while, Also eating out, unless it is a Special Occasion or somebody else besides me is paying
I am debating on whether or not to get my internet/cable(I have VERY basic cable already though) cut off for a few months....but I need the internet for my business, although I can go to the library and use their free wi fi with my laptop, it is highly inconvenient....but it would save me $720 year which could pay my rent for a month...
My sister was gracious enough to buy my groceries for this month, just cause she was being nice....so I saved a little there..
Also I have 2 cell phones with the family plan (one for my business and one for personal use...I just recently gave my sister one of my phones and she will be paying half of the bill..so saving even more...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not broke, but I REALLY want to be better off financially for my kids, and I want my own home and I REALLY want to reduce my debt, so I am cutting as many expenses as possible.
I am also interested in adopting again probably in 2009 or maybe having another child naturally at that point depending on my personal situation which was my reason for asking how you plan to manage. I want to have children close in age and as well and like you said most times this allows the children to be very close in age. Several of my sisters had children who were only 2 years apart and for the most part it has fostered the relationship between the children.
My original plan was to adopt from Haiti first, but the Haitian gov't is very unstable and change policies all the time... now I have to wait to see if they are going to ease up on the policies for me to adopt. But I am ready to be a mom now, so I decided to go ahead with Foster/Adoption. I planned to adopt from FC also, but I always thought it would be later on....But since things are going like they are going...I am doing FC first...
But I expect Haiti to ease up soon..Hence the back to back adoptions...If they ease up I want to go ahead and start the process again before they change their minds about the policy...
Right now the policy for single women is you have to be 35,have no more than 3 or 4 (I can't remember) bio kids, Don't think that care about adopted kids and meet the 125% above poverty level requirements depending on your family size. The only thing I don't qualify for is the age requirement...
The expenses range from 13k-20k+ depending on your homestudy and travel costs and whether you decide to do an independent vs and agency adoption. (some states don't allow independent adoptions) I think NY may be one, please someone correct me if I am wrong...
So it is about the same as Ethiopia
For me, I estimate my costs to be between 14-17k including travel, homestudy, ins fees etc... My travel isn't as high since I live in Florida ( not that far from Haiti.)...my homestudy is only $1200..already know who I will be using and they charge not travel fees....the Haiti fees will be around $8000 and is not all due at once...
If its God's will, I plan to also adopt from:
Jamaica (Apprx. 6-8k total expenses)
India (Apprx. 15k-20k+)
Ethiopia (Apprx. 14k-18k+)
Liberia (Apprx 10-13k)
Vietnam(Apprx 17-20k)
(The total expenses including travel and homestudy are what it will probably cost me. However it maybe higher or lower for others )
How do I plan to do it?..Praying and Saving! I also have some fundraising and business ideas and will be applying for grants.. I will solidify my exact plans once the time approaches for me to start each adoption as to how I will get the necessary money, but other than that I have no formal plans, other than saving, as of yet
Anyway, Keep in touch - it is so nice to not feel ALONE in my endeavors and to have someone to share my excitement with as each stage approaches.
I will DEFINTELY stay in touch!!!!! I'll PM you my email address....
Farrah
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