We have processed three adoptions out of India in the past six years. Never once did we have a dime in the bank ahead of time for adoption. Here are some things we did as well as others I know in my area.
You take one fee at a time. Concentrate on that one instead of looking at the whole picture. I noticed the fees you listed seem very high...have you checked out other agencies which are lower in cost. The facillitator fee you have listed for one child is more than I paid for three adoptions. So check around and get a good rate with a very reputable agency.
Over the years we have started can/bottle collecting. We live in PA...but the deposit on bottles and cans is 5 cents in New York...only about an hour a way. We would collect pop bottles and cans from anyone who would have normally thrown them away...then take van loads to New York for the deposit. Sounds corny but you wouldn't believe how much money you can get. This method paid for our authentication costs for the dossier of our first daughter.
Garage sales are a good route and of course advertise that they are for adoption expenses.
Start a loose change jar. We have gone on vacation each year with a 7 member family on the amount of money that collects from loose change in the bottom of my purse.
My friend went around to businesses where lots of men worked...she took orders for hoagies to be delivered at their lunch time once per month. Then we would get together the night before delivery and make them up. We had a great time doing this and she financed her entire adoption out of Pune India with hoagie sales... She didn't have one cent toward adoption when she started and a year later she flew to India to bring her little one home.
Go to your local library and look for a book listing all grant organizations in your state. Then sort through them to find the ones who are permitted to give "grants to individuals". There are not many. In Pennsylvania out of thousands I found only thirty-three...but of those I sent a letter to every one. I got our third daughter's fees entirely paid for in grant money as well as an airline ticket to India. I sent a letter with Maya's photo...and then waited about a month then followed that letter up with a personal phone call. I couldn't believe the generosity of the organizations. What I did was list all expenses I needed help with and then highlighted only one per letter in the amount I was hoping to get from that particular organization.
There is a wonderful site that I just happened to stumble across concerning adoption...
www.karensadoptionlinks.com or something close to that. If you go to
www.dogpile.com and type in adoption funding...the site I'm talking about will be one that is listed.
Never ever let finances be the reason not to adopt. I am living proof that it can be done. My husband and I live on a very modest income. We now have adopted three times and have made it through financially each time without a loan.
One last place you might be able to look is to you life insurance policy. If there is a cash value...most of the time you can borrow against it and then pay yourself back.
If you belong to a church...have them do a love offering a few times on your behalf.
A local private school near me does a car wash fundraiser with a twist. Instead of washing cars and getting each car to donate a few bucks to the cause...they instead seek out pledges ahead of time. For example...you ask people to pledge so much per car. Then on the day of the carwash...every car is washed for free. The cars go through an essembly line style washing...one person wets it down...the next two soap it up...the next two rinse it off etc. The object is to wash as MANY cars as possible on that day. Then the person goes back and collects the pledges from the people on their list. To give you an idea of this...one person pledges that they will pay 10 cents for every car washed and 200 cars get washed on that day...then the person owes 20 dollars. Get enough sponsors with pledges and it could raise some serious money. The private school here raises nearly 20,000 in one day. If you belong to a church...it would be a great project for the youth group. Advertise that it is a free car wash and that you are literally trying to put as many cars through as possible in one day.
I hope some of this helps. I have made it my mission to keep records on inexpensive ways to adopt...as well as funding to help pay for it. If I can make it through adoption financially...anyone can. There are many ways to budget yourself at home so that you spend less. Tighten the belt to keep as much in the bank as possible.
As a Christian person I found that prayer is a great way to receive what is needed for adoption. God has answered prayer for us to financially be able to bring another child into our home. He has blessed us with the means and know how to get through it. Everytime we needed money...He would provide. We trusted in God to see us through and He did. We are very blessed with the three little girls he placed into our home.
Hope this helps...Karen in PA