[Lissa]

My hubby and I did an adoption budget after a lot of research for and came up with a figure of $23,000 in costs for adopting from China. I was crestfallen. Kentucky has no state finances to help. Our jobs had no adoption programs. There is the $10,000 federal tax credit, but that is after the fact. We own our own home but have very little equity built up. I was morose. We called about adoption loans, but most of the information I got was that we could actually get a better rate if we put the baby on our visa, because our home was new and unpaid for and our cars paid for, but old. When I went to places to research how to finance your adoption and talked to agencies they kept talking to me about letter writing campaigns, garage sales and bake sales. I thought they were CRAZY. How on earth could those kind of activities fund an adoption? However, wanting a baby can do strange things to a cynic and turn her into a hopeful optimistic type...so my hubby and I started a letter writing campaign to our relatives. Though we see them occasionally, we aren't overly close to our extended families, but we gave it a try. Within 2 months we had raised $20,000 which we now have stashed away in a special adoption account at the bank. Moral of the story...don't poopoo the bake sale, the garage sale, the letter writing campaign or any other suggestions. They can and do work. I wish you the best.