[heartofthesouth]

Hey everyone,
I'm new to posting so please forgive my ignorance.
My DH and I have been ttc for a little over a year now and have just got the word that we will not be able to have children. This is ok with me because I have always loved the thought of adopting. But never realized the expense that is now becoming reality. I have heard several stories where people have found birthmothers on their own and adopted this way. How do you "find" a birth mother? i know you can go through an agency or facilitator but geez! the fees are sooo high. My DH is a police officer and i work in sales so lord knows we can't afford 20-30 thousand for an adoption. the most we would be able to afford is 10,000. i have tried going through our local catholic social services and DHR but they require you to be married 3 years and we just got married in April. does anyone know of any agencies in our price range that aren't so strict on marital requirements? we don't care about race and as far as age we are open minded as long as the child is under 6 years old.

[ses1230]

Hi,

Have you considered a private adoption? The fees involved are much less than with agency situations.

Our dd was born in March. Her bmom found us through our own networking efforts, and we did our adoption privately. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Good Luck!

[mlbsands]

Some thoughts..

have you considered fostercare or foster adopt? That can help with the expense, and get you started on your way fairly quickly.

Also.. you can do a private adoption (no agency/facilitator) and just pay legal fee's and someother minor fee's.. I know fo many people that have paid much less than $10,000. You will still need a homestudy though. Depending on your state you can work directly with an attorney, network on your own (websites, profiles, etc).

Good luck..

mandy