[Hopeadopt]

Okay, I have a bit of a strange question. But lately I have become obsessed with blogs, websites etc about adoption and have come across a few where the families are on their 3rd, 4th or even 5th adoption within a short time. These don't seem like really wealthy families, i.e. they are not in mansions etc, but I just don't get how people can afford multiple adoptions in a few short years!!!

What am I missing? Is there a good tip/financial advise anyone could give?

I am trying to pull together enough money for one adoption and am hoping and praying I can adopt again in 4 or 5 years (honestly that's how long I think it will take me!). How do these families do it??

[KKR213]

If you learn the secret, please let me know too!!

Edited to add: It isn't just the cost of the adoption but the cost of raising a child as well. I keep hoping to hit the lottery but I guess I would need to play for that to happen, huh??

[Hopeadopt]

Kathy, glad I am not the only one I feel too nosey and rude to ask people individually, so wondered if the forum could help me figure this out?!

[Mindybeth6]

I, too, have seen this and stand amazed. We scraped and scrimped and are STILL scraping and scrimping. We really didn't have the money to adopt but did it anyway and it's a real struggle. THere is no possible way we could afford it again. I just thank God that he provided the resources for as to adopt once and I am happy with that. There are so many people that dream of adopting but can't because of finances. It's a shame that the costs are SOOOO high. For us, we took out a 2nd mortgage on the house and that covered MOST of the adoption. We had no family or anyone give us anything at all. I know a lot of people that have families and/or churches that help help with the cost.
Hugs

[sfalone]

Our first adoption we used our savings, did a bit of fund raising and scrimped and saved. This adotpion we took out a home equity line of credit.

How we will raise two kids and pay off the adoption is still a mystery to me but like everyone else we'll do what we have to.

Stacy

[annaguat]

I think most people save money over a long period of time, take out a second on their home or rent versus buy a home, buy used cars, make do with one car, eat at home, cook from scratch, drink water versus soda, make their own coffee and take if from home, pack your own lunch, buy used, get a second job etc. Also the cost of adoption has really gone up since the tax deduction started. We have adopted 6 chidlren and the cost over the last 13 or so yrs has tripled. I think we will see a lot less people able to adopt multiple times because of cost. Also some people have a significantly higher income and use it to adopt. Anna

[jaenelle]

Well, we scrimped and saved up what we could and just put the rest on a home equity loan and credit cards. We've since had to move to a smaller, cheaper house in order to pay off the debt we incurred from the first adoption. We will spend what we need to fixing up this house to make it nice enough to live in long-term, and then hopefully kick into major savings mode. We are figuring on 2-3 years before we can afford to begin the process again. We will probably be able to adopt only twice because of the cost, unless we want to be in debt for the rest of our lives. Between the costs of adopting two children and raising them, we will be doing good to get that done, without even thinking about another adoption. My heart says I am meant to be the mother to several kids but my brain says two is all we can handle. So I will be happy with two -- I just hope we really are able to afford two!

[KJones5]

We're using the adoption tax credit from our first adoption to help fund the 2nd!

[Vogi2002]

Originally Posted by KJones5

We're using the adoption tax credit from our first adoption to help fund the 2nd!

Ditto here...and will do that for the third also if we decide on 3 (which we will hehe). We saved and saved and saved...beyond the normal scrimping...like cutting out coupons to help with grocery bill savings. Or not EVER. Ever. ever. eating out and me cooking every single day. OR us raising our thermostat to nearly 80 or 82...stuff like that. Heck we kicked around the idea of shutting off our cable and going to slow internet also....

We used savings for our first which cost nearly 20,000...with the help of 1,000 from his grandparents...luckily we were able to save it all so we don't have any debt to pay off and we can continue to put money into savings....


Besides that I don't think it's a matter of how much someone makes....but the number of bills compared to how much they make. We don't make that very much but we have a very low amount of bills so are able to save more.

Good luck!!

[mcnay1]

My husband is a captain in the North Carolina National Guard. He was activated and deployed to Iraq in 2003-2004. While he was gone, I was able to live off of my salary which allowed us to "save" most of his salary from the Army while he was gone. We had planned to complete one adoption and possibly a second down the road, but got the call from our agency 4 months after we brought JD home about a biological cousin of his who was being put up for adoption.

I fear that my husband will never be able to quick the Guard as we now pay for daycare from his NG salary. And with 2 in daycare, we'll need it!

[gibbs7263]

Well I think it may be affordable if you really think about it. At least half of our adoption will be paid for by using the government tax credit and my work reimbursent. Then after a few years of tax refunds, our adoption will be paid for. Of course we have to get a loan to front the money. I don't even have my first one complete and I am thinking of looking into a second one

[tybeemuffin]

I know there are some companies that give money to their employees to help pay for adoption expenses.

I have also read about fundraisers that some families do as well. One for example is to have a garage sale and have your friends and faily donate stuff to sell that they no longer want or need. Another family had a very sucessful beer and burger party (at least I think that was what it was called). I think they raise several thousand dollars.

Bottom line is, that I guess if there is a will there is a way.

[Mindybeth6]

I just have to chime in with the tax credit thing. That really bothered me to see that the adoptions have tripled in cost since they enacted the credit because WE do not benefit from the adoption tax credit at all and will likely never see any of that money. So saying that it helps defray the costs isn't always an option for every family...sadly. DH works is a police officer so there was no adoption benefits there either. We did have a garage sale that gave us enough money to pay for a third of the visit trip. Even if we wanted with our entire hearts to adopt again, we could not. There is no way possible we could afford it. Thank GOD we are content and feel 100% complete with Alec and Mikayla. I commend all of you that are able to go for it multiple times....That is AWESOME...TRULY!

[angel_bayou]

Please keep the ideas coming because I am trying to figure out the finances to pursue #2 because it's a child related to my daughter!!! i appreciate any thoughts and ideas!!!

Vanessa

[tybeemuffin]

Originally Posted by angel_bayou

Please keep the ideas coming because I am trying to figure out the finances to pursue #2 because it's a child related to my daughter!!! i appreciate any thoughts and ideas!!!

Vanessa

I think there are some grants (not sure if this is the right term) that you can apply for. I think you apply and then they choose some families to receive the money. I am not sure how it works, who sponors it, or how to apply. (OK, I am basically no help at all other than I know they exist). Maybe someone else who knows more could elaborate.