Many families experience sticker shock after looking into adoption and stop right there. Yet many people make monthly payments for a car or even a home remodel. Your car may only last ten years, but your family is for a lifetime!
Your first step in affording adoption may be reprioritizing your current expenses.
You should ask your employer or human resources department about any adoption benefits that may be available. Many employers are now including this as part of their benefit packages. Similarly, consult your health insurance carrier. Some insurance allows a one-time infertility or adoption benefit that may be available for you.
Learn about the federal adoption tax credit and any state tax credit available for you. This may be the best way to reimburse some of your adoption expenses. Talk to your CPA or tax preparer if you have additional questions.
There may be adoption grants out there, but be aware there are many more applicants than there are grants. Time spent completing applications may be better used pursuing funds directly for your adoption, such as garage sales, online auctions, or a second job.
Consider also your financing options, including a home equity loan or financing via low- or no-interest credit cards. Borrowing against a 401k is also a feasible option. Financing options have helped thousands of families adopt successfully.
Talk to your family, as well. Often, friends and family members are willing to help when they know their funds are going directly to help a child in their own family.
This was excerpted from my most recent adoption book, Called to Adoption. Learn how you too can be blessed by adoption by calling Lifetime at 1-800-923-6784. Or, get started today by filling out Lifetime’s free online application to adopt!
Founder of Lifetime Adoption, adoptive mom, adoption expert, and Certified Open Adoption Practitioner (C.O.A.P).
Since 1986, adoption expert Mardie Caldwell has been dedicated to bringing couples and birth parents together in order to fulfill their dreams.
“Many years ago, I was also searching for a child to adopt. We didn’t know where or how to get started. Through research, determination, and a prayer, our dream of a family became reality. I started with a plan, a notebook, assistance from a caring adoption consultant and a lot of hard work; this was my family I was building. We had a few heartaches along the way, but the pain of not having children was worse!
Within weeks we had three different birth mothers choose us. We were overwhelmed and delighted. Many unsettling events would take place before our adoption would be finalized, many months later. Little did I know that God was training and aligning me for the adoption work I now do today. It is my goal to share with our families the methods and plans which succeed and do not succeed. I believe adoption should be affordable and can be a wonderful “pregnancy” for the adoptive couple.
I have also been on both sides of infertility with the loss of seven pregnancies and then conceiving by new technology, giving birth to a healthy daughter. I have experienced first-hand the emotional pain of infertility and believe my experience allows me to serve your needs better.
It is my hope that for you, the prospective parents, your desire for a child will be fulfilled soon.”
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