My youngest is almost 3, and I am unable to carry another child due to a hysterectomy for a perferated uterus after his birth. My husband and I are praying about adoption, and we will likely pursue it eventually. (and let me tell you, it is hard to fight that baby fever I naturally get every 3 years when I am helping women give birth for a living!)

right now our focus is debt reduction so we could actually pay for an adoption..but I hope to be able to adopt before Joshua stops nursing, so that I am lactating and can nurse our new family member. (obviously we are hoping to adopt an infant. I think that if adopting in a window that would allow me to nurse was not going to be an option, I would be happy to be blessed with an older child,, but I am quite emotionally attached to at least attempting to nurse)

This is all new to me, and I am not sure where to begin researching, inquiring, so on. The cost is most definately a factor right now. Any suggestions?

Thanks you guys!

I have just started researching this week for myself - here's some links that I have found:

http://benefits.adoption.com/

http://www.affordingadoption.com/

http://www.adoptionfinancing.org/



Also, I have just joined some yahoo groups related to this subject.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FrugalFundingForAdoption/?yguid=90137082


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fundraisingforadoption/?yguid=90137082



HTH -


Karen

Our first adoption was international and was over 10K. (that was with the agency waiving a lot of their fees and the Governor of Campeche, Mexico paying our attorneys fees....and my working in exchange for my four weeks lodging in Mexico etc....) So it would have been much higher than that. We went with Children's Home Society of Minnesota as our agency. Our son was 11 months when I brought him home.

Our second adoption was stateside. We went with another private agency....this time Boys and Girls Society of Oregon. It was a LOT less. Around 5k. I brought our daughter home from the hospital and spent two weeks in Oregon.

Both of our adoptions were of special needs children. The second (stateside) adoption was so low becuase of the nature of our daughters special needs. (the agnecy waived fees etc....)

Our first adoption was about 10-14k less than it normally would have been. Not because of the special needs factor as much as the Governors wife wanting our family specifically. (hence us using his attorney and some other stuff) Childrens Home Society of MN goes on a sliding fee scale.

Hope this made sense. (it probably didn't since I have a "gift" for being confusing online)

I did attempt to breastfeed both of our children. Our son was just too use to bottles (remember he was 11 months) and he refused to breastfeed.

Our daughter would latch on but due to a severe heart defect, did not have the strength needed to breastfeed.

It (breastfeeding) was also really important to me and even though it did not work, I'm glad we gave it all we could.

Hugs,
Michelle

Domestic adoption is usually $5000 or less, I believe. International adoption is $12-20,000.

Thanks for the feedback you guys! My DH and I just had a heart to heart and we really hope that his recent pay raise will help us wipe out our debts this year, so we are better set up to adopt next year. I guess it is time to start praying about what God wants this to look like for us. Because birth is such a part of my being, it is my profession and calling, I sort of dream that we would be able to be a part of that for our child..and of course nursing, as I mentioned before. But if God has something else is store for us, an older child or however it may look, then I want to be open to that.

Am I correct in assuming that it is more challenging to get a baby when adopting outside of the country? I want both worlds! A baby whose birth I can be a part of from another culture...:)

Well, with our international adoption it was the INS paperwork and all the extra "hoops" you have to jump through to adopt internationally that took time.

I mean, you could find a baby, but by the time you get all the paperwork done to travel internationally and bring this child home, it can take months.

Our son was "ours" when he was six months of age and it took another five months to get things ready for me to go to Mexico. (and we were told five months was really fast for international) Then I had to gain residency and this took another month, however I had our son living with me in Mexico for almost three weeks of that time.

How long did it take for you other mamas who have adopted internationally? (from being matched/choosing your child to being able to travel there?)

Things always do have a way of working out in a way tht the universe intends. I'm sure it will for your family too!

Hugs,
Michelle

Whoa, I must be looking in the wrong places. Figures I see are up to $27,000 for both domestic and international adoptions. But that is before the tax break. Our aoption is costing around $14,000.

You can get a baby from Samoa and the Marshall Islands.

Here is a link to the agency we used for our international adoption. They have a sliding fee scale (unless that has recently changed).

http://www.rainbowkids.com/Childrenshome.htm

HTH,
Michelle

It is also possible to adopt through your states foster-to-adopt program, and that is free! And you *can* get newborns, though, by the time the adoption is final they will be about 1year old, unless the parents voluntarily surrender their rights.

Not sure where you are, but here in AZ, they only place newborns in foster to adopt homes, not regular foster homes.

Good luck!

Kristi

Kristi,

Thanks for reminding everyone about adopting through the state we live in!! We did have our homestudy done through our state for free. :)

I love how your state only places newborns in the foster to adopt homes. That sounds like a really solid practice.

Anyway, been thinking about you lately!

Michelle

Hi Michelle :) I'm actually not sure if it's ALL of my state, but in our county this is the case (and it is supposed to be statewide, but the system is imperfect) with newborns placed in foster/adopt homes.

Michelle, did you adopt through the state you got the homestudy in? Here, we got our homestudy done for free, but if we end up adopting out of our state, we have to pay for it- $800! Part of waiving the fee was agreeing to adopt from our state. I do hope to adopt here, but who knows.............

Kristi