I can't think of any way we can really consider adoption at this time when it comes to the fees.

We could pay for our homestudy and that's about it.

I don't want other people to have to "pay" for our child, but we also don't want to wait forever.

We do have an appointment next week with the local foster care to start that and possibly do foster adoption.

Anyway, my question is this, I have no idea what it would even cost us, but I was thinking that if everyone I know would donate a dollar, then we could find 10,000 people we know, right?

Is that dumb? Is that rude to email or write family and friends, etc and ask them all to donate a dollar?

It doesn't sound like it'd be that much, but I also don't really want "fundraiser" for adoption or people will we think we can't afford to support the child, kwim?

Just tell me what you think.

How did you raise the money for your adoption, those that already have?

The more I think about this, the more lame and complicated it sounds.

I'm leaving it out there to get opinions, but I guess we'll just have to save like normal people do.

Ok so far I can only come up with a list of 98 people that we know.

I'm sure I can think of more but I guess reaching 10K was a joke and a stretch ;)

I think it really depends upon how you go about it. I don't think sending out a card explaining your plight and requesting $1 would work nearly as well as personally meeting with loved ones and sharing your situation. You may be surprised and find people who offer to help in ways worth much more that $1.

I hope you are able to find a way to reach your dream to have another child :hug:

Have you checked with your or DH's employer? My employer offers adoption assistance.

I think that being up front with your loved ones is a great idea, esp is they typically give money gifts for birthdays and holidays. I have seen several sites set up with suggestions of ways to save money for the adoption. One of the creative ones I saw was that the family lived as though the additional child had already joined them. If they went to the zoo or a theme park, they added the admission for the child to their adoption fund. When they went out for dinner, they chose what the child would have eaten, figured the cost and added that to the fund. Could you have a yard sale, possibly let family members know so they can bring stuff as well? This would be a great way to start your adoption fund.
Best wishes to you
Amanda

If you're going the fost/adopt route, you won't need to pay anything. Even if you just do adoption only, if you do it through the state there aren't fees......

If you don't go through the state, I know that some people get a loan or line of credit, and then use the adoption tax credit to help pay it off.

Kristi

My SIL is in the process of saving up for the adoption fees. They are saving $250 from each paycheck for the baby fund. They have been saving for about 4 months and now have almost $2500. When they have extra they put it in the baby fund. they need to have $5000 for their adoption, They are going through lds family services and the fees were based on their income. They also have a chart hanging on their wall so they can see how much they have saved and how much more they need. They will have the fees by christmas. good luck in your adoption!!

I am adopting for the second time. Both adoptions have been paid for via home equity lines of credit. If you own your own home this is a great option. My monthly payments are $85 (you can do interest only and pay more towards principal). I have also sold a number of things on ebay and had some garage sales. Getting people to give you a dollar sounds good but I don't know anyone who has pulled it off. There are lots of resources available. There are some agencies that have sliding scales and as someone else mentioned if you adopt through the state it is completely free. If you have other questions, feel free to email me or look at www.adopting.org.
treefroggy8 at yahoo.

Adopting through the state would be cheapest.

Adopting through the LDS agency would probably be the next cheapest.

We were fortunate enough to have my dad OFFER us a loan. :heart: If it were not for that, we would not have our baby girl right now. There is a $10,000 tax credit and we will be getting some of that starting in 2006 and will be able to pay off what we still owe him. I personally am not comfortable with fund-raising drives, but have friends that have done it. They've held garage sales (which other people donated their stuff to) and had jars there for people to donate cash. They also went around to local businesses to see if they would donate items or g.c. for a charity auction dinner of sorts. They got an unbeleiveable amount of stuff! There are yahoo groups designated for raising adoption money if you feel comfortable going that route.

Good luck! I understand a bit of what you are going through. I am wanting another already and still in debt from the first adoption! ;)

subscribing b/c we want to have one more and adopt our fourth...and we'll need to save up some money for that...love to hear the ideas!

I agree that adoopting through the foster care system seems like the way to go--it's free, you won't have to pay anything. That's our plan down the line, to add more kids to our family.

Thank you mamas for all the ideas.

DH and I decided that for us the fundraiser idea wasn't one we were all that comfortable with so we won't be going that route.

We're currently just going to be saving towards it. It may be a longer wait than I wanted it, but it will be worth it. And in the meantime we'll continue to TTC.

Good luck to all of us!!

Thank you mamas for all the ideas.

DH and I decided that for us the fundraiser idea wasn't one we were all that comfortable with so we won't be going that route.

We're currently just going to be saving towards it. It may be a longer wait than I wanted it, but it will be worth it. And in the meantime we'll continue to TTC.

Good luck to all of us!!

tara-are the fees that much through LDS social services?? I thought the rates were a lot less there??

tara-are the fees that much through LDS social services?? I thought the rates were a lot less there??

I believe it is on a sliding scale based on income. My friend that is LDS would have had a $5000 adoption there vs. a $30,000 adoption with a white newborn. Instead of either, she chose to adopt AA 16 month old twins through another state.

LDS Family Services in the US (I'm in Canada and it's even cheaper) charge a sliding fee based on income, ranging from a minimum of $4000 to a maximum of $10000. I believe it's 10% of your gross income that they base it on. I won't even brag about how cheap it is here! Let's just say that I'd move here if I was in the US and qualified to adopt through LDSFS. The applicant pool is much smaller here so waits are usually a lot shorter too.

Kerri

Yes it's on a sliding scale, minimum is $4K (which is where we'd be at ;)) and then 10% of your income determines the total.

However, even to submit your application is $1K upfront, which goes towards your total. Hopefully it won't take us too long to save that up, but it means we can't get started until we do have the full $1K.

I'm hoping just a month or so but stupid things like car repairs keep popping up and taking any money I've managed to save.

We'll work it out :)