The economics of adoption

With all of the talk about national economics and the current state of affairs in our country, families who adopt have to consider what it will cost to adopt. In addition, birth parents tend to place (in most cases) because of family economics. With so many families losing their homes, jobs in jeopardy, and an uncertain future, how are families financing adoption? First of all, adoption doesn't have to break the bank. While there are agencies who charge the price of a new Mercedes, they aren't the only option. Adoption can be affordable. Adoption can generally be done (for most families) for just a few thousand dollars out of pocket.

In some states, there is a state adoption credit. Missouri is a good example, allowing up to 5K to be refunded to MO residents who have completed an adoption. The Federal tax credit for adoption is now at $11,700.00 and may go up to 15K. Many large companies and a few small ones are offering adoption benefits as well. A lot of the time, you may have adoption benefits, but don't know until you contact your company. They may not publicize it simply because there aren't that many people in one company interested and so they expect that you will check if you want to access them. So, be sure to talk to your human resources and benefits people to find out. Even with all of those incentives and benefits available, the money for adoption -- home study fees, advertising fees, legal fees, etc. -- has to be expended when you are actually in the adoption process and then you recover the money later on after you have finalized. So, if you have to rob the piggy bank, at least you can return most of that to your savings at a later time.

If you don't have savings and are just trying to pull together enough to adopt, some of my clients have used some ingenious ways to fund their adoptions. One family got their whole family together and asked them to donate whatever they didn't want (a garage sale of sorts) to be posted on e-bay and sold toward the cost of their adoption. Their family and extended family got very excited about being able to help and they raised $7,000.00 toward their adoption goal! In another family, the man who would be grandpa wanted to help not only his daughter and her husband to adopt, but wanted to help himself become a "papa". He was a talented candy maker, so he made batches of his wonderful candy to sell at various functions and at Christmas and helped them fund their adoption. Can you imagine that story being told to his little granddaughter year after year at Christmas? It's truly a Christmas story in itself -- about how grandpa wanted his little granddaughter so much that he made sweets so he could have a sweetie! Another family held garage sales, opened an "adoption account" and told family members..."For our birthdays and Christmas, all we really want is a child, so if you feel that you want to give us something, contribute to our adoption savings". It wasn't long before they had enough to complete their adoption.

Last year and before, with interest rates going down, many families re-financed their home and took equity out. I'm not sure that would be feasible at this point, since most of us have lost a great deal of the equity previously stored in our homes. That will all come back at some point, but for now, refinancing may not be an option, although it's worth looking into. If you want to adopt, get creative and you can find a way to generate the funds. When we want something badly, we generally find a way to get it, so get creative and use your talents. I remember another family who made their own Christmas ornaments and sold them on line. If you are crafty, that is something that can be turned into adoption funds. Church communities have pulled together as well to help their own parishoners to adopt. In talking to your church, remind them that "it takes a village" and that adopted child will have more Godparents than they can count!

Birth parents generally place a baby for adoption because of the lack of funds to raise a child. It's becoming harder and harder, in the current economy, for two-income families to earn enough to raise a child, so it's no wonder that single moms are having a tougher time and may have to make decisions based on economics. The worse the economy gets, it would seem the more placements may happen. At least that is a reasonable assumption. Only time will tell if that is true, but I believe the more our economy slumps, the more difficult it will be for those who are living paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet, forcing some who have experienced an unplanned pregnancy to consider adoption. At least I hope they consider adoption before abortion. Even in these hard economic times, the birth of any child is still a blessing.