My husband and I want to adopt but don't have much money.What is the best way to go about adopting?

Question

What is the best way to go about adopting if you have little money to adopt?

Answer 1

http://www.adoptionservices.org/adoption/adoption_financial_help.htm gives you some information on things that can save you money. Keep in mind the 10k tax credit is for united states citizens so if you adopt from out of country, you have to complete citizenship of the child prior to filing your taxes for that year.
You also have the option of going through the state foster care system. Many children are eligible for adoption through the state.
Good luck!

Answer 2

First of all-never give money upfront! I just watched a show on this today. Find an adoption agency. Check the Better Business Bureau to see if they are members. If they are not, move to a different agency that is in the system. Make sure they have contracts to sign. If you get lucky, you'll find a place that doesn't charge much for processing fees...that's all you should be paying for! They may even have payment plans-most adoptions take 9 months-2 years to go through, that's enough time to make enough payments. Good luck.

Answer 3

The truth is adopting through foster care is cheaper from a financial stand point. It is costlier in other regards though (time and emotions). I was a foster parent and had two children placed with me whom I would have adopted. They were bio siblings boy and girl and were 6 and 7 years old when they were placed with me. Unfortunately, my job relocated me one state over and the state would not allow me to bring the children with me because their parental rights had not been terminated despite being in foster care for a year and a half and the father being unable to stay out of jail and the mother leaving the state. I was in the middle of adopting from China as well. I was put in a position of having to decide between the two children from foster care whom I loved dearly but might never be free for adoption and the child I had invested so much time, money and energy in from China. One was a sure thing and at risk if I lost my job. The other two had intact parental rights and so often a family member comes forth in the 11th hour to adopt the children right before parental rights are terminated. I don't understand why child protective services would allow that when the child has been in foster care for several years. I always want to know where those "loving family members" were when the child was taken into protective services, but that is for another post.

Bottom line adoption through foster care will eventually happen however, often times it is a very long drawn out (emotionally frustrating and draining) process. Fellow foster parents who were adopting children they had fostered had been waiting more than two years for the parents to straighten their act up. Then they waited a year for the judge to finally sign the termination papers and even then they could not persue adoption for an additional three months.

I have another foster parent friend who was able to adopt a little boy they had placed with them since he was 3 days old. In GA all birth mothers are drug tested when they give birth. If they test positive the child is immediately placed in foster care until the birth mother tests clean. In this particular case, the birth mother had 6 other children who had parental rights terminated and she didn't have a choice with this child.

Children of all ages are available and often older sibling groups (older being over 6 for caucasian children and over 4 for AA children) come with financial support even after adoption. Child protective services departments know that most of the older and special needs kids require additional financial support. If they are to place these children they need to help the adoptive families financially. In some cases, they continue to stay on Medicaid and often get a per dium.

Check with your local system. I found also that within each state, the different counties have different processes and proceedures.

Good luck, as frustrating as it was, foster parenting was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done and I do not regret it. If I were to adopt again, it would most likely be through foster care. However, I do not want to adopt a child older than my daughter and she is four now. I also don't want to adopt a child under age two. I could be waiting a long while before getting placed with a child at this point.

Kim T.

Answer 4

Call your state's or county's department of human/family services and see if they have a foster-to-adopt or straight adoption program. There are currently more adoptions from foster care than private adoptions in the US and it is usually free...some counties/states even pay an adoption subsidy until the child is 18. You would be giving a child in need a home, which is a wonderful thing.

Also, it is a myth that there are no infants or newborns available through foster care, because there are sometimes. I know of a couple who adopted three healthy newborns within two years through their county.

Best of luck

Answer 5

You can go through the state to adopt and it does not cost a penny. Contact children and family (health dept)in your state. I did this. To quiltify you have to take a 30 hr course in parenting. The classes last 10 weeks and you go for 1 day a week 3 hour that day. Thats it, then your ready to adopt.

Answer 6

If you try to go through the state, you'll be required to go through their indoctrination/training. This means that if you believe that something is wrong or immoral and they provide you a child to adopt that has that issue, you cannot say anything about it.

If a parent chooses you, you can avoid that hassle and go through a private agency. However, by doing that, you will pay an average of 15 thousand per child. I've adopted 3 (so far).

Answer 7

Become a foster parent.

Children adopted out by the state are free to adopt as long as they are available.

The bad part is many of these kids come with lots of baggage. But if you are looking to adopt a young child you should have very little problems.

Answer 8

I recently met a woman who adopted a boy at birth about 5 years ago. It was somewhat of a right place/right time sort of thing, but they heard through the grapevine of a 16 year old girl who was pregnant and considering adoption. They got to be in the delivery room and everything. Total cost was about $5000 (which is only $1000 more than our out of pocket expenses with insurance for my last pregnancy).

Answer 9

Adopting an older child from the state that is already cleared for adoption is usually free. Good luck!

Answer 10

I believe that if you adopt a child that is a bit older it is cheaper. Unfortunately older children are in less demand than newborns and they need (and want) love and stability too.