Your Employer Might Pay Some of Your Adoption Expenses

Did you know you could get adoption assistance from your employer? Nearly half of U.S. firms now offer adoption assistance, up from only twelve percent in 1990. You may wonder why an employer would offer to pay some of your adoption costs. Many employers say that it helps them be more competitive and they get a good return on their investment overall. Although I wonder if the more difficult economy we’ve experienced the last few months will lead firms to discontinue this benefit, I hope they will not. In any economic climate, a company is only as good as its … Continue reading →

You Can Afford to Adopt

Five years ago, my career was going well. I was flying to Europe in Business Class every other week and staying in the finest hotels in the capitals of Europe. I was negotiating multi-million dollar sales of international businesses. I was six years away from a very comfortable retirement. But my heart was with the children in the ghettos of Houston. My company offered an early retirement package for anyone over fifty years old. There was no way that the offer made sense financially. I agreed to take the offer as soon as the sale that I was currently working … Continue reading →

Financial Assistance in Adoption

Many people do not consider adopting or fostering a child because they assume that it would be too expensive for them to take on the responsibility of having another child in their home. Most states provide subsidies to assist with the expenses of taking care of a child. These subsidies are generally not considered as taxable income. In my state, the payments are made one month in arrears. For our family, there was an added frustration in that the money was paid through an adoption agency and they sometimes held the money for an extra month. An additional problem in … Continue reading →

Adoption Fundraising – Part 2

Here are a few more ideas for how to fundraise for your adoption: Garage Sale With this fundraiser, contact everyone you know and ask them if they have stuff to donate to your garage sale. Often people will have items sitting in their garage or in their attic and they will be thrilled to have you come haul it away. Another idea that I have heard of is that you can advertise in the paper that you will pick up the “leftovers” from other people’s garage sales. After a long day of selling, many people are thrilled to have you … Continue reading →

Adoption Fundraising, Part 1

You’ve looked at your resources, you’ve cut back your budget, and you’ve applied for a bunch of loans and grants. You look at your adoption budget . . . and there’s still a deficit. Welcome to the world of adoption. If you did get this far and you’ve paid for your adoption, then congratulations! However, most of us just aren’t in this category. Now that you’ve pursued these first avenues to fund your adoption, you need to get creative. Now is the time for fundraising! Here are some great ways to fundraise for your adoption: Letters to Family and Friends … Continue reading →

Funding Your Adoption – Grants and Loans

In the last article on adoption funding, we talked about how you can take advantage of your resources to fund your adoption, as well as finding ways to cut back. This is where you should start, but for many families it won’t be enough. Another resource for adoptive families are adoption grants and loans. Grants Adoption grants are a wonderful resource for families. Non profit organizations, many of them run by religious organizations, try to help defray the huge cost of adoption for families. Some grants, like those offered by the National Adoption Foundation, do not have specific requirements. Others, … Continue reading →

Funding Your Adoption – Getting Started

When starting to think about international adoption, the first thing most people ask is, “What does it cost?” The answer is staggering – costs range from $20,000 – $40,000 depending on the country and the situation. Many people hear this and then they decide that they can’t adopt. You have read this far, though, and maybe you have this glimmer of hope that perhaps you really can adopt, even if you aren’t due to inherit the Gates fortune. The truth is that families adopt every day. Normal families with moderate incomes have adopted and many plan to do it again. … Continue reading →