The Financial Objection to Adoption

A quick reminder!  Our picnic at Deerwood Country Club is this Sunday…Click Here for more info.

While all of the objections to adoption that I mentioned in the previous blog are hard, the financial hurdle is the hardest.  Adoption is expensive no matter if you choose domestic or international.  The cost, at first glance, is mind boggling.  In fact, I can understand why some people might see the number and change their mind immediately.  Please do not.  

I am not a financial advisor, and the things that I am about to say will probably be counterintuitive, but GOD provides.  I will very briefly tell you some of the financial hurdles we faced, and I am still not really sure how we ended up with 3 beautiful and awesome kids…But we did.  

You may know that we adopted Sophie 4 years ago, but do you know the circumstances surrounding our situation at the time?

• It was 4 months after learning that our attempted international adoption in Ethiopia would not work.  We had already paid about half of the cost of the adoption and we were not reimbursed any of those funds.
• We started Sophie’s adoption process 5 months after Jessica quit teaching and 1 month into working for ATN full time (this cut our monthly salary in half).
• We found out about Sophie less than one month after we moved our kids from Audancin’s to Hope Rising. (this is not a financial hurdle but an emotional one that is worth noting) 

If we had had enough money to hire a financial advisor, they would have told us we were crazy.  Something crazier…Elijah came 15 months and 1 day after Sophie.  Crazier still…Ezekyal came 15 months and 5 days after Elijah.  

Are we still currently paying for the loans we took out for Sophie’s adoption while we are working on Ezekyal’s…Yes!  Is it 100% worth it…Yes!  There is something amazing about stepping out in faith and seeing GOD work out financial things that should not otherwise happen.  

In fact, since we had recently started All Things New, we did not feel like we could really, forcefully ask people to give to both our adoption and our orphanage at the same time so our fundraising for each adoption has been very insignificant. 

If I can be completely honest, I have no idea how we managed to pay for 2 completed adoptions and the things that we have had to pay for so far for Ezekyal’s.  I know we saved every penny we could, we took out a lot of loans, surprisingly did not qualify for many grants, got our non-refundable tax credit every year, and scrambled on numerous occasions to try to come up with the money necessary to keep the adoption moving.

I say all of this to say…DO NOT LET MONEY BE THE REASON THAT YOU DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ADOPT!  

It is really stressful, it can make you question your sanity, and it certainly may include you putting some things on the back burner, but what is more important…

• Your comfort or a child being loved and cared for by their very own family?
• Your retirement or a child having a place to live?
• “Living your best life now” or really living your best life now because your child is home with you?
• Living the American Dream of 1 pet, 2.5 kids, a big 401k, and a beautiful home or fulfilling a child’s dream of having the comfort and protection that only comes from having a Dad to tuck them in or a Mom to take care of them when they are sick?

The money is hard.  It is one of the hardest things we have ever done. But this National Adoption month I want to challenge you to take the plunge.  That plunge might include loans and headaches, but it also includes your son or daughter coming home, and I can promise you it is worth it!