How Expensive is An Adoption?

Some of you know that I am an "over analytical" by nature, and that our first adoption almost didn't happen because I was too concerned about how "I" was going to provide for our expanding family in light of college trending costs, one income and the cost of raising children.

While Holly continued to pray about her desire to adopt, God used my son Conor to change my heart. One Christmas we had just received the Samaritan's Purse catalog that allows you to purchase chickens for a village, a wheelchair for a young child in need or other items in place of or in addition to Christmas presents for others. We told our children that if they would like to use any of their own money to make an SP purchase, that we would match each of their dollars by two. So a $1.00 donation became a $3.00 donation with the help of mom and dad.

After hearing of this, Conor (age 5 at the time) quickly disappeared and came back about 10 minutes later to announce that he had $57.00 saved and wanted to know what he could do to make a difference. God used Conor to teach me about trusting Him to meet all of our family's needs. I realized in a moment that it wasn't me but God who is the great provider.

So how much does an adoption cost? It depends. In general a domestic adoption is less expensive than an international adoption because there are limited travel costs and there is no associated country fee. With an international adoption, each country has their own country fee, which helps them to offset adminstrative costs on their end, and to provide some fee income recovery for the care that has been provided to your child until adoption.

The total costs of our first adoption (China)were approximately $25,000 for our one child. The projected costs of our second adoption (Ethiopia) will be between $32,000 and $37,000 for our two children.

Wow, you might say! That's alot of money. I don't think we could ever afford to adopt with those kinds of expenses. We had the same reaction and the same doubts as you have learned.

But God is faithful, and there are so many great organizations who provide adoption grants, interest free loans and much more in support of your journey. Many corporations provide adoption benefits today (my former company provided $5,000 tax free). The US Government provides a $10,000 tax credit per child. Some churches have even created adoption funds in support of their families.

In addition although many of your friends and family may not feel called to the mission field, or to adopt, some may want to be a part of your adoption. One practical way is through helping with your expenses. In fact, some non-profit adoption agencies will allow others to donate to your family's adoption and receive a tax deduction for their donation.

Bottomline, God is the great provider. He has commanded us to care for orphans, and He will take care of your every need.