Tomorrow is a big day!
First, I will write out a check for $1600 which will allow me to pick up our homestudy. I'm pretty sure this homestudy was complete in record time. It had to be. There is a deadline.
Second, I'll write out a check for $750 to USCIS which will be overnighted to our USCIS officer who is waiting anxiously so she can complete the rest of our application process. It will be a very fast approval because everything is up to date.
Next, I will give Fedex approximately $100 to send our dossier (stack of adoption documents) to Serbia.
Last, I wire $450 dollars to the translator so she will translate our documents. (we usually pay for this once our adoption is complete but this part of the process is changing slightly due the time requirements.)
So are you with me?
That means tomorrow I will spend a total of $2900 on papers. Ouch.
The cost of adoption is high. I'm getting flack for fundraising. Nobody is twisting the arms of anyone who chooses to help us out. The longer it takes us to save up the money isn't really a big deal. It means J waits but she is in a good foster home and is safe. Except for one thing. On December 18th Serbia deposited their instruments to become part of the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention. It becomes effective on April 1st. We really need to have our adoption *completed* by that time, partly due to Hague, and partly due to our own schedules this spring, when the other kids have days off school, etc. The rest of the money (travel expenses, airfare and in-country adoption expenses) will come from our tax refund.
Once Serbia is part of Hague the cost of adoption will go up approximately $6000-$8000 on the US side! The costs in Serbia won't change, and really not much about their actual process in country will change, but adoption agencies in the US will be lining their pockets. I have had one agency tell me they could pull together a Serbian program for approximately $18,000, while Open Door adoption agency is already charging $27,000.
No, really.
This is why we're rushing. We cannot justify spending $20,000+ on an adoption that should only cost $13,000. But rushing is really hard when you're struggling to come up with the funds that will allow you to move quickly.
Which leads us to begging. Lets call it what it is and not sugar coat things. I think that when my time on earth ends, and I'm standing before God on judgement day, he will not say "You gave a home to four kids but you begged for money. No heaven or angels singing. No lovely eternity for you." Instead I think, I hope, he will say, "You did the best you could. You helped four kids have a life when the odds were against them. You allowed others to help if they wanted." and leave it at that! But that is what I hope.
$2800 is all we have left. $2800.
Thank you.
First, I will write out a check for $1600 which will allow me to pick up our homestudy. I'm pretty sure this homestudy was complete in record time. It had to be. There is a deadline.
Second, I'll write out a check for $750 to USCIS which will be overnighted to our USCIS officer who is waiting anxiously so she can complete the rest of our application process. It will be a very fast approval because everything is up to date.
Next, I will give Fedex approximately $100 to send our dossier (stack of adoption documents) to Serbia.
Last, I wire $450 dollars to the translator so she will translate our documents. (we usually pay for this once our adoption is complete but this part of the process is changing slightly due the time requirements.)
So are you with me?
That means tomorrow I will spend a total of $2900 on papers. Ouch.
The cost of adoption is high. I'm getting flack for fundraising. Nobody is twisting the arms of anyone who chooses to help us out. The longer it takes us to save up the money isn't really a big deal. It means J waits but she is in a good foster home and is safe. Except for one thing. On December 18th Serbia deposited their instruments to become part of the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention. It becomes effective on April 1st. We really need to have our adoption *completed* by that time, partly due to Hague, and partly due to our own schedules this spring, when the other kids have days off school, etc. The rest of the money (travel expenses, airfare and in-country adoption expenses) will come from our tax refund.
Once Serbia is part of Hague the cost of adoption will go up approximately $6000-$8000 on the US side! The costs in Serbia won't change, and really not much about their actual process in country will change, but adoption agencies in the US will be lining their pockets. I have had one agency tell me they could pull together a Serbian program for approximately $18,000, while Open Door adoption agency is already charging $27,000.
No, really.
This is why we're rushing. We cannot justify spending $20,000+ on an adoption that should only cost $13,000. But rushing is really hard when you're struggling to come up with the funds that will allow you to move quickly.
Which leads us to begging. Lets call it what it is and not sugar coat things. I think that when my time on earth ends, and I'm standing before God on judgement day, he will not say "You gave a home to four kids but you begged for money. No heaven or angels singing. No lovely eternity for you." Instead I think, I hope, he will say, "You did the best you could. You helped four kids have a life when the odds were against them. You allowed others to help if they wanted." and leave it at that! But that is what I hope.
$2800 is all we have left. $2800.
Thank you.
I don't understand how agencies can justify charging that much when the paperwork for a Serbian adoption is so easy and straightforward. Now we're wishing we would have adopted from there before the change.
ReplyDeleteWe should start our own (not-for-profit) adoption agency.
ReplyDeleteIf only the money they charge translated into actual benefits, such as real post-adoption support to help struggling families and reduce the incidence of disruption.
ReplyDelete