Costs

When we talk about adoption, the inevitable question in the conversation is about is the cost involved. Most inquiries are innocent but my response has always been guarded. To be honest I don't think anyone other than my sister knows the final cost of Tessa's adoption. I guess to me it seems like such an odd thing to talk about. Not once in all the years of friends/family/coworkers having biological children did I once ask how much it costs. It never entered my mind. Expanding your family has a cost involved, bottom line - the amount is irrelevant in either case.

I think the biggest misconception about adoption is the you are writing this big ass check that one individual or government is profiting from - this is far from truth.  Adoption has so many levels of legal requirements between agencies and governments that of course fees are charged to ensure your paperwork is adequate to adopt and to ensure you are capable parents. I don't have an issue with where the money is going. I can argue that the paperwork is frustrating and the time you wait is emotionally taxing.

In all honesty the biggest single cost is in the travel. When we were looking towards our second adoption we purposely set aside Ethiopia as an option due to the flight cost because they require two trips. Misguided perhaps but little did we know our path to Ethiopia was already planned.

I could certainly use this forum to give you all a final cost, but you are quite capable of researching  the average cost on your own. I would prefer to use this to remind that adoption can be expensive, but not impossible. Much like health insurance covers natural births there are federal programs that assist to relieve some of the cost of adoption expenses. Agree or disagree, it is there. Is it 100% coverage...um, no.

Cost is a consideration, but the tipping point is how badly the desire is to provide a loving stable home to a child.

We have tipped, twice.