Considering international adoption

Maybe you have been moved to adopt and you are wondering where to start. I've been reflecting back on our journey so far and have a few suggestions I would make for anyone contemplating international adoption.

1. Sponsor a child.
This may seem like a strange place to start but I'm glad we did this. We didn't feel like we were ready financially to adopt but we wanted to do something.  Sponsoring a child through World Vision was a great way to talk to our kids about children in financial need around the world.  We started praying and caring for this little girl in Ethiopia and she became part of our family.  There are great organizations like Compassion, World Vision, and Show Hope and they all seem to do an amazing job to change the lives of children in some of the neediest places.

2. Get debt free and have a zero based budget.
There would be no way we could have gotten where we are financially in this adoption if we hadn't done this step.  We took Financial Peace University at our church from Dave Ramsey's organization.  In 18 months, we paid off $39,000 and now the only debt we have is our mortgage.  We have a zero based budget where we plan every dollar before the month begins.  We can be intentional about where our money is going and make a plan.

3. Pray pray pray
Pray for wisdom and direction and learn all you can about orphans.  This is probably the most important step.  Make sure you and your spouse are in the same place emotionally and spiritually.

4. Save at least $5000-$7000
That seems insignificant in a process that may end up costing nearly $40,000 but its a great place to start.  It is enough with our agency to pay for the 1st installment of the agency fees and a home study. Then make a plan.  Plan how much you are able to contribute each month (including how much you can cut from other places), how much you can find quickly (savings, bonuses, extra paychecks, tax returns), and how much you will need to raise in addition to what you can contribute.

5. Make a fundraising plan
Start buy setting up a fundraising website like we have at AdoptTogether.  You need to have a completed home study before it will become active. Then, you can decide what other fundraising options you want to consider. For us, that meant selling shirts, having a yard sale, a pancake breakfast and selling other crafts.  Set up a blog and make a plan for how you are going to share your story on social media.

6. Explore adoption grants
There are a lot of grants out there and they can go a long way in helping families adopt.  Many of them only apply to families under a certain income, faith or location.  We have currently applied for four that we qualified for.  Most of them require you to have a completed home study and many of them can be quite lengthy to complete, but even if just one comes through it would be worth all that effort.

7. Go to an informational seminar or do a webinar
Information is power and hearing other people's stories can really answer a lot of your questions.  We went to a seminar from our agency and it was so key in us feeling right about this and moving forward. It can also just give you an overall feel of an agency and know if it is the right one for your family. Talk to as many adoptive families as you can find and don't be afraid to ask questions.

The Potential of Social Media

buttons courtesy Craftiments

I wish we didn't have to fundraise.

Fundraising means asking people for money and I've worked all of my life to never have to do that.  I read a blog recently that said one of the "pros" to fundraising was that it humbles you and that is some serious truth.  My husband and I had $39K in student loan debt and car loan that we fought our way out of using the principles in Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey. It got us to the place where we could finally have true financial peace.  We were going to start saving for an adoption so that we didn't have to ask for a penny.  

Well, you know what God does with our perfect plans?  He makes your cousin ask you to go to China to visit orphans after you had decided to put your plans to adopt on hold. He leads you to fall in love with a little boy with a serious heart defect.  He makes you ask for help because you can't do this alone.

And I know that by asking for help, this first of all tells the world that we don't have $20k laying around.  We did have some savings and we are using that now. We are using my husband's 3rd paychecks since he gets paid bimonthly. We are using our photography business profits.  We are using the vacation funds we saved. 

I also have to constantly fear that the world is judging our every financial decision.  I'm afraid our friends are going to give us $25 and then see us at Chick-fil-A and judge us for eating out.  I'm afraid that I'm going to post that we went to the zoo and people are going to think that we should have used that money towards the adoption. This is probably crazy but welcome to my crazy brain. We are trying to cut back in any area to fund as much as we can ourselves.  We are also still trying to maintain a healthy level of normal for our 3 girls.

So here we are. We have written a lot of checks already but the biggest financial obstacles are yet to come. We have to pay for our travel, Liam's visas/passports, the fee to the orphanage and our final payment to our agency which is estimated at about $20,000.  Due to some amazing and generous donations already, we are down to about $18,860.  

That's only about $6.82/person if all the people that follow me on Twitter or are friends with my husband and I on Facebook donated.  I know that isn't going to happen but just imagine it.  For less than the cost of a coffee and snack at Starbucks, we would have every penny we needed to bring our son home, give him a family and the medical care he needs.  

I'm not trying to guilt anyone to giving to something they don't want to.  This is simply an invitation to be a part of something amazing. That's one thing that my husband loved about our first adoption meeting with America World (our agency).  It wasn't a guilt trip or a bunch of sad pictures of lonely kids.  It was an invitation to be a part of God's redemptive story and we heard the testimonies of those who have gone through it. 

We are so overwhelmed with gratitude at those who have already given.  People have donated money in absolutely stunning amounts.  Every time someone has handed us a check, I've come away grateful to be given the opportunity to see how generous people are.  

If you can give, we invite you to. It is secure, tax deductible and greatly appreciated.

You can give as little as $10 or as much as you want.

You can give monthly or weekly to break it down. If you wanted to give $100, you could give $20 for 5 months.

You can give here at AdoptTogether,

God bless you.