by Unwirklich VinZant

Created on: November 22, 2010   Last Updated: November 23, 2010

In a perfect world love and affection would be enough to raise a child, however in today’s society money matters. It’s important to consider the financial aspects of adoption before you get too emotionally invested in the idea simply for the sake of being realistic about your own goals.

Adoption requirements:

The first financial consideration in an adoption is outside of the actual costs of adopting do you have the financial means to care for a child? It’s pointless to worry whether you can afford to adopt, if you can’t afford to raise a child. Consider the cost of food, clothing, education, hygiene and health care and the addition of needed space if your current home is not large enough for a child. Be sure that your current budget can support this easily. Also consider how reliable you feel this income is, try to predict what will happen in time. You will actually have to prove that you can afford a child to adopt anyway, so this initial budgeting step saves heartache and disappointment later.

Legal costs:

In the majority of cases some legal finalization is required. Without representation you can expect this to cost anywhere from $500-$2,000 USD. With representation, which if this is your first adoption may be recommended, expect another $2,500-$12,000 depending on your chosen professionals’ rate.

After this costs become more adoption type specific.

Domestic adoptions can range anywhere from $5,000-$40,000. This may include adoption agency fees, legal fees, medical bills, and/or parental training.

Inter-country adoptions can range from around $7,000-$30,000. This may include travel fees, legal fees, and a fee from the agency handling the adoption on both sides, immunizations and/or translation fees.

Foster adoptions are the least expensive type of adoptions which can cost nothing at all or closer to $2,500. Foster care adoptions are generally temporary.

All of the above are rough estimates. Every adoption is different you may find your particular case costs more, or far less than the values suggested here. In many cases there may be assistance programs to help you cover the initial costs of adoption. If you can financially afford to care for a child on a lifetime basis and possess the desire, love and capability to raise a child you should discuss the adoption process costs with your local adoption agency. They will be able to provide more accurate cost expectancies and advice as to your options to meet this goal.

Citation:

Costs of adoption

http://costs.adoption.com/articles/the-costs-of-adop ting-a-factsheet-for-families.html

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