Beautiful Life





Hey child up and go; A big world is out there waiting for us to live in every day. Outside you will find, there is love all around you; Takes you, makes you wanna' say; That it's a beautiful life and it's a beautiful world and it's a beautiful time to be here, to be here, to be here. -Fisher

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Break Down Part 2

In which I explain to you that in adoption we do not buy our kids, but we do pay fees to get them home.  Please do not ask an adoptive family how much their child cost!  This is offensive.  And hurtful to the child.  Can you imagine being asked that in front of the child and knowing that your child is processing that information.  Thinking, what am I, a doll? a toy? a piece of meat?  You bought me?  Like you buy groceries? 

We pay adoption fees just like anyone that has a baby pays the doctor, the hospital, the nursery, the mid-wife, the doula.  Many of the fees are legal fees required by the US as well as China for an adoption.  Some of the fees are for services rendered......like the service of translating my English paperwork into Chinese....or the service of getting me to all my appointments in China on time and with someone to speak for me, in Chinese.  Some of the fees are for the actual travel.  None of the fees are to buy a child.  

When we adopted Claire, we spent a total of $26,526.00.  Yes, that is a lot of money.  But, one of my preemie twin biologically children cost me more in medical bills than that adoption.  And, the money was not all due at once.  We started our adoption in 2006 and completed it in 2008.  The bulk of the fees were due at the end, but over $7000.00 had been paid in the first year. 

With this adoption, it will be a little different.  First, because it is most definitely not going to take 2 years to complete this adoption!  We are on track to complete it well before the one year mark!  But, that means we have less time to come up with the money.

And this brings us to the reason our dossier has not left for China yet. 

We have completed our paperwork and it is on it's way to our agency.  But, they will be unable to send it to China until we have paid the fees necessary to do so. 

So, do you want to see what the fees look like for an international adoption?  Too bad.  You get to look at them anyway.

We have already paid a little over $6100.00.

  • $1300.00 in agency fees
  • $830.00 for immigration services fees (USCI$)
  • $3085 for our homestudy (this includes all our post-placement fees)
  • $85 for vital records
  • $130 to pay the courier in Washington
  • $429 for all our state and country certifications and authentications
  • $50 for required adoption education
  • $206 in shipping postage
  • a few miscellaneous fees
What do we have left?  To be honest, we have three categories here.  There is a total that we need for our dossier to go to China, a total that we need to secure our travel and a total that we will need to take with us to China. 

Our immediate need is to pay $5300 in agency and China program fees left and $630 in fees to China.  We have $1000 to put towards this and there is a possibility that there is a grant attached to Asher's file.  I was told this in an email today.  It is being checked on and someone will be getting to me soon!  We are also having a yard sale with donated items next week.  I know this will not bring in the thousands that we need, but I have to start somewhere, right?  I am toying with the idea of an online raffle too.  And, my mom found some art that I might be able to sell for a nice profit, providing I can find the right buyer. 


After that, we will need to pay for all our travel expenses in advance.  That includes our international flights, all our in-country travel, hotels and guides.  The estimation for it is $11,000, but it could be more or less and we won't know until then!   We will also need to pay our $600 post-placement bond at this time.  The bond will be reimbursed in increments every time we turn in one of three post-placement adoption reports that are required.

The final amount is money that we have to take with us to China for various expenses and includes document preparation, legal fees, a required orphanage donation fee, medical exam for Asher, vaccinations, visa fees, food and miscellaneous things needed in Chin@.  The total amount we will need to take with us to China is $10,000.00. 

That's a grand total of $33,704 for this adoption.  A little more than when we adopted Claire.  But, there are more regulations in place now and travel is more expensive. 

What are we going to do about it?  First of all, we pray.  We know that God's heart is for the orphan and we are following His will by taking this leap of faith in the first place.  It would have been nice if we could have started this adoption with $33,000 in the bank and then agreed to it.  I don't know about you, but that isn't the way God has worked in our lives.  He keeps requiring us to leap first.  To show we have faith that He will come through on behalf of the orphan.  So we did....leap that is.  And now we pray for peace and wisdom. 

Second, we are going to have several fund raisers.  Right now I am putting together two yard sales in two towns using items donated by family and friends.  Like I said before, I know this will not bring in thousands of dollars, but every little bit will help.  God can bless the yard sale, you know! 

Third, I am going to ask you to pray for us.  Will you?  If you feel led, please by all means, donate to help bring Asher home. I am so thankful for those that already have. You have no idea!  But, I know everyone that happens along here can't.  And that is okay! 

What can you do? The most important thing you can do, pray for us!  I know that our decision to adopt is the right one.  It will always be the right decision for us.  But, it does get a tad stressful.  Pray for our peace, pray for our wisdom and that we hear God's directions for us, whether He wants us to wait or do something.  And pray for our sweet Asher boy.  I feel that he is safe and generally healthy and loved where he is at.  But, I don't know these things for sure.  Pray that he is being cared for and that he is being prepared for this transition into a forever family.  And finally, pray that this mama doesn't go crazy waiting!  Seriously. 

2 comments:

Annie said...

Will certainly pray for you all and your journey to sweet Asher!!

Marti Pieper said...

It's good to see it broken down. My favorite comment after adopting Kristen (and she was stateside so our fees were nothing like yours) was always, "You did it the easy way" (adopting vs. pregnancy). I've done both. Adopting was not, definitely not, easy. But it was an opportunity for His power to be perfected in my weakness. That's how I'm praying for you today!