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My husband and I went through a year of infertility treatments when we received the news that we’d have to spend at least another $6000, I’d have to undergo surgery, we’d have to continue the injections and every other day trips to the doctor and there would be no guarantees. That was all we needed to hear to decide we were done. Adoption was our family building option. We were not opposed to adoption to begin with, but like most families we wanted to try for a biological child.
We evaluated all methods of adoption and we chose foster care adoption. Here were some of our reasons why.
Shorter waiting periods – Because there are so many children waiting for homes, the waiting period is nowhere near as long as international adoption or domestic infant adoption. We had not even formally completed our home study yet when Sammy was presented to us, but our case was somewhat unusual. Unlike the other forms of adoption, most parents don’t have to wait several years for a placement.
Children available – With foster care adoption you can find a child of any age, race or either gender. As with all types of adoption, the younger or “healthier” the child you are searching for, the longer your wait is going to be. In foster care adoption there are children from newborn up through age 18 that are waiting for families. Caucasian and African American children make up the majority of children in foster care, but children of other races and nationalities are waiting as well.
Cost – The cost for foster care adoption is so much lower than other types of adoption. In most cases, you will have little or no financial outlay. Some expenses are even reimbursable. Non-recurring expenses such as the cost of a new birth certificate, phone calls to social services, mileage for visits with birth family and many other things are considered non-recurring and can be submitted after the adoption is finalized for reimbursement. In addition, when adopting a special needs child, you will likely be eligible for an adoption tax credit. You can find more information about the special needs adoption tax credit here or here.
No parental rights worries – I have talked to several people who have not adopted because of the fear of the birth parents, especially the mother, changing their minds once the child is born. This is a legitimate concern. Birth parents have rights and can choose to not place their child for adoption. There is a waiting period to allow them time to be confident in their decision. When you adopt from foster care, as long as your child is not a legal risk child you do not have to worry about this. Parental rights are terminated and your child is free for adoption. There is still the required waiting period before you can finalize your adoption, to allow you to be comfortable with your decision, just as with the birth parents.
There are many advantages to foster care adoption. The greatest advantage is bringing a child into your home.
What a great idea. There’s so many kids out there in foster care that need the help. I didn’t know that adoption costs were lower through foster care.
My friends are going through myadoptionforms.com because of the low cost and information that they give. But, maybe I’ll pass along this information too.
You forgot to mention that in other adoptions there is no possibility for a stipend, but with foster/adopt there is a continued stipend to help offset costs of the needs of the child. Some people are uncomfortable getting one (they feel like the child isn’t really theirs) but you can always put it into a savings account or long-term CD and invest in the child’s college savings and/or life skill training. If the child doesn’t go to college, it can be used to help transition them into independent living. And sadly, it may have to be used to help offset the costs of a residential treatment home.
My husband and I are adopting through foster care and our story is exactly like yours, Kelly. Thanks for sharing–I don’t feel so lonely.
Probably others have mentioned this, but while this type of adoption has all the benefits Kelly wrote of, it also has a couple of downsides. Most children in foster care are legal risk, and most children in foster care come with special needs. One of my friends adopted a two year old whose teeth were rotten–every single one. She also had a severe night terrors and required a lot of extra attention. She’s seven now and doing beautifully, but I just thought it might be helpful to mention that these babies are not “perfect”. These are hurt kids who need lots of love.