Adoption Update

[keweenawlove]

Wanted to give an update on our adoption progress since a few people said they were interested in the process. We decided over Christmas to go through with a 2nd adoption through Colombia and officially signed with an agency in early January. I thought things would go faster things round but they are taking about the same amount of time as last time. The big thing was that we had to completely redo our home study because our agency had merged with another. But we did finally get all the paperwork required by Wisconsin,  the US government, and Colombia and it's in the process of being translated and transferred to Colombia. From here we just wait:
1) for Colombia to approve us (could take anywhere from 2 to 9+ months)
2) our official match (anywhere from a couple weeks to 2+ years)

Our major events were
1/7/21: Sign agency contract
1/29/21: Start home study
5/9/21: home study complete
6/5/21: apply for visa with DHS (part 1/2 that gives us approval to bring a child into the country, we apply for part 2 when we have the child's name)
7/14/21: visa approval
8/4/21: all completed and authenticated documents received by agency and ready to go

Total cost so far is right around $20,000 which is a combination of agency fees (both WI home study and Colombia), Visa application, training, and notary/authentication fees. We'll likely have about $10,000 more in fees plus the travel costs. 

The whole process is a lot of hurry up and wait so now we wait.....

[shauni27]

EXCITING! I am not sure if you are open to questions, but I am always so curious how families can honestly afford adoption. While those costs are similar to what we spent for IVF, we were able to take out a loan to do it; is that an option for adopting?

[scm1011]

Thanks for the update! I hope Colombia is quick to approve and you're matched soon after. I can somewhat understand the "hurry up and wait" aspect - it's similar to how I felt undergoing fertility treatments and its not a fun limbo.

[keweenawlove]

shauni27, happy to answer any questions. There are loan options. Some people also do fundraising and there's grants available. We looked into grants a little but most are need based or "faith based" that required signing statements we did not agree with.

We've been trying to account for it like a "daycare" monthly cost while we're waiting which so far has come out relatively equivalent. We put our stimulus payments toward it this round which has helped. We do get a federal tax credit (~$13,000) plus assistance from H's company ($5000) but those don't kick in until we've completed the process. I've been okay dipping a bit into e-fund savings when we do the referral expenses knowing we have that money coming.

[keweenawlove]

scm1011, the limbo isn't fun and I've had the thought that it's similar to waiting TTC. We're so far just trying to live our lives but know at some point we'll get about 2 months notice and have another mad scramble. I'm starting to plan out some conference for next spring and summer but just know if I have to pull out, I'll be happy about it.

[MrsE]

Thanks for sharing! Hope the process moves smoothly and you are matched soon!

[woowoo]

Aug 5, 2021 7:46:38 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

EXCITING! I am not sure if you are open to questions, but I am always so curious how families can honestly afford adoption. While those costs are similar to what we spent for IVF, we were able to take out a loan to do it; is that an option for adopting?

My company also provides a $15K adoption credit per child.  Not sure how common this is, but my husband works for the same company so we could get $30K per child once adoption is finalized. 

[woowoo]

keweenawlove, good luck to you! Would you mind PMing me the agency you are using?

[ssmjlm]

Good Luck! I hope the process goes smoothly as it continues for you all.

[keweenawlove]

woowoo, that's an amazing credit! You'd be able to cover the whole thing between that and the federal credit. Will PM you the agency.

[cricketwife]

Thanks for posting the update! I’m glad that things are moving along for you, even if there’s no exact timeline. I also admire your attitude/approach — equating the cost to daycare payments and the waiting/unknown to TTC. Please keep us posted.

Question- do you make requests in the process ? For example- gender, age, medical conditions?

[keweenawlove]

Aug 5, 2021 14:39:09 GMT -5 cricketwife said:

Thanks for posting the update! I’m glad that things are moving along for you, even if there’s no exact timeline. I also admire your attitude/approach — equating the cost to daycare payments and the waiting/unknown to TTC. Please keep us posted.

Question- do you make requests in the process ? For example- gender, age, medical conditions?

You can. The US visa will approve you for a set number of kids in a given age range. Our agency has the additional criteria they won't disrupt birth order so we'll only be matched with a kid 10 at least 10 months younger than DD. We were told Colombia doesn't all you to specify gender but I've heard of some families being able to, mainly based on planned bedroom availability. The medical conditions was one of the hardest parts of the process. There's a 5 page list of special needs we had to say we would or wouldn't accept. 

[ellipses84]

Thank you for sharing! My brother was adopted out of foster care and I love hearing other people’s adoption stories! Wishing you all the best on your newest journey.

[luv2rn4fun]

So excited for you guys! Glad you are able to move forward in these crazy times! Major kudos to you and your DH…adoption is crazy expensive and such a journey but you have such a wonderful attitude about all of it! Your daughter and future son/daughter are so lucky to have you guys as their parents!

[shauni27]

woowoo, that is amazing!

[estrellita]

How exciting! Hope everything goes quickly and smoothly!