How to Fund Your Adoption

Adopting a child can be expensive – home studies, advertising, profiles, record checks, legal fees, travel expense, birth mother living expenses, court fees, home visits and reports to the court.
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Multiple Sources

Funding an adoption takes planning. Most families cannot pay their adoption expenses from their income alone. Don’t expect to rely on a single funding source. Think in terms of a shotgun approach – funding from multiple sources.

  • Your network
  • Family
  • Friends
  • Grants
  • Loans
  • Fund Raisers
  • Employee Benefits Programs
  • Gifts
  • Adoption Tax Credits
  • Donations
  • Crowd Funding
  • Equity Loans

Friends & Family

We all need a little help from friends and family. Tell everyone. Don’t be bashful. Utilize your own personal network and search for resources. Adoptive Families Magazine is a great resource. Do remember that your child’s story is not yours, or public information. Try Julie Gumm’s Adopt Without Debt for more ideas.

Community Resources

It may take the whole village. Tap into community resources.

  • Garage & bake sales
  • Car washes, spaghetti dinner
  • Sell things on Craig’s list
  • Karaoke night
  • Tell everyone

Grants

Grants, large and small, are available from a wide range of sources. Remember pennies make dollars.

FAITH BASED

  1. www.showhope.org
  2. www.riverdaley.org
  3. www.goldendawnaa.org
  4. www.katelynsfund.org
  5. www.ggam.org
  6. www.lifesongfororphans.org

NONSECTARIAN

  1. www.giftofadoption.org
  2. www.achildwaits.org
  3. https://www.adoptionattorneys.org/aaaa/charitable-trust
  4. AAAA Family Formation Charitable Trust
  5. Your Adoption Finance Coach

MILITARY MEMBERS

  1. www.militaryfamily.org
  2. Exceptional family member program
  3. Active duty personnel $2,000 per child / $5,000 per year

SPECIAL NEEDS

  1. www.brittanyshope.org
  2. www.reecesrainbow.org
  3. www.sparrowfund.org

Donations

  1. Go Fund Me sites
  2. Donate airline miles
  3. Hotel rewards
  4. Ask for waivers of fees for last minute travel

Employee Benefits

Many companies, large and small, provide adoption expense reimbursement as an employee benefit.

  • Reimbursements range from $2,000 to $10,000
  • Paid time off 6 to 10 weeks
  • Unpaid Family Medical Leave Act time off

The Dave Thomas Foundation publishes an annual list of the Best Adoption Friendly Workplaces and an provides an employer tool kit that helps you make a persuasive business case for establishing an adoption benefits policy and all the tools for implementation.

Adoption Tax Credit

Thanks to the hard work of many adoption professionals and adoptive families, the adoption tax credit survived the tax reform of 2017.

  • $13,840 maximum for 2018.
  • Phase out starts at $207,580
  • Credits phase out com0pletely at $247,580
  • Claimed in year finalized
  • Nonrefundable
  • Carry over available
  • Failed adoption in US? – yes, claimed in following year
  • Failed adoption in another country? – No.
  • Keep receipts
  • adoptiontraxcredit.org
  • Remember to look for state tax credits

Other Funding Resources

Crowd Funding

Loans

GOOD SOURCES FOR LOANS

  1. Home equity lines
  2. Insurance

RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS

  1. Hebrew free loan
  2. Abba Fund
  3. Pathways for Little feet

FAMILY

  1. document those loans
  2. create a schedule of payments
  3. provide security
  4. pay interest

NOT SO GOOD SOURCES FOR FUNDING

  1. credit cards
  2. retirement loans

TRADITIONAL LOAN RESOURCES

  1. National Adoption Fund www.fundyouradoption.org
    America’s Christian Credit Union www.amerticiaschristiancu.org

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