Tuesday, August 08, 2006

How much?

I have had a few people ask me “how much is this adoption costing you?” I don’t really consider these questions rude. For one thing, I think most people who know me know that I am not generally uncomfortable discussing money (although I understand that some people are). Also, I think the people who have asked are either adopting themselves from a different agency, or seriously considering whether they have the funds to adopt.

So, I’ve decided to go out on a limb and be brutally honest. (Also, my husband, out of curiosity, asked me last night exactly how much we have spent so far.*)

So, this is how it breaks down:

1. Application to agency $200.00
2. Payment to homestudy agency for homestudy $1,200.00
3. Three copies of birth certificates of Husband and self $97.00
4. Ohio criminal background check for Husband and self $64.00
5. Dossier fee to agency $2,795.00
6. Three certified copies of marriage certificate $6.00
7. Immunizations (so far) $590.00
8. Application to USCIS (I600A form) $685.00
9. Payment to International Adoption Doctor $150.00
10. Local police background check (two adults) $10.00
11. Ohio county certification (10 documents) $10.00
12. Ohio Sec. Of State certification (10 documents) $50.00
13. Michigan Sec. Of State Certification (2 docs X 2) $4.00
14. Parking ticket incurred while at Michigan SoS $10.00
15. Program fee to agency, which is almost $2,000 less than
our agency’s usual fee for Vietnam, because Lan was a
waiting child, and which I am getting ready to send $8,500.00

So, the grand total so far is $14,371.00

Obviously, there will be significant travel costs in addition to this amount. We are eligible for a roughly $10,000 tax credit in the year that the adoption is finalized (and we can carry over any left over tax credit for at least one more year, I’m not completely clear on that), and we may (and I stress may) be eligible for a $2,000 county grant – however, our income may exclude us from that.

Anyway, for people considering this, that’s the breakdown and the bottom line, at this point of the game.

For comparison, our health insurance carrier paid roughly $10,500 for my pregnancy with Gabriel and his delivery and our care for four days in the hospital (the most expensive part being the 8 hours Gabe spent in the “transitional nursery” after his birth, which is one step down from NICU – owing to the cord incident at his birth).

LM

* being as we were bored and upset about gas prices after watching the news, I also figured out last night how much we spent last July on gasoline, as compared to how much we spent this July. If you are interested, we spent $224 on gas last July, with an average cost per fill up of $17.05 (this is actually skewed a little high, owing to two fillups in Chicago, which were $5.00 more expensive than any other fill up). We drove to Chicago and back last July, as well as to my friend H~’s wedding in northern Michigan (about 5 hour car trips in each direction, for a total of 20 hours of car trips). We spent $175 on gas this July, with an average fill up costing $25.90, and we haven’t traveled anywhere this summer – so, we filled up less than half the number of times we filled up last summer, and spent only $50 less. It’s just…depressing. And we both own cars that get roughly 30 mpg. I cannot imagine what people are doing who have cars that don’t get that kind of gas mileage – pulling their hair out, I guess.

6 Comments:

Blogger Nicole - Raising Animals said...

Does your program fee translate the country fee? Wow...that's not bad!
And, the adoption tax credit can be carried over for 5 years, not just one.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006 10:51:00 AM  
Blogger LawMommy said...

Yes, the program fee is the country fee. The usual Vietnam fee for our agency is $10,200, which is the bill I expected. So, I was surprised that it was lower, but, the explanation was that she had been on their waiting child list for six months.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006 11:10:00 AM  
Blogger mommyesq2 said...

Delurking to say thank you for the honest information. I'm always afraid to ask questions about money, but I don't know who else to find out from besides those who have actually "been there." Thanks!

Tuesday, August 08, 2006 3:49:00 PM  
Blogger Jenny said...

Man, I am up to 11k without any country fee yet! This includes our loosing 750 to China and 1200 in dossier fees for china, flushed down the toilet.

We are figuring 32k. That is what I have budgeted. I am really looking forward to the tax credit!!! Oh...and the kid...

Tuesday, August 08, 2006 6:11:00 PM  
Blogger Ange said...

In Canada the cost is approx $25000-$28000 and we don't get much of a tax credit. I think our social worker told us that the maximum we would get back is about $1600.Be thankful for the tax break in the U.S.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006 11:18:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Somewhat related questions: How long do they think you will be gone? Will you be able to call little G to check on him each day? (Now that I think about it, maybe you can use email?) Do you know how much notice you'll get before you have to leave?

Thursday, August 10, 2006 1:22:00 PM  

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