There are several barriers to adoption, but one of the most difficult when you are just starting your adoption journey is how to pay for your adoption. According to American Adoptions, the average private adoption cost is around $40,000 in the US, and the Independent Adoption or Self Matching Adoption average cost is approximately $35,000 in the US. No matter which private adoption route you choose, paying for your adoption can be a considerable impediment.

The cost of adoption becomes even more concerning when you consider that the average American only has $8,863 in their savings account, according to CNBC. When considering these two factors, the cost of adoption can quickly seem unattainable. But I have a fundamental belief that you should be able to adopt a child no matter your financial situation and that you should not have to go into a mountain of debt to pay for your adoption. Nor should you default to a particular type of adoption just because it is cheaper if it doesn’t fit your vision for your family.

Setting your family vision should be the deciding factor in what route of adoption is right for your family. You should not default to foster care adoption because it is the cheapest option if you do not feel equipped to parent a child that has been in the foster care system. Nor should you pursue foster care adoption if you do not feel equipped to handle the more massive amount of uncertainty that can occur in foster care adoptions. Please know that I 1,000% support foster care adoption and believe that it is needed and necessary, but I firmly believe that you should pursue that if it is your first choice, not because that was your only option financially.

So if that is not your first choice for adoption or doesn't meet the vision you have for your family, let’s work together to pay for your adoption faster and without you going into a mountain of debt. Instead, let’s put together a plan that makes you feel empowered and know that it is possible to reach your adoption goals. Let’s first focus on avoiding debt, and then we will cover how to put together your step by step plan.

I Need Help With My Step By Step Plan

To avoid going into debt to fund your adoption, there are three options:

Savings
Fundraisers
Grants

Savings:

When thinking about savings, don’t automatically assume that what you have today is the only path to get where you want to be. You can grow your savings fast if you focus on doing small things every day to save a dollar or two. I personally love the No Spend Challenge that Modern Frugality outlines in this article. Of course, there are other apparent avenues within savings like cutting unnecessary spending day to day, negotiating monthly expenses with service providers, and getting creative with ways to earn extra money to pay for your adoption.

My biggest tip related to savings is not to drain your account as there will be unexpected things that will come up along your adoption journey that you will need funds for. If you want to get more detail on what those hidden expenses are, please check out the Adoption Financial Planner here.

I Need Help To Pay For My Adoption Faster

Fundraisers:

Adoption fundraisers are incredibly popular and a great way to grow your adoption budget fast. The most popular adoption fundraiser is t-shirt fundraisers, and I have friends who have raised over $10,000 with this one fundraiser alone. If you are looking for other ideas for your adoption fundraiser, check out these articles: 10 Adoption Fundraisers that are NOT a T-Shirt and 25 adoption fundraiser ideas.

The ins and outs of fundraisers can be a bit tricky as you want to make sure you are keeping the funds in different accounts and that the people that are contributing to the fundraiser know that upfront. Some simple tools can help you accomplish this: you could use a go fund me option or simply set up a new Venmo or PayPal account. I would suggest that you reach out to your network and see what they use most often and set up on that platform. You want to make it super easy for them to give you donations and for you to be able to keep them separate from your day to day checking/savings accounts.

The most important thing to keep in mind when using a fundraiser to help fund your adoption is to plan it out in great detail. Be mindful of your audience, their interest level, and the cost and effort for you to create the adoption fundraiser. If you want the step by step process on how to be successful with your adoption fundraiser, please check out the Adoption Financial Planner.

Grants:

Using adoption grants is one of the least used tactics to pay for your adoption. Still, it can be incredibly fruitful when you consider the amount of time and effort required to complete the application process versus some of the more complicated adoption fundraisers you might think. The one caveat to that might be if you are not one with a love of writing, which is key to the grant process. If you don’t love to write, you might consider reaching out to a friend, family member, or professional for help with this adoption funding opportunity.

Also, do not forget to research the requirements for each grant as they do vary quite considerably. Some have conditions related to income, gender, religion, and marital status; really, the list goes on. They also have specific due dates for the application, and some only disperse funds one time a year. Planning can help you when it comes to adoption grants.

The biggest tip for using grants to fund your adoption is to know your audience and write your application with them in mind. If it is an organization, get to know what they stand for and believe in and make sure you/your family are a good fit for their mission. Then bring that to life throughout your application to answer their questions and the examples you give. No matter which path or combination of ways you choose to help you fund your adoption, you need a clear plan to get from where you are today to your goal of funding your adoption. Using my simple step by step process will help you pay for your adoption faster.