While researching options for adoptive families who are in need of some kind of financial assistance for their adoption, I came across the following information. Military families who are adopting are entitled to adoption benefits! In all my research I had never seen this information, and wonder if it is widely publicized. So if any of you out there are military families, the following is for you.

Full time members of the United States military are entitled to a one time adoption benefit. This benefit is available to married couples as well as singles and can apply to a... more

Today marked a big milestone for Ella, and an even bigger one for her mommy. We went to check out the child care center at my gym so she could start getting used to it enough for me to leave her there while I take a class. My normal gym routine is to go in the evenings during the week and weekend mornings when my husband is home to watch Ella. Now that everyone’s back to school (my hubby’s a teacher,) and it’s just me and Ella again, I think it would be good for her to have some social time outside of our playdates. Plus, it’s really nice to just get out of the house!

This... more

When it comes down to it, sometimes the only way to come up with the funds to pay for an adoption is to find a way to bring in more income. When childcare is involved and parents are already working full time jobs, this can seem impossible, but it can be done. Here are some ideas for bringing in more money to help pay for your adoption:

If you are in a position that you feel comfortable asking for a raise, do it. If you have been waiting for the perfect time to approach your boss, that time has arrived.

Oh how I love ebay…and craigslist…and the trillions of other sites devoted to reselling gently used items at a profit to the seller. While raising money for Ella’s adoption I became pretty savvy about the ins and outs of reselling. It is labor intensive, but the rewards can be great.

To get started reselling, be sure to train yourself on how to be a seller. There are many tutorials on ebay’s website for new sellers as well as message boards in the community section with plenty of people who can answer... more

We live in a world that is sinking in debt, however I strongly believe that not all debt is bad debt. If you own your own home and are financially secure, taking out a home equity loan with a low interest rate to finance your adoption seems like a wise move to me. Not only will you realize your dreams of becoming parents sooner than you would if you had the cash up front (and who of us just has tens of thousands of dollars laying around?!?!,) but it can also have tax benefits.

There are also a handful of private adoption loans out there. Since these loans are unsecured,... more

Asking for money is never easy. It has the potential to hurt pride, bring up uncomfortable feelings and leave some people with a resentful taste in their mouth. However, families fundraising for adoption can certainly choose to let their financial needs be known. Letting friends, family and your community know about your situation is not necessarily “asking” for money, instead a better way to think of it may be “putting yourself out there to receive assistance.”

I know of many adoptive families who have sent letters to those close to them expressing their adoption plans.... more

Money is something that weighs heavily on the minds of most adoptive parents. Not only do we need to be sure that we can financially support a child, we also must be able to come up with the means to finance the entire adoption process. Though it’s not always easy, it is certainly possible. Most of us are not wealthy but with some pounding of the pavement and careful scrutiny of our budgets, it is possible to make it work. I will be writing several posts this week; each covering a different area of fundraising for adoption. If you have any questions or comments along the way, please... more

One of the best things that you can do during your wait to travel is to collect items to donate to your child’s baby center. If you are bringing many items to Viet Nam that will be staying in country, it’s a great idea to pack a suitcase full of the donations—then you will have an empty suitcase to fill with gifts and souvenirs that you purchase in country. Mary over at the Ethiopia Adoption Blog just returned from Ethiopia with her two daughters. She packed large Rubbermaid totes with donations and wrote about how to do this successfully here.... more

My name is Rebecca and I am a blog-oholic. I absolutely love blogs. As I wrote about before, my absolute addiction began while waiting for Ella’s travel date. I’m pretty internet savvy, but didn’t really realize the wild world of blogs until around the time that we started getting seriously into our adoption process. The blogs that I followed were cathartic, helping me through the roller coaster of emotions that adoption brings. Reading about families who had already come home with their children, and above all else, seeing their gorgeous little faces, helped me realize what lay in store for me. Little do... more

Well folks, we made it home in one piece! Actually, we’ve been back since Wednesday night but have been trying to decompress a little bit. Our very long (and very fun) road trip went extremely well and I am so glad the ridiculously large number of miles we planned to travel didn’t deter us. We spent a little over a week away, traveling through four states, spending time at my husband’s family’s lake cottage and spending the weekend with families that I have become friends with in an online adoptive parenting group.

First of all, let me tell you how refreshing it is to be with a group of adoptive parents and their ridiculously gorgeous and adorable children. As I have mentioned before,... more