If Money Only Grew On Trees

As I have mentioned before, we had some issues with our adoption agency that we used for S. I'll get into that at some point, (maybe) but we had decided to use them again. Yes, there are other agencies, but we KNOW what the issues are now and have been through the process once. We know what to expect.

But then...we got word that they wanted more money upfront. This was bad news...

Let me explain.

When you begin the adoption process, you pay a fee to apply to the agency (usually between $300-$500). The next step is your home study and these can range from $1300-$1500 plus additional fees for criminal history clearances and physicals.

Because finances were tight, I planned on writing some grants from various agencies (mostly faith-based) to assist in the funding. In order to apply for the grants, we have to have a completed homestudy. So to get to the point that we could apply for grants, we planned on spending around $2000.

But then....

Our agency changed their pricing structure. They wanted us to pay the application fee, homestudy fee, AND the adoptive parent coordinator fee. So all told, they wanted essentially $3,500 up front. Um...yeah. NO.

To complicate matters, they raised their other fees as well, making the second adoption about $5,000 more than S's adoption. And hers was so expensive!! (Mind you – I would have paid a million dollars for our precious girl, but at some point adoption costs get out of hand!) Once again, slightly irritated with the women who get knocked up for free, but I'm getting off topic. :)

More to come....