How do you afford it??

There are a lot of options. You could take out a home equity loan, save over a period of time, borrow from your 401K, etc. I think everyone probably has a different way of paying for it if they don't already have it in savings.

Both our children came to us through a private agency in our province. We aren't wealthy AT ALL and don't have very lucrative careers. We made lots of sacrifices in our lifestyle with a very stringent budget, no major purchases for several years and also, dipping into our savings for the future to help. We just made it work. Our costs were actually quite reasonable but you really can't compare so I won't even put the number out there. Our province limits the amount that can be charged and no support is allowed for expecting parents. So it wouldn't compare. THere is a way to adopt domestically without high costs and that is through your local children's services. You can also research grants available and remember, there is a tax credit for adoption costs the year your child is placed with you.

We are fairly young (25 and 26) so we did not have enough in our 401K to borrow against it. Also, we just decided to adopt and then immediately began the process, so we really didn't have much time to save. I was scared to death about the cost! We ended up choosing an agency that had fees in our budget and we took out a home equity loan to pay. I have also recently learned that some banks offer special rates for loans used for adoption. I know our bank does, but it is a local bank. Good luck!

Three of our adoptions did not cost us anymore than a couple hundred dollars just for court filing costs because they were considered "special needs" even though they have no special needs. They were labeled this because they came out of the foster care system (one was 2 yrs, one was 7 mos. and one was 9 wks.) and/or because of their race (CC/AA). The other two adoptions were infant adoptions so we did have to pay all of the extra fees but we worked it out with the agency to make monthly payments, it was great! We had until finalization (about 6-8 mos.) to pay the full amount off. I know of some adoptive couples that have done fundraising ideas like sell on eBay or craft stuff or garage sales. Some people even take out a credit card just for adoption expenses. Best of luck! It seems like no matter how you arrive at adoption, the financial end of it always works itself out somehow. ~Leslie

We located our own birthmother, or rather, she located us since we were not looking to adopt. Anyway, our total cost was just about $6000. That included our attorney fee, court cost, homestudy and a few other expenses. We got this full amount back on our taxes the same year our daughter was born since we finalized by the end of that year.

Well I think this thread was more about how average parents manage to afford $15.000-$25.000 than what kind of 'deals' you got on your adoption. No offense I hope, it's just probably not really helping the OP.But yes, as the previous posters mentionned, there are more affordable options out there - in my opinion though, it requires lots of luck and/or being in the right state. First, foster to adopt programs are basically free (I think?) and you get money until the child turns 18 - not doable in lots of states though, or not without big legal risks, but depending on where you live you might want to look into it. Then, you can find a birthmother to do a private adoption. All you pay are attorney fees, BUT you will lose money if the birthmother changes her mind, as the fees are due either way, and you might lose more if you paid for living expenses etc... It's, IMO, a crap shoot, and it's up to you to decide if you want to take the risk or not - but you can't really get into it and realistically expect to only pay $5000.So, for the less lucky of us who have to pay more, there's a few possibilities - credit (hone equity loan etc), borrowing from family, garage sales, selling on ebay. Some people do fundraising events, helped by family, where all the profits go to the adoption fund etc. Some employers offer benefices for adoption also, and the tax credit is a really big bonus. It's not easy and requires some sacrifices, but I'm sure it's all so worth it in the end (I'm still waiting).Best of luck to you, may you be one of the lucky ones ;)

We took out a home equity loan (I realize we were lucky to own a home/have equity). It is really hard trying to find a way to swing it (I would love to adopt again but we are sort of "maxed out" right now). Good luck figuring it out. Oh, I also just wanted to add that although our adoption was expensive in fees ($27K), we did get back $10K on the adoption tax credit, which was a HUGE help. (The credit is a little complicated and it takes a while to get, too).

We took out a loan with no collateral. It made the interest rate higher, but we think it is worth it. We have only been in our house for a year and it is a new construction, so we did not have enough equity in it. Our adoption total (including travel and everything) is about $14,000! We should be able to claim the full $10k on our taxes. We will have to split it up over a couple years. We did a domestic newborn adoption. If you would like info about the agency, let me know. I would be happy to share!!

Marci, could you PM me the name of your agency? Thanks!

We refinanced our home and our adoption in total was about $22,000.

Home equity loan. Our adoption for EVERYTHING start to finish, legal, and firstmom expenses totaled $23000. We'll see how long it will take to get our full tax credit to help pay that down... DH and I were talking the other day...sounds painful, but gosh, its the absolute best money we ever and will continue to spend!

We are lucky in that my husband's company does offer some adoption reimbursement--$5K (which is taxed, but hey, it's something!),so that along with the tax credit (which is being split up over 2 yrs) sort of helped us cover the $15K bill. Of course, you have to have the $$ up front, and the $$ does take a bit to get back, but just knowing that it's coming helps out immensely! One thing to keep in mind is that part of that cost is paid for in drips and drabs--for us, we put out about $5K in assorted things (homestudy, attorney fee, etc) and then had to have the $10K at the hospital. Now the trick is, how to go about paying for #2?!?! Less income, more expenses....atleast our agency works on a sliding scale!!

Since I am sure I am one of the ones that Fran27 is referring to I just wanted to point out that SweetPickles question was, "how did you afford it domestic or international" There was no mention of using an agengy or not. I did not intend my comment to be a "brag about what a deal we got!" It had nothing to do with getting a deal, just how we happened to adopt and what it cost. Who knows, maybe there is someone out there who didn't know you could adopt a healthy newborn for such a "deal" Kelley;)

Kelley, I did not take your comment, or any others for that matter, to sound like "Look at the deal that we got!" Just as you said, you were answering the original question and giving some affordable options! Not to mention the fact that the OP asked for specific amounts that people paid! :)