About Finances, Being a Student, and Adoption

My husband and I have decided that we would like to adopt a child. We've had this discussion ongoing for years but we're finally at a point where we'd like to establish a concrete timeline for taking action. Of course the most obvious issue we've run into right away is that the timeline for adoption is very unpredictable! We are currently 26 years old, married about three years and still working on our educations. We don't have any kids. We are not wealthy, but we're satisfied with our quality of life even as apartment-renting students, and we've developed good financial habits (savings, 401K, frequent planning sessions) that should reward us in the future. My husband is undertaking a Ph.D. and will be awarded his Master's degree next year. He probably won't be finished with school completely until 2012. Meanwhile I myself am beginning graduate school this Fall and will complete my M.S.W. in 2011. Both of us are specializing in areas of child behavioral psychology, parenting intervention, abuse/neglect, etc. and will have access to many resources for handling the challenge of a child with special emotional and psychological needs. Our adoption plan is to spend about a year doing the necessary research, and then begin the applications process a year prior to my graduation, while we are both still in school. We figure it will take at least one year from the point of the application submission before we would receive a child into our home, so I should be out of school and ready to enter the workforce. When we do have a child enter our home, I can work part-time to help integrate our family, especially in the first 1-2 years (we are, and would continue to be, covered by his medical insurance.) My husband has also discussed slowing up the writing of his dissertation in the interest of spending more time at home. During this time his stipend would continue. He's not at all interested in being a ''weekend Dad.'' I have no question that we are both emotionally and cognitively prepared, both individually and as a team, for the undertaking of nurturing and supporting and raising a child. My primary concern is how we are going to make this work financially. While I think we will be able to put together a cohesive plan, I'm concerned about the home study aspect and what exactly is required to demonstrate financial stability. If we submit our adoption application in 2010, while I am still a student, our financial situation is going to look very different from what our situation actually will be at the time that we receive the child. It's likely we will still be living off student loans at the time of our application (and speaking of student loans... boy will we have a LOT when we're done with school!) Do agencies actually take this into consideration? When they analyze your financial plan, are student loans considered household income? Is it on the whole more difficult, or even impossible, for a current student to be considered for adoption? What criteria are used? Do huge debt loads reduce the chances of approval, even if there is a clear demonstration that the income will soon increase around the time of the child's homecoming? I guess the basis of this question is, can current students be approved for adoption? How do student loans fit into the consideration of finances? And does the home study itself take into consideration only current circumstances, or also what lies ahead? I realize I'm asking a lot of complicated questions. I'm just a little worried that we might be turned down just because we submitted the applications a year too soon. The wait is so long that not even beginning the process until after we graduate just seems a little grinding. The thought of having to wait as long as 4-5 years is just crushing. Though it's not ideal, I know we could make it work NOW if we had to. We're resourceful and careful planners--we can do this! But proving that to an agency is another matter entirely. Any input would be most appreciated! Thanks, Christy