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Hello everyone! I'm a new member but have been using this forum as a source of reference and encouragement for several months while my husband and I have been discussing and preparing for adoption. We have a bio son and would like to add to our family while he's still young, so we're beginning the process of research and inf gathering required before really beginning the adoption process. I had a life threatening experience during my pregnancy with Buggy that nearly killed both of us due to Hyperemesis Gravidarum. After delivering, my doctor told me what I already knew, that it would be foolish and irresponsible to put myself and another child through another HG pregnancy. Wonderfully though, God has been preparing my heart for adoption since I was 12 , so when I found out that I couldn't have anymore children, I finally understood why God's been whispering to me about adoption for so many years. So here we are... And my question is, is there a certain amount of money you have to put down yourself for a domestic infant adoption BEFORE you are able to utilize a grant or loan? I know there are certain grants I've researched that specifically exist to help in the last leg of the race, so you do have to have already contributed a certain amount of your own money towards the adoption before you qualify, but are they all like that? Have you who have done this before spent thousands of your own money, or did you rely mostly on loans and grants? My husband is a teacher and I'm a SAHM, so money is tight, and that's been a discouraging hurdle in our pursuit of adoption. We keep talking about the WHAT IF's, but that only goes so far and then we hit the "but we live on a poor teacher's salary" wall and sit there. I finally found an agency I like and am interested in exploring, but then the money issue came up again today while discussing what to do, and we were left feeling frustrated again. So maybe you all can shed some light on options I'm not aware of, and provide some encouragement. Thank you!!
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We're going through a private adoption right now and we took out a small personal loan for ours. I've read about the grants and such but there is no real guarantee you'll get them so we just decided to do a loan. I do know some banks have special adoption loans or interest free loans you can maybe look into that may make things a bit easier on you guys.
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For our first adoption, we'd been saving for a few years & borrowed the amount we were short from a family member. Our second adoption was a complete surprise - we were not planning to adopt again yet, so we had no money saved yet or anything - and the only way we were able to get the money on such short notice (we literally had a few days to pull it together) was to borrow against my husband's 401(k). We didn't like to do it, but it was the only way we could have the money in hand quickly - he arranged the loan on Monday & we had a certified cheque in hand on Wednesday - and also the interest rate is good, and really, we're paying interest to ourselves so it seemed better than taking out a loan & paying interest to someone else. If the market were better I'd have hesitated, but the interest rate we're paying is more than what his 401(k) has earned in the market over the last several quarters so we'll probably come out ahead in the end. :) In both cases, the tax credit is helping us/has helped us pay back the money we borrowed. But as of right now it's up in the air whether that will be renewed, so I don't know if I would count on it if you're just starting the process now. I have heard about grants & such but I don't know anyone who has successfully used them. I think there are a lot of people hoping for that sort of help, and not enough money to go around. I believe they're generally for pretty small amounts, and often they are for the adoption of kids with particular special needs. I don't think you'd be able to fund an adoption in its entirety using grants, if you were able to get any at all. I've heard of a lot of people who applied (and often paid a fee to apply) and then never had any response at all from the entity offering the grant. That's why we didn't even really look into them much - they seemed like a long shot that wouldn't help much with our fees anyway, and not worth the money/effort it would take to apply for them.
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We are in process of our 3rd adoption from China. My DH has said that the balance of the costs (basically travel) will need to come from my 401K. I know there are stiff penalties, etc. to do an early withdrawal. Several have posted about taking a loan on their 401K. How is this done? Is there less money lost in the long run? What type of interest rate did you get? Thanks!
You should be able to talk to a benefits coordinator in your HR department about it. If they don't have an answer, they should be ale to direct you to someone at the company who manages your 401k. FWIW, you're not doing a withdrawal, but a loan. You will not be subject to the penalties you mentioned, but you will have to pay yourself back with interest. Mine is deducted from my paycheck along with my regular contribution.
DaveandLaura
Hello All: I don't know if this is true but my accountant or shall I say tax preparer said that home equity loans must now only be used for home expenses. My plan was to take some money out of this to pay for an adoption. Thank you.
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Please look into adoption from the foster care system, it's free, and yes, newborns are available too. We adopted two last year, one was placed as a newborn, and the other we brought home from the hospital. The hearing for termination of mom's rights for the third (also brought home from the hospital) is in four weeks, and all three are siblings.
hdc77494
Please look into adoption from the foster care system, it's free, and yes, newborns are available too. We adopted two last year, one was placed as a newborn, and the other we brought home from the hospital. The hearing for termination of mom's rights for the third (also brought home from the hospital) is in four weeks, and all three are siblings.
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