Starting the adoption process without all the money ready to go?

With many international adoptions taking at least two years -- in some cases far more -- from homestudy to homecoming, and with fees spread out over the time period, many families have the ability to continue to save up money while in progress.As an example, airfare -- which can often run $1,500 to $2,000 for an adult -- isn't usually paid until shortly before travel. The Chinese orphanage fee, hotel charges, guide/translator charges, and U.S. Embassy fees are not paid until you are overseas. And so on. If you set realistic goals for what you can save between starting and completing the process, you should be able to begin without having every cent in the bank.It is not fair, however, to start the process if it's very unlikely that you will be able to save enough to complete your adoption. That just wastes staff time and may even cause a child to spend extra time in an orphanage. Taking an extra year or so to put together most of what you need is what you should be doing instead.Sharon