I got used to it after awhile. Other moms and dads would comment on how cute my kids were and ask about their ages. “Wow!” they’d blurt out. “You had them close together!”
I would consult the sky for a second, then offer “Well…I didn’t actually give birth to them.” I would then divulge the story about how my husband and I had made an adoption plan, traveled to Poland, and became the legal parents of three school-aged siblings at the same time.
It was usually followed by the wide eyes and the “Whoa.” Most people were too polite to say what they were thinking, but some would let it slip. “How did you afford that?”
There is a stigma that adoption in general, and international adoption in particular, is only for the wealthy and the privileged. And it is not without foundation. The financial costs of agency fees, travel expenses, and lodging are sizeable, and there are always extras you may not have planned on along the way. Yet, you may be surprised to find that there are ways to recoup the expenditure almost entirely if you do a bit of research. Adoption is a privilege for middle-class families who want to provide a loving home to a child who doesn’t have one, and it is more affordable than most people think.
