The Worth in The Cost

By Laura Bernate

As individuals seek to adopt children, there

are encountered with the reality that it
involves more than just loving and helping a
child. Adoption can be a life-changing
journey in welcoming a child into a home.
But it is known to be a costly endeavor that
involves patience, money and vast amounts
of paperwork. The good news is that there is
hope to find a better and easier way to bring
a child home and grow a family.
Where It All Began
The history of adoption has long been
forgotten, but it deserves to be recovered. To
be an informed adopter, one must have a
basic background of all the implications that
have shaped adoption up to this day. It is
crucial to know that different motives have
been present since the beginning to time,
evolving into different frameworks that have
shaped the adoption process in different
ways. Starting from Mesopotamia, moving
to Egypt, and spreading to the Greeks and
Romans. Some adopting for slavery and
others adopting for love. The evolution of
adoption continued to spread dramatically
throughout years, especially during WWII
due to the epitomes of war, refugee
migrations, famines and other disasters. To
this day, adoption has reshaped the meaning
of family, giving a significant meaning and
increasing the importance of how every
child is entitled to a permanent and loving
home.
A Different Approach
Considering different approaches allows to

enhance and help attain better thinking in all

that is involved in the adoption process.
Challenging our opinions and assumptions,
allows us to understand our own perspective
but takes us to consider further evaluation.
Considering other viewpoints allows for
ones stand and opinion to be more valuable.
Paying for adoption involves numerous
ethical issues and important legal questions
that affect the process. Becoming an
informed adopter and understanding that it is
a necessary process that involves cost, paves
a way to make the process easier and the
stand of making the adoption come true.
Paying for adoption may be discouraging for
some, when it reality it must be an
encouraging part of the adoption process. It
is not simply bringing a child home, but also
all that it undertakes during the process and
after. Legislations, policies, adoption
agencies, adoption lawyers and specialists
are all involved in the process, requiring
time and money. It is a valuable process that
requires patience and effort, with an
extraordinary outcome.

Preparing for A New Journey

Preparation involves time. It is a long
journey that could be fulfilling and worth in
every way. Taken into consideration all that
is involved, allows for the opportunity to
decide whether to continue in this process.
Making the right decisions and locating the
right contacts, keeping safe to not spend
excessive money or getting involved with
the wrong people or in scams. Doing proper
research, switching methods, and not acting
impulsively are great advices to make
adoption processes easier.

Keeping focus in the process and moving

past any challenges is key to success. Setting
a firm stand on the child that will take part
of the family and seeing the process worth
it. After all emotional, financial and practical
issues that require persistence and
determination make all more valuable and
significant. Doing proper research and
paying for a facilitator helps ease the
process, whether deciding on national or
international adoption. Preparing a financial
budget or plan without compromising
financial or emotional well-being, can allow
for a beneficial outcome for all who are
involved.
A recent interview conducted with one of
my neighbors, as an adoptive mother of an
international child, answered my question
with ease to the importance of obtaining
knowledge to understand the reasons behind
the cost of the adoption process. She stated
The reward you get from seeing the
happiness from my child as I brought him
home five years ago, obscured all the
financial costs that this whole process took
and made all the time and money worth it. It
allows me to see more in depth that there is
a valid and moral reason behind it, and it
isnt paying for it just because. (M.
Osorio, personal communication, November
8, 2016).
More Than a Simple Procedure
Adoption is a legal procedure where a
permanent family is involved and the focus
is on the long-term welfare of the child.
Money is a great factor to the many legal
aspects and procedures that are part of the
process. All those who are involved have
rights as individuals and many different
options to

make the procedure more accessible.

Understanding the different steps that could
be taken to meet everyones unique needs
gives flexibility to what could become a
complicated process. Understanding that
birth parents, adoptive parents and the child
are all parties involved, with an adoption
agency always acting as an intermediary is
very important.
The different frameworks and routes one can
take when it comes to adoption, must be
taken into consideration that the welfare of
the child is involved before the process and
after the process is done. Maintaining the
best interest with the intention to always
safeguard and protect the child is key to
make sure the process is worth every cost.
Raising a child makes all factors involved in
the adoption process as necessary. Patience,
time, money and love is indispensable.
Continuity care, security and sense of
belonging is vital in the life of a child.
Adoption continues to evolve and changing,
increasing in costs due to regulations,
policies and the welfare of a child.
A New Hope
Understanding that paying for adoption
implicates various factors and requirements,
but most importantly that one is not paying
for the human being, but rather the processes
and services behind it. It is the preparation
of welcoming a child home and offer the
best quality of life possible. It facilitates and
opens doors for the child to have a
successful and healthy life. Paying for all
expenses are mostly for legal matters and
issues encountered, such as home studies
and background checks that do not go easily
but are extremely necessary.

All adoptions are different, some involve

more policies, practices and requirements
more than others. The numerous individual
methods and options to facilitate the dream
of bringing a child home are available.
Garage sales, crowdfunding, and taking
loans can help. All time invested, money and
effort should make paying for the whole
process, either with small or large
expenditures worth it. It is an essential
requirement that works for the benefit of all.
Adoption can be a life-changing journey that
can involve a difficult process and be a
costly endeavor that involves time and
money, but at the end with a rewarding
outcome. Becoming informed on its history,
acknowledging
different
approaches,
considering
different
methods
and
procedures will allow for the payment
process to be a successful and worth part of
the journey to bring a child home and grow
as a family.

Sources
Conn, P. J. (2013). Adoption. [electronic resource] : a brief
social and cultural history. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2013.
Harnack, A. (1995). Adoption : opposing viewpoints. San
Diego, CA : Greenhaven Press, 1995.
Mintzer, R. (2003). Yes, you can adopt!: a comprehensive guide to
adoption. New York : Carroll & Graf, c2003.
Triseliotis, J. P., Shireman, J. F., & Hundleby, M. (1997). Adoption
theory, policy, and practice. London ; Herndon, VA : Cassell,
1997.
McGrady, Vanessa. "How To Pay For Adoption." How To Pay For
Adoption. N.p., 2014.