So, I've tried to keep up with the financial part of this adoption. I have tracked each fundraiser, each donation, I have made charts, I have spent hours figuring out the math of it all - which is actually quite confusing when you're trying to keep track of every little thing!
Along the way I think there's been a few math mistakes (it's super confusing when people want me to track money that is "on the way" and maybe those amounts got double counted? I can't seem to pin point the mess up, I just know that we're not as far along as I thought we were) And I can't deny the fact that originally we were under the impression that $25,000 was the total we would need - but I've come to the conclusion that perhaps that original estimate was to cover just the agency portion.
I've been getting some questions, I get it.
You want to know where we're at with the total, how close are we to that fully funded finish line?!
Some people want to know why it costs so much? Some people want to know why people are adopting if they can't afford it? Some people want to know where all this money goes?
That's what this post is for! I hope I can answer all these questions. (and if you have more, please leave a comment!)
THE BREAKDOWN
So far we have paid two invoices to our agency, totaling $12,210.00
*this has covered 2/3 of the program fee, the home study, the dossier finalization fee, the humanitarian aid fee, the dossier submission fee, admin fee, in country coord (coordinator?) fee, dossier authentication, and dossier state certification.
In upcoming invoices, we will owe our agency $9,725.00
*this covers 1/3 of the program fee, in-state post adoption fees, visa processing fee, and the estimated in country travel package.
We also have in-country fees and travel expenses, totaling $13,665.00
*this covers the orphanage donation, notary fee, registration fee, application fee, passport application fee, incidental fees, medical exam fee, airfare, visa application fee, miscellany (taxis, tips. laundry, etc.)
So that's all the expenses broken down, "where the money goes"! (& I'll mention this doesn't include the incidentals on this side of it, like mailing paperwork to the agency, fingerprints, etc.)
WHERE WE'RE AT
So if you're following, we've paid in $12,210.00 and have upcoming $23,390.00 (and yes, that means the grand total is $35,600.00 to fully fund this adoption - not including some incidentals!)
We currently have $8,773.50 credit at our agency (from paying ahead), we have $4027.14 in our
Reece's Rainbow FSP, and $2,398.82 saved. This means that of that $23,390.00 left to pay, we have $15,199.46 towards it. That leaves $8,190.54 to come up with.
I am confident we CAN DO THIS! We've come so far already!
$8,190.54 to go ... let's do this!!!
WORTH IT
Why? My quick answer to all the "why" questions is, because she's worth it.
"why does it cost so much" ... I don't know, but I know she's worth it. (and to be clear, we are not buying our daughter - we are simply paying all the legal & otherwise necessary fees and expenses to make her a member of our family.)
"why are you adopting if you can't afford it" ... because she's worth it. She's worth working hard to fundraise, she's worth humbling ourselves to say we can't do this alone, she's worth limiting our spending to necessities (in January & February I literally bought nothing but gas, food, and personal needs - I've since eased up, but I'm still budgeting! And no, all this money I've talked about was not all fundraised/donated - it came from us too!) We can absolutely afford to take care of another child, that's what really matters here. Having over $35K on hand is quite another story.
"why China?" ... because that's where our daughter is, and regardless of location all children deserve a family where they can know love and realize their worth!
So that's where we're at friends. Our dossier was sent May 30 and we're anxiously awaiting to hear that it's been logged in to the system. We long for the day Ruby is here, home with us. We talk about her all the time, we wonder out loud what she'll think of us and life in America ... and to settle my heart just a tad, each day I watch her videos. Meanwhile, we just focus on crossing that financial finish line - reaching the top of that mountain!
