Section 3

People who are considering adopting a child must be one hundred percent committed because adoption causes major changes in both your family’s structure and financial situation. Also, these processes can both be extremely long processes that require a family to endure a lot. Adoption affects your family’s structure because adding a new child to your family causes a major shift in attention and responsibility, especially if the adopted child is a baby. What I mean by this is that if a family already has kids, a child that is newly adopted may take some of the parent’s attention off of the other kids. Even if the family does not already have kids, there is still an adjustment in attention because they must focus on a child rather than themselves. Also, each member of the family must take up new responsibilities to accommodate the addition of a new child. Whether that is new chores for the kids or different sleeping schedules for the parents, each person must adapt their routine to do what is best for the new family member. Added on to all of these changes to your family’s structure, is the fact that adopting a child is going to cost your family money. According to creatingafamily.org, “Adoption costs vary depending on birth mother expenses, including medical costs for the expectant woman, adoption agency/adoption attorney fees, travel, failed adoption matches, etc. The range for an adoption agency adoption is from $5,000 to $40,000+, with almost 60% falling within $10,000 – $30,000, and the average being around $28,000” (Davenport).

As you can see, adoption is a major investment, and you need to be committed to the process. Trust me, these numbers can be scary and can cause you to think that adoption can not be an option for your family, and as lifesong.org puts it, “Good intentions aren’t enough” (Priebe). If you have intentions to adopt, you can not just let it stay as an intention, you need to put it into action. Even though it may seem like it is impossible for you to adopt because of the money, that does not mean that it actually is impossible. In the United States, each state has their own forms of assistance when it comes to families that are attempting to adopt. The NACAC, or the North American Council for Adoptable Children, gives the guidelines for which cases qualify for assistance, and for how much assistance each case receives. So if you want to check out all of the specifications, the Michigan specific link is cited below (Michigan State Adoption Assistance Program).