Adoption FAQ's

We are constantly asked questions regarding our adoption and we want to be as open as we possibly can be so here are some of the FAQ's! We actually love when people ask questions about every part of the adoption, not only does it speak to us when people care enough to ask about it, but it is also an opportunity to share our hearts!! 

1. Why does it cost so much? (If I had a dollar for every time I have been asked this we wouldn't need to raise support - jk.....kinda!) AND How much will it cost?

The average cost for domestic adoption is broken down like this:
Homestudy fee                                                     $1,912
Agency Application and Program Fee              $14,161
Attorney Fees                                                        $3,548 
Birth Family Counseling                                      $1,085
Birthmother Expenses                                         $3,076
Travel Expenses                                                    $2,198
All other Expenses                                                $4,682
Total                                                                        $30,662

Again, this is an average! Absolutely every adoption is different with different costs and considerations, but average cost for domestic adoption is $25,000-$40,000
Our goal is to raise $30,000! That is what we are praying for and what we believe the Lord will provide! Our Consultant will work with us to make sure we only present our family profile to situations that will not exceed our funding! Sadly because of the great expense here are some stats!

33% of Americans consider adoption. 

79% of those are concerned about the costs, the biggest deterrent. 

Less than 2% adopt.

Of the estimated 153 million orphans in the world, 17.8 million are “double orphans” (without a mother or father)   250,000 orphans are adopted  14,000,000 age out of the system

If 1 family in every 3 churches in the US adopted a waiting child, every waiting child in the US would have a forever family.

2. How old of a child will you adopt? 
We have preferenced an infant! Most likely we will be able to take the baby home from the hospital. Again, each case is completely unique and there is no guarantee. We do not believe that we will take a child any older than E, unless God just makes it clear that that is what He wants! But at this point we plan on an infant! We fully trust that God already knows who our child will be, we just have to walk in faith! 

3. Do you guys want more biological children?
At this point we are just taking it step by step and child by child! We feel very very certain that we are following in the Lord's calling for our family at this time with pursuing adoption. We would love to have another biological child at some point, but only God knows the plans He has for our family and we want to live open handed and trusting Him!

4. What is the timeline?
We continue to pray that we will have our baby in spring 2014! Once we have our funds we will be able to move forward and things 'should' move quickly from there! 

5. What are you doing to raise money?
**We are currently raising funds!!! (**Read our February update for most up to date info on that!)
**We ran the Chosen Marathon in October and just received word that we raised $1520.00 through the race! We had an incredible team sign up to support us and we are so grateful for each of you that joined our team! 
**We have also set up a partnership with Just Love Coffee - where a percentage of purchases made will go towards our adoption! 
https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/Forbis/
**Private gifts are also an option and we have had several generously given to us! 

Through all of these means we have to date raised $3,070

We will also be applying for grants! The average grant amount is 2,000-5,000! Most of the grants available are matching grants so keep an eye out for fundraisers! There will be a certain timeline that different organizations will agree upon and determine to match with a grant what we are able to raise!

6. What are you paying for yourself?
We have done a lot of shifting around in our monthly budget and are monthly setting money aside towards our adoption! We have already paid close to $3,000 out of pocket for homestudy and other fees that were paid upfront! 

7. Why don't you just adopt through CPS? 
We would love to adopt through CPS someday. We even completed all the training needed to do foster care in our home before we became pregnant with E. I say right now because we have a heavy heart for and fully believe that we will do foster/adoption later on. 
In order to adopt through CPS, we would have to be willing to take a child up to 8 years old. We do not feel like we are equipped at this point to take a child any older than E! We desire for her to have a sibling close to her in age.  As we prayed and prayed about what God saw best for our family after having E, we continually heard that adoption was what He was calling us to. With adoption once we add a child to our family, it will be a permanent addition, which we feel is best for E at this time. Through CPS we could have a lot of kids in and out of our home for years and they may never become available for adoption. So there are a lot of factors for us that really helped us see why God was calling us to do adoption now! 



Please add any other questions you may have in the comment section below!!!

{Read our full story here}