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The Price of Parenthood
Financing Adoption
By Laura Christianson
"You don't realize how much money you can save until you have to save it," says Colette Steele of Gilbert, Ariz. She and her husband are raising $60,000 to bring home three children they're adopting from Russia. The Steeles, parents of five biological children (ages 6 months, 3, 8, 9 and 11), learned about their new children "by accident," when a friend told them about Family Hope, a program sponsored by International Family Services that brings Russian orphans to the United States for a three-week cultural and host-family experience.
The Steeles and three other families in their neighborhood hosted children, and all four families are adopting. "Once we decided to adopt, we never worried about how much it would cost," Steele says. "We simply planned how to get the money."
The four families kicked off their fundraising efforts with a rummage sale. Two weeks before the sale, they distributed 500 fliers soliciting donations. A nearby school offered the use of its parking lot, and the sale netted nearly $4,000. "We're splitting the proceeds seven ways, to pay for the plane ticket home for each of the kids," Steele says.
The Steele family has developed "an attitude of sacrifice" as they scheme ways to fund their adoptions. "We cashed out our savings, and we're selling our camping trailer," Steele says. The children volunteered to forego piano, gymnastics and soccer until their siblings arrive, and they've collectively raised $500 through babysitting, lawn mowing and bake sales.
Sacrificial saving is critical for families who plan to adopt, says Angie Weldy, owner of AffordingAdoption.com, an Internet resource for those seeking ways to finance adoption. Weldy and her husband, Matt, who are waiting to adopt their third child, joke, "We don't buy new cars – we adopt. We don't go to Disneyland – we go to Korea and adopt."
