Adoption Questions Answered part 2 of 3 (or maybe 4)

Good Morning Sunshine........hee! Thinking it is going to take 4 blog posts to answer the questions instead of 3. Matt is good about a short answer while I feel the need to explain (and I even edited this blog post down a bit)- Matt is good at staying practically minded when He explains most of our adoption (although he is still brought to tears when he explains certain parts of it) while I want to constantly think of it in the 'emotional' sense- my part of question number 1 included 6 years worth of what led up to our adoption emotionally........we went with Matt's practical answer :)

1.        How did you decide what type of adoption (private adoption or through the State)?  

I (Steph) wanted to adopt privately and Matt was open to either- When we moved to Hawaii, I  (S) called around to get more information about adopting through the state- At the time, Hawaii did not offer adoption through the State for children under 10 (most children that would need adopting are taken care by family members or friends) so our only option was private. 

2.       Is it expensive to adopt?    Private adoption can be expensive.   Matt and I clearly knew God was calling us to adopt by way of a private adoption but when the time came to say ‘yes’ to Ellie’s adoption the fee’s surrounding her adoption (attorney fees etc.) were completely out of the boundaries of what Matt and I had discussed we would spend.  The adoption agency we were going through presented you with very close figures of what your adoption would cost- These were the figures we were comfortable with and had prepared for financially- Because Ellie’s adoption was brought to us through private attorneys the amount the attorneys wanted was substantially more than not only our adoption agency but what we had financially planned for.  It was difficult to navigate between the emotional facts and the physical fact that our attorney wanted so much money for Ellie’s adoption (emotional facts being that both Matt and I knew we were called to adopt and we knew that Heather and Ellie were our match.).  God had confirmed our whole adoption process up to this point- It was difficult to know how to move forward in Faith- Was it the Lord shutting the door to our adoption or was it simply a leap of faith we needed to take- trusting God with our finances (that He would provide the outstanding balance we would have for Ellie’s adoption).   To make a long story short we moved forward with Ellie’s adoption- Our Faithful Heavenly father provided every penny we needed to complete our adoption.  He used Matt’s financial stewardship (our savings account that had years of hard earned money that Matt insisted we save), several beautiful families that God nudged the hearts of to give in a financial way to our adopiton, an agency called Show Hope (who offers grants to families that are adopting), and an Adoption Tax Credit offered by the Federal Government.

3.       Where do you begin if you are interested in adoption?  Lots of prayer J  It also never hurts to get educated about adoption- Talk to friends or others you know who have adopted, read adoption books, read adoption blogs from both birth mothers and families that have adopted.  If  you live in a State that offers either private or state adoptions,  talk to a social worker that handles adoptions through the state, an adoption attorney, and an adoption agency to decide what fits your families situation best.                                                                            
        Thank you again for the questions!