As we’re finding, adoption takes a great deal of time, money, paperwork, and prayer to get through-and that’s only before the adoption happens! One of the first questions we get asked is, “How much does it cost to adopt?” And like most things in life, there isn’t a straight forward answer because there are so many different factors that lead to a very wide range. With that in mind, we know because we’re doing a domestic infant adoption, the range we’re looking at is somewhere between $35,000-$55,000. We’ve even seen cases that have been as high as $68,000! Did your jaw just drop? I understand, lol! Because we know God has called us to adopt and we know if that situation is the right one He has for us, He’ll provide the needed money for the child that belongs in our family. Now, that doesn’t mean we get to sit back and let the big guy work – we have been working every chance we get to find ways to help raise this money. But, at the same time, we know His hand is in this and He has given us the knowledge, skills, and the right people in our lives to help bring our baby girl home to join our family.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7
We are not relying fully on fundraising to reach these goals. We’re trying to think a little out-of-the-box with the opportunities around us. We’ve applied for grants, matching grants, and interest-free loans, some of which we’ve been awarded! We’re determined to do what we can to make this dream come true and bring our baby girl to her forever home. We’ve been taking on extra jobs as we’ve been able, have minimized our monthly budget to make the most of our monthly income, have started an adoption jar for loose bills and change, have been selling extra “stuff” around the house on Facebook Marketplace and Ebay, and of course, the many, many fundraisers we’ve done. However, we are very aware we can not do this on our own. If you’d like to help financially, you can click on our PayPal link to donate straight to our adoption fund or partake in some of our fundraisers (some of which won’t cost you any money)! Above all else, we would appreciate your prayers for our family and for this baby girl and her first mama and first papa who have made their own sacrifices to bring her into this world.
Money Raised:
We’ve been busy trying to raise money any way we can in order to bring home our baby girl! Here’s the results of our efforts thus far:
- Fundraisers including Holiday bazaars, jewelry sales, gift wrapping fundraiser, holiday pie fundraiser, cookie kits, farmer’s market, Pick-a-number Facebook fundraiser (ran by Megan Stump), Color Street party, t-shirt sales, freelance/extra jobs, and a name-your-price yard sale: $24,363
- Donations: $24,751
- Selling things on eBay and Facebook Marketplace: $1,620
- Grants & Matching Grants including The Nursery Project’s Facebook fundraising event: $24,575
- TOTAL RAISED AS OF 10/3/2019: $75,309
I know what you’re doing right now – “Wait, what?! That’s a LOT of money! They have more than they need!” I wish it was that easy. The prices of the actual adoption vary so much, we need to have enough money on-hand to be able to present to as many cases as possible so we don’t miss an opportunity to bring hope and peace to any mamas. Plus, we’ve had almost $10,000 in “start-up” costs from the home study, paperwork fees, home study renewal (we’ve been in the process for over a year and it has to be renewed every year), consulting fee, profile book design and printing, postage for mailing all the paperwork, TB testing and fingerprinting, drug testing, and doctor check-ups. This all had to happen before we could even start to present to mamas!
And to add to the craziness of the money part, we lost over $5,000 when we had a failed match in January of 2020. That money went to help house, feed, and clothe the expecting mama while she was pregnant. The match failed when after giving birth, Mama J decided not to follow through with the adoption. SO, we currently have $60,483 to use towards a match! I know this seems crazy to have this much money on-hand but we’ve seen cases called “stork drops” where the baby is born and just waiting at the hospital for her forever family to go pick her up so we have to have the money at the ready so we can be open to any case God puts on our hearts. In most cases, stork drop or not, all money is due upon match: within 48 hours of getting chosen – yikes! Then, after the actual fees for the adoption, there is our travel expenses (we’ll most likely be driving due to the pandemic so we’ll get a rental car and possibly a hotel room along the way), accommodations and food while we’re waiting for paperwork to go through (ICPC that allows us to cross state lines with our newborn), finalization of the adoption (can take up to six months after baby is born to have this completed), and medical costs for the baby from birth, check-ups, etc until she is legally a Graf. This is a LOT and we just have trust in God that this is all going to come together in His perfect timing, in His perfect way. We’re just being His hands and feet for His plans.
Thank you again to all who have participated in our fundraisers or who have given so generously to help us make this dream and calling a reality!
“May the Lord make you increase, both you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.”
Psalm 115:14-15