Friday, August 27, 2010

How Much does an Adoption Cost?

"How Much does an Adoption Cost?" is one of those questions that I get asked, often somewhat uncomfortably. The cost has nothing to do with how we value our daughter - she's priceless. Its just that people are uncomfortable asking about money, especially big sums. But its an important question if you want to adopt - can you afford it?

Here then is how much we spent. A few expenses may be missing, but this is pretty close. Details follow, but the short answer for us is $38K.

PRE TRIP EXPENSES (Estimated, Spent 2005-2009)
Agency Fee             $3,000
Dossier                    $  800 (fees, shipping, etc.)
Homes Studies X3  $2,500
Fingerprints       X4  $  800
I600, Renewals        $1,500
TOTAL PRE-TRIP:   $8,600

TRIP EXPENSES (Spent July-August 2010)
Airfare
                      $  5,495.00   
China Hotels          $  6,374.16   
Taxi to Airport          $      49.00  
Airport Food             $      23.47  
Airport Food             $        8.93 
Tea Sets, Presents $  1,039.89  (presents for Zoe)
Lunch                        $      14.55  (KFC -made people sick!)
Dinner                       $      21.90  
Drinks                       $        4.14 
China Set                 $     597.51  (wedding present for Zoe)
Room Service           $      41.30  
Broken Dishes          $      22.20  
Jade                          $     954.40  (presents for Zoe)
Gifts                          $      71.77  
Gifts                          $      30.04  
Gifts                          $     101.33  
Gifts                          $      91.06  
Dinner                       $      58.04  
Breakfast                   $      70.21  
Airport Food               $      23.65  
Taxi from Airport         $      77.50  (Smart Decision!)
Seat Upgrade             $     129.47  (ask when you check in. TOTALLY WORTH IT!)
Seat Upgrade             $     129.47  
Overweight Luggage  $     205.92  (know your limits!)
CREDIT TOTAL      $22,405.66    

CASH (Taken on Trip)
Orphanage Fee        $6,100 (Exactly!)
Legal Fees                 $1,000 (actually a bit less)
"Tips"                        $   400 (for guides, drivers, etc)
Other                        $2,000 (Food, gifts, stuff)
CASH TOTAL            $9,500

Grand Total             $37,805


2 comments:

  1. Correction: Agency fees were $5000, not $3000.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Also, we upgraded our hotel rooms ($1600) and seats ($250) to economy plus on the way back from Hong Kong to San Francisco. Totally worth it.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.