Adoption Q & A: Session 6
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Gwen, why does it cost so much to adopt?
With so many hungry children in the world,
shouldn't adoption be free?
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Gwen, why does it cost so much to adopt?
With so many hungry children in the world,
shouldn't adoption be free?
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Let's look at this issue from another perspective, shall we?
Every time a child enters a family, money is exchanged.
Scenario A: A family has a biological child born to them. A large chunk of money goes to pay her ob-gyn, the ultrasound tech, nurses, midwives, pre-natal educators, anaesthetists, lactation consultants, gas to and from the clinic and hospital, the upkeep of the hospital, and so on.
Scenario B: A family adopts a child from Ethiopia. A large chunk of money goes to pay their Social Worker, their case worker, government officials in both countries, translators, lawyers, court fees, orphanage workers, the upkeep of the agency facilities, the upkeep of the orphanage and transition homes, the food purchased to feed the children, the clothes purchased for the children, medical care for the children, and so on.
The difference in these two scenarios is that the family in Scenario A doesn't see the costs -- and those costs are considered normal and reasonable. In contrast, the family in Scenario B pays all these costs out of their own pockets.
There, see? Does that make sense?
8 Fellow Bletherers:
That makes perfect sense! Why would anyone have the least bit of trouble with $ exchanged in an adoption?
Good explanation.
I don't know if anyone has a "trouble" with it per se, Stace. At least, to me, it just seems SO prohibitively expensive. I think many more people would consider adopting if the cost was not in the tens of thousands. Including myself. And, I bet there are very few people who do not believe it is totally worth it.
Just my guess. I don't know nuttin'.
That's so true. Someone once told me the average cost of a child born in the US was upwards of $10,000(without insurance). Plus if a couple has infertility issues it could be several, several thousands of dollars.
I had no idea you were talking tens of K$$. Wow! I know of several adoptions that were 5K or less.
The Lord knows. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
Gwen, we really do take our medical system for granted don't we? I never think about the costs of health care.
Have I told you lately how well informed you are on so many topics?
Love you, Michelle
Amen, Stace! I just sent you an email telling you about our $10,000 miracle grant -- that's like 1/4 of one of His billions of cows. Yes, He can!
Michelle: Believe me, I only know this stuff because I've spent months staring at these costs, trying to figure out WHY...
I had this beautiful moment when you said that Family A never saw the cost. We had a $2k bill after Lucy was born, and that didn't include what I still owed the OB, her pediatrician, the anesthesiologist, or the childbirth educator. And we do have health insurance, and fairly decent health insurance.
Gotta love the USA. (Sigh)
Yikes. In contrast, in Canada a pregnant woman doesn't pay for her ultrasounds, C-section, etc, but she may not be able to get an app't with her ob-gyn until the child is roughly 11 years old. ;) (j/k)
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