Some General Adoption Questions

[CntryMama]

I guess I never really thought we could adopt, I assumed it was for rich people only... I do have a few quetsions about some of our background, like does it have to be perfect?

We are both college graduates, DH is almost done with his MBA. I am a SAHM and we budget. We own a home with 5 bedrooms (one is in the basement though) and 2 baths (one in the basement). We have one child with one on the way. We have some land and some debt

First, in 3 years we paid off all our credit card debt from college ($23,000) but we have some student loans. DH about $10,000 and I around $20,000. Our home loan is under one hundrad thousand No car loans or anything else though.

The tricky part is when I was right out of high school (10 years ago!) a private student loan company gave me $20,000.... I didn't realize the signifacance then and thought once I graduate college I will be RICH. haha... So, this loan went into defult a year later because I did not read the fine print at the age of 18... I now have a judgement on me for the loans BUT we are paying on them and have since the judgement was placed. I tried to pay a few years back but a collection agency did nothing but lie and take a few thousand from us - I vowed not to pay unless it was through the court system. Will this hurt us? If so how bad? My credit is pretty much shot because of these two loans but everything else I have ever had (credit cards, federal studen loans has been paid on time).

One more question - over 5 years ago I had an OWI (driving under the influance) while in college. It is off my record now but is that going to affect it? That was before I re dedicated my life to Christ and I currently do not drink, ever.

[77Lipen]

How are you adopting? International, domestic private or domestic state?

Through the state the DUI might impact since its been fairly recent (I think a drivers abstract goes back 7 yrs).
Domestic private any of that 'might' be an issue and it might not. Depends on the bio parents feelings.
International, the money history might be a problem (cause they want to see they are sending the kids to a family that is stable and can support the child's needs). And the DUI could be an issue depending on the country, especially since your a woman, some countries seriously frown on women drinking alcohol.

[CntryMama]

Originally Posted by 77Lipen How are you adopting? International, domestic private or domestic state? Through the state the DUI might impact since its been fairly recent (I think a drivers abstract goes back 7 yrs). Domestic private any of that 'might' be an issue and it might not. Depends on the bio parents feelings. International, the money history might be a problem (cause they want to see they are sending the kids to a family that is stable and can support the child's needs). And the DUI could be an issue depending on the country, especially since your a woman, some countries seriously frown on women drinking alcohol.

Oh, it has been over 7 years - I just checked on online court records. We do have money, like I stated on one income we paid $23,000 in a few years, while still having a small savings. How much do they want - like $50,000 in the savings? I am not sure how much would be required - compaired to most Americans we have a very small home loand 95,000 and no car loans or credit cards... It is just my crappy student loan that defulted because I did not read the fine print 10 years ago

[77Lipen]

I should say though none of these will stop you from adopting. I am a foster parent and see children adopted to families who don't own homes or have college education, one child was adopted by his 'grandpa' (he was a step parent to the bio mom) and he had a criminal record from when he was in his 20's.
call a social worker or adoption agency and see. Just be ware that some agencies look for a lot $ upfront and then may tell you your not eligible. Which is dirty really.

[77Lipen]

Originally Posted by CntryMama Oh, it has been over 7 years - I just checked on online court records. We do have money, like I stated on one income we paid $23,000 in a few years, while still having a small savings. How much do they want - like $50,000 in the savings? I am not sure how much would be required - compaired to most Americans we have a very small home loand 95,000 and no car loans or credit cards... It is just my crappy student loan that defulted because I did not read the fine print 10 years ago

The savings amount really can vary from state to state and country to country.

[CntryMama]

Originally Posted by 77Lipen I should say though none of these will stop you from adopting. I am a foster parent and see children adopted to families who don't own homes or have college education, one child was adopted by his 'grandpa' (he was a step parent to the bio mom) and he had a criminal record from when he was in his 20's. call a social worker or adoption agency and see. Just be ware that some agencies look for a lot $ upfront and then may tell you your not eligible. Which is dirty really.

I was just looking at that - Foster to adopt is about 1/5th of the cost as an internations/domestic adoption!

[77Lipen]

We are also foster with a view.


It can break your heart when you start to foster thinking the child will eventually be yours and then that child returning to their parents, just be aware of that. We've had 4 children in our home thinking they were staying and then they left

But overall the financial cost is much much less, and the kids in state care deserve a permanent home just as much as any other.

[jenfostermom]

We foster/adopt. We have four bios, two we have adopted so far and two that should finalize adoption this year. We have been fostering six years and will have adopted four children, three of which we either picked up as newbies from the hospital or were tiny infants and one who was 17mos at time of placement.

Your situation sounds much more stable than ours, you should have no problem if you decide to adopt through foster system (and our adoptions were 100% free, but I know that varies by state). We rent, have student loan debt and don't have squeaky clean credit either. They are more concerned about your ability to provide a safe and stable home for kids in need than your credit history.

[Chris10]

We foster/adopt through DSS. Our credit was not checked, but when we applied to be foster parents they wanted pay stubs to show our income and we itemized our monthly debt, but that was it. They just want to see that you've got more coming in than going out and won't be relying on board payments to pay your bills. I've read that unless a crime is against a child, elderly person, animal, invalid, etc. it can be overlooked assuming it wasn't too recent.

[anne_josh]

Originally Posted by Chris10 We foster/adopt through DSS. Our credit was not checked, but when we applied to be foster parents they wanted pay stubs to show our income and we itemized our monthly debt, but that was it. They just want to see that you've got more coming in than going out and won't be relying on board payments to pay your bills. I've read that unless a crime is against a child, elderly person, animal, invalid, etc. it can be overlooked assuming it wasn't too recent.

This, exactly, is our situation. Although I have no idea how people can do foster care to make money. It's not a lucrative pursuit by any means!

I seriously doubt one DUI seven years ago will work against you, particularly with your current stable situation and (I am sure) excellent personal and church references.

edit: I can't speak to domestic private adoption or international, as we haven't done those