Adoption Expenses

Adoption is expensive. I never really understood why until we started our own adoption process. You don't just write a $30,000 check to some adoption agency who is getting rich from adoptions. I've been tracking all of our adoption expenses so that I can explain to others why it is so expensive. To date we have spent $12,246.63 and we still have the bulk of the expenses left to pay as we travel to China. I'm sure this information will be quite boring to most people, but if you are interested in why adoption is so expensive, here is our list to date of our expenses. I'll post the final list later on. (Although it won't really be final for 5 more years as we are required to pay for post-adoption home study reports for 5 years after our adoption!) I also want to mention that we have had many people who have helped support us financially throughout this process. I also plan on posting a list of those people's names when it is finalized also. We are currently selling tickets to an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast to raise money! God has been so good to provide for all our our adoption expenses up until now, and I trust that He will continue to provide the rest of the money that we need!

Date	Reason	Amount
01/17/11	FTIA Application Fee	200.00
01/18/11	Postage for Application	1.22
01/26/11	Todd's birth certificates	45.00
01/26/11	Heather's birth certificates	40.00
01/26/11	money order fee for GA birth certificate	5.00
01/26/11	postage for GA birth certificate request C&RR	5.54
02/03/11	Marriage certificates & Brandon's birth certificate	55.00
02/03/11	AHSS Application Fee	100.00
02/08/11	AHSS Fee	500.00
02/08/11	Dr. co-pays for Todd and Heather	40.00
02/15/11	Heart of the Matter training program	174.00
02/16/11	Money order for criminal history check	19.00
02/16/11	Postage for criminal history check C & RR	5.54
02/23/11	Dr. co-pays for Brandon and Bekah	40.00
03/04/11	Fee for Floyd County Criminal Records Check	16.00
03/11/11	Final AHSS Fee	1000.00
03/12/11	Passport Photos	18.40
03/16/11	Passport Fees	220.00
03/16/11	Post Office Fees for Passport	50.00
03/18/11	Dr. exams for H & T not covered by insurance	288.00
03/22/11	Postage for KY child abuse checks C &RR	5.54
03/22/11	Locking gun cases for home study	104.82
03/23/11	Lab work for H & T not covered by insurance	186.50
04/15/11	Ship documents to FTIA via UPS	8.23
04/29/11	US Dept. of Homeland Security 1800A application	890.00
04/29/11	Ship documents to USCIS via UPS	9.12
05/16/11	GA Sec. of State Fee	10.00
05/16/11	Tn Sec. of State Fee	4.00
05/16/11	Ship to GA, TN, and IN Sec. of State via UPS	53.49
05/17/11	KY County Clerk certification fees	45.00
05/18/11	KY Sec. of State Fee	45.00
05/18/11	Ship to KY Sec. of State via UPS	10.96
06/02/11	Ship to GA via UPS again	14.63
06/16/11	US Dept. of State Fee	80.00
06/16/11	Ship to US Dept. of State via UPS	19.37
06/22/11	Money Order to Chinese Consulate & Fee (Texas)	30.00
06/22/11	Ship documents to TX consulate via Fed Ex	39.32
07/14/11	Ship documents to IN Sec. of State via Fed Ex	24.81
07/21/11	Ship documents to IN Sec. of State via Fed Ex again	29.00
07/27/11	Money Order and fee for Consulate in Chicago	106.00
07/27/11	Ship documents to Chicago via Fed Ex	49.82
08/01/11	Money order to Chinese Embassy & Fee (DC)	202.00
08/02/11	Ship documents to Caring Hands (DC) via Fed Ex	62.04
08/03/11	Caring Hands Courier in DC	73.50
08/04/11	Walgreens - photos printed	1.83
08/11/11	CCCWA Fee	1090.00
08/11/11	FTIA Dossier submission fee	2800.00
08/12/11	Office Depot - copy dossier	7.90
08/12/11	Ship dossier to FTIA via Fed Ex	10.24
11/12/11	CCCWA Pre-Approval Fee	80.00
12/19/11	Home Study Addendum fee to FTIA	200.00
12/21/11	USCIS Fee for Supplement 3	360.00
12/22/11	Ship documents to USCIS via Fed Ex	12.94
01/05/12	Ship I-800 to USCIS via Fed Ex	34.51
01/16/12	Visa Fees and Courier Service	350.00
01/17/12	Ship Visa Application via Fed Ex	38.51
01/31/12	FTIA - Final agency fee	1000.00
01/31/12	FTIA - Humanitarian Aid Fee	500.00
01/31/12	Fee for Karis's passport and visa paid to FTIA	436.00
01/31/12	Ship documents to FTIA via UPS	8.85
02/03/12	Immunizations for Todd and Heather	190.00
02/16/12	Immunizations for Todd and Heather	200.00
	Total	$12,246.63