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What is the Adoption Project?
Adoption: An American Revolution is a major multimedia project that will explore how transformations taking place in adoption today are having far-reaching effects on all our public and private lives.
The centerpiece of the project will be a two-hour documentary special for national public broadcasting. The documentary will feature a rich tapestry of original stories, illuminating the joys, the challenges and the impact of adoption.
The television broadcast will be linked to an ambitious adoption education effort, with innovative adoption-related materials for public libraries and schools, a new Web site with adoption resources, and more.
Friday, September 23, 2005
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2 comments:
Can they also mention how much adoption costs? I almost fell over when I found out, and NO ONE in my group of friends or relatives had any idea. We're a middle-class couple, and when I mention we can't go out to eat with friends any more or buy new clothes, etc., people are shocked that we're going to end up spending $18,000 (or more) to adopt. Granted, it's our choice, but I think more employers would consider adoption benefits (*especially* since they're saving on hospital costs for pregnancy) if people knew the real costs. It especially chaps my hide since we've already spent $18,000 on out of pocket infertility costs, and all of my coworkers are getting babies "for free" when we're paying $36,000 total (way more than a year of my take-home pay). I know, I know, I could use some therapy to get over the bitterness. Sigh.
Adoption service fees can run the gamut from practically free (when children are placed in adoptive homes from foster care) to well over $40,000 for private placement and some international programs for healthy infants.
Many employers, generally larger corporations, do offer adoption benefits. (My husband's company provided two subsidies with each of our two kids. However, the subsidies were considered taxable income.)
There is also a federal tax credit and many states also offer tax credits.
Now, having said all that, I think the bigger question is - should insurance pay for infertility treatments - is building a family a health issue?
I didn't do infertility treatments. I got pregnant easily so there was little insurance could do except pay for my post-miscarriage services which was clearly a medical-related matter.
I do believe that if pregnancy/delivery was not covered by insurance, people would be just as shocked by the real costs. From the doctor visits, to the lab tests through post-partum check-ups. (My one successful pregnancy involved all the extra stuff and then some since I was 37 at time of delivery. The bills were impressive, tho insurance did cover most of it.)
Ultimately, is parenthood a choice or a right?
Because we already had a biological child, I think it was easier for us to move briskly to adoption as opposed to infertility treatments. My RE told me I was an excellent candidate for donor egg. I told him I'd rather parent a child, in the here and now, who needed a mom rather than proceed with another woman's egg.
And I still feel that way.
But I certainly understand where you're coming from. It's hard to see the bigger picture - the joy of becoming a parent - when you're surrounded by folks you believe are having an easier time of it in "adventures of reproduction" as I call it.
It will, however, get better as you move through the adoption process. Have faith.
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