Thank you!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! You all are absolutely amazing! We set a goal to sell 100 shirts. We did not make our goal, but we were soooo close, we ended up selling 75 shirts and raising $1,109!! We could not have done it without you all. That is a great number to start out our adoption fundraising. Our next fundraiser will be May 19t which will be a yard sale!! If you have anything that you would like to donate just let us know. You can also make a donation at anytime on our youcaring page
We wanted to take some time to explain to you all why we are fundraising for our adoption. The simple truth is that it is expensive to bring home a baby through adoption. There are many different fees and expenses that go into adopting a child. A few of the different fees are the initial home study ($1,300), legal fees ($5000), agency fees (17,000), birthmother expenses (4,000), and travel expenses (3,000). The cost of domestic adoption can range considerably, with the average being around 35,000. While we wish that we were able to do this by on our own we simply can not, but we know that we are called to adopt and that with hard work and determination we will be able to bring our little one home.
So what exactly are all of these expenses? The home study is a document put together by a social worker that determines whether your family is financially, mentally, and emotionally ready to adopt a child. For the home study you are required to gather a multitude of documents for the worker, have interviews with the worker, and allow them into your home. You can not adopt a child without a home study.
Legal are another expense these can generally cost around $5,000. These fees include hiring a social worker or lawyer in the birth mother's state. You must also pay for any court fees associated with finalizing the adoption.
Birth mother expenses are something that most people who are not familiar with adoption may not think about. It is important to take care of the mother of the child. They are going through probably one of the hardest times of their life. They are carrying a child that they know that they will ultimately not be keeping for a number of different reasons. They are going to have their own emotions and things to deal with during and after their pregnancy. It is important to show them that they are loved, appreciated, and cared for. This is where the birthmother expenses come in. In some cases the adoptive parents will have to pay for some of the birth mother's housing, medical expenses, and other expenses.
We will be adopting domestically, but there will be travel expenses involved in the adoption. Most likely the child will not be born in Tennessee. This means that we will have to travel to another state, and most likely last minute, which means our plane tickets will be rather expensive. Once we arrive we will have to stay in a hotel. It is possible that we could be in the baby's birth state for up to two weeks while waiting on the ICPC to be completed, which is basically an agreement between the baby's birth state and Tennessee saying that it is safe for baby to come home with us.
There will be other expenses that come up as the process goes on , such as the home study visits after baby is home. There will be about three home visits after baby is home that will be $350 a piece. Its is easy to see why so many people want to adopt but are scared away when then see how much it can cost to complete the process. We have faith that we will be able to raise what we need in order to complete this adoption and bring home the third Benton baby.
We ask that you would be praying for us. That you would pray that the Lord would guide us in our decisions. That we would continue to grow in our faith, and continue to have faith even when things might not be going exactly the way that we think that they should. We ask that you would pray that we would find unique and fun ways to raise funds. Pray for us as we have conversations with the boys about adoption and what that means. Pray for the birth mother, she is most likely going through or will be going through one of the hardest times of her life. Not only is she pregnant, but she is making the decision to allow someone else to parent her child. Pray that she will have people to surround her and love her, pray that she will feel God's love all around her.
Again, thank you all for your love and support. Our next fundraiser will be May 19th which will be a yard sale!!! If you have anything that you would like to donate just let us know!! You can also make a donation at anytime on our youcaring page.
We wanted to take some time to explain to you all why we are fundraising for our adoption. The simple truth is that it is expensive to bring home a baby through adoption. There are many different fees and expenses that go into adopting a child. A few of the different fees are the initial home study ($1,300), legal fees ($5000), agency fees (17,000), birthmother expenses (4,000), and travel expenses (3,000). The cost of domestic adoption can range considerably, with the average being around 35,000. While we wish that we were able to do this by on our own we simply can not, but we know that we are called to adopt and that with hard work and determination we will be able to bring our little one home.
So what exactly are all of these expenses? The home study is a document put together by a social worker that determines whether your family is financially, mentally, and emotionally ready to adopt a child. For the home study you are required to gather a multitude of documents for the worker, have interviews with the worker, and allow them into your home. You can not adopt a child without a home study.
Legal are another expense these can generally cost around $5,000. These fees include hiring a social worker or lawyer in the birth mother's state. You must also pay for any court fees associated with finalizing the adoption.
Birth mother expenses are something that most people who are not familiar with adoption may not think about. It is important to take care of the mother of the child. They are going through probably one of the hardest times of their life. They are carrying a child that they know that they will ultimately not be keeping for a number of different reasons. They are going to have their own emotions and things to deal with during and after their pregnancy. It is important to show them that they are loved, appreciated, and cared for. This is where the birthmother expenses come in. In some cases the adoptive parents will have to pay for some of the birth mother's housing, medical expenses, and other expenses.
We will be adopting domestically, but there will be travel expenses involved in the adoption. Most likely the child will not be born in Tennessee. This means that we will have to travel to another state, and most likely last minute, which means our plane tickets will be rather expensive. Once we arrive we will have to stay in a hotel. It is possible that we could be in the baby's birth state for up to two weeks while waiting on the ICPC to be completed, which is basically an agreement between the baby's birth state and Tennessee saying that it is safe for baby to come home with us.
There will be other expenses that come up as the process goes on , such as the home study visits after baby is home. There will be about three home visits after baby is home that will be $350 a piece. Its is easy to see why so many people want to adopt but are scared away when then see how much it can cost to complete the process. We have faith that we will be able to raise what we need in order to complete this adoption and bring home the third Benton baby.
We ask that you would be praying for us. That you would pray that the Lord would guide us in our decisions. That we would continue to grow in our faith, and continue to have faith even when things might not be going exactly the way that we think that they should. We ask that you would pray that we would find unique and fun ways to raise funds. Pray for us as we have conversations with the boys about adoption and what that means. Pray for the birth mother, she is most likely going through or will be going through one of the hardest times of her life. Not only is she pregnant, but she is making the decision to allow someone else to parent her child. Pray that she will have people to surround her and love her, pray that she will feel God's love all around her.
Again, thank you all for your love and support. Our next fundraiser will be May 19th which will be a yard sale!!! If you have anything that you would like to donate just let us know!! You can also make a donation at anytime on our youcaring page.
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