Why is Adoption So Expensive!?

Why is adoption SO expensive!?  Adam and I hear this question a lot now that we are adopting, along with other questions regarding adoption and costs.  It seems unfair.  And well, we feel like it is unfair, but without sounding too cliche' - life isn't fair.  You would think that if parents and families wanted to grow their families through adoption, and there are children WAITING, literally WAITING, SITTING, unstimulated and unloved in orphanages, then why shouldn't that same loving family not be able to bring home their child that God has placed in their hearts.  Surely not because they are not able to afford the initial $25,000 to $40,000 that is the average cost of an international adoption?  But sadly, there are many families that would consider adoption if they could afford adoption.  There are also many families that adopt who use any means available to pay for these adoption expenses, including family sacrifices, budgeting, savings, credit cards, loans, fundraising, 401Ks, etc.  It may seem unreasonable to have such high expenses for such a loving process, but agencies, attorneys, government entities, etc. are providing a service and until you are in the process it is hard to understand how these expenses get to be so high for families. 

So, I'm going to try to explain the best I can:

Here's some examples of adoption fees and approximations of those fees:
1.  Home Study ($1,500-3,000)
2.  Immigration Fees ($3,000-$3,500)
3.  Document Charges (varies depending on country, agency, etc.) ($100-$1,000)
4.  Agency Fees and Attorneys Fees ($8,000-$24,000)
Agencies and attorneys facilitate the adoption including identifying a child, completing the orphan investigations, obtaining medical information for a child, preparing/reviewing/submitting the dossier, filing for court, arranging travel for the family, representing the family at court, and much, much more.
5.  Travel and Accommodations ($4,000-$12,000)
One of the main reasons international adoption is so expensive is that travel, often more than one trip, is required. Depending on when you travel, you could pay high-season ticket prices. Additionally, in-country accommodations may not be as inexpensive as you might think. Sometimes, it costs just as much to stay in your child’s birth country as it would in your own.  Adam and I experienced this to be true of our children's birth country Ghana, in the city we stayed in, Accra.  Plus, we are planning to take 2 or 3 required trips to Ghana.

Other fees may include education, foster care, passports, vaccinations, etc.

For Adam and I, we have the following:
Foster Care for 2 children every month, Vaccinations, Passports, Education
*Many Immigration Updates because we have been in the process of adopting for close to 3 years for paperwork.  Also, we have had to update our home study 2 additional times on top of our original home study.

There are certainly other costs I have not mentioned here, and many expenses are unique to the country/program you adopt from.

But, while adoption is a costly leap of faith, our family believes we are truly being guided by God and with God's grace, we have faith that we will be able to bring our girls home.  Like any of our children, we will do anything we need to in order to bring them home and into our care.  And so, although it is so hard to ask for help in the way of money, we so humbly do ask for your help if you are able to. 

We have stepped out in faith again, and we are asking you to step out in prayer and if you are able to support us in any way financially to bring our babies home please do - and in doing so there will be 2 less orphans in the world :)  And we will be so blessed to be able to call them our daughters and our sisters.  And you will be able to call them friends, neighbors, and family. 

Love, the Halls