Affording Adoption
Seeking Help from Employers
Adoption is expensive and, unlike the expenses associated with childbirth, insurance doesn’t cover those expenses. Adoptive parents must often be creative and proactive in securing funding for adoption expenses.
One suggestion is to ask your employer for financial assistance. Some employers already offer adoption benefits, including funding, but if your employer doesn’t, consider asking for assistance. Your suggestion could result in some form of financial help and may pave the way for other adopting families in the future.
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption offers very helpful and free resources to help parents approach employers. There are also step-by-step guides for employers to use in setting up a benefit plan for their employees. For more information on these resources, or to order, visit http://www.davethomasfoundation.org/Free-Adoption-Resources/Adoption-Benefits/.
Adoption Associates has learned recently that more and more employers are getting on board with offering benefits to adopting families. One family reports they receive a reimbursement per child adopted, but that there is a limit to the amount that can be used in a lifetime. Another family shares that their employer did not have adoption benefits when they started the process. They provided the Dave Thomas Foundation toolkit to the HR director and he put together a new benefit of 4 weeks paid time off. Another family shares that their employer gives a $4,000 reimbursement per adoption, once the adoption is finalized. AAI encourages you to be proactive. You may be surprised how supportive your employer might be!
More information
Many more ways to fund adoption can be found on AAI’s adoption funding web page. Find out just how affordable adoption can be!
