The phrase “beg, borrow and steal” is often used when someone is desperate for money. Well, I don’t advocate stealing, and begging doesn’t bring to mind a very nice mental picture, so for the purpose of funding an adoption, I think a better phrase is, “ask nicely, borrow and fundraise.”

For “ask nicely”, I will discuss adoption grants that are available (and who they are available for), gifts and donations. For “borrow”, I will discuss different loans that can help pay for an adoption, including home equity loans, no or low interest credit cards and adoption specific loans. And for “fundraise” I will share lots of great ideas that along with a little elbow grease can really raise a good amount of money for your adoption.

I will also do a separate post just on the adoption tax credit. It is something that peaks the interest of most adoptive parents and yet can be tricky to figure out exactly how it will help you (or not) specifically.

Today I will start with the “ask nicely” option. Under this heading there are grants, gifts and donations. Unlike a loan, these funds would not need to be repaid.

There is money out there available for adoptive families to help pay for adoptions if you know where to look. I do not know of any grants out there that will pay for an entire adoption, but many can cover several thousand dollars of your expenses. Most grants are not paid to the adoptive family, but are paid right to the adoption agency for the family.

Most grants require a homestudy to be complete. While many families feel like the need to know how they will pay for an adoption before they begin, most of the organizations giving grants want to see that the parents are committed and have started the process before they commit giving money. Also, many of the grant-giving organizations charge a small application fee and this is normal. Some of the organizations review applications and give grants monthly, so review them as they come in, and some only review applications quarterly or even bi-annually or annually.

It is also very common for some of the grant organizations to be religious based, requiring the adoptive families to be Christian or Jewish, etc. There are also organizations that only work with families adopting older or special needs kids, or only work with families adopting internationally, or from a specific country, etc. While it is true that if you are adopting an older child or a special needs child or a sibling group that there will be more help available to you, there are grants available for most adoption situations if you take the time to seek them out.

It is important to remember that all of these organziations receive many more applications than they have grants to give and not every adoptive family can count on receiving a grant, but it is also important to remember that many families do.

I have taken the time to do some seeking for you and you can check out my next post for a long list of grants.