The cost of adoption can be a big obstacle for any hopeful adoptive family. There are few of us with a spare $10-30,000 tucked away in the sock drawer! I would venture to guess that finances top the list of adoption barriers for most families, and I would also venture to guess that it is at the root of the vast majority of “Reluctant Husband Syndrome” cases. ;)

So, must a couple be wealthy in order to adopt? There is certainly a prevailing attitude in America that couples must be well-off to adopt, and with adoption fees sometimes exceeding $40,000, it’s easy to understand why people get this impression. For a more objective look, consider this 2000 U.S. Census information information:

In its first-ever profile of America's adopted children, the U.S. Census Bureau said today that Census 2000 data show that adopted children under age 18 tended to live in households that were better off economically than those of biological children.

For example, the bureau said, adopted children lived in households with a median income of $56,000 a year versus $48,000 for biological children, and 78 percent of adopted children lived in homes that were owned by their adoptive parents versus 67 percent of biological children.

So in simple terms, the average adoptive parents made $8000 more per year and were 14% more likely to own their own home than parents of biological children. These data certainly seem to illustrate that adoptive families indeed have more resources (at least in 2000), but doesn’t address whether this level of resource availability is a prerequisite for adoption. I believe it is not because I have plenty of anecdotal evidence to the contrary. But beyond that – and this is pure speculation on my part - I would bet that the next census shows a less dramatic split between the two groups of parents. Accurate statistics on domestic adoption are impossible to pinpoint because of the variety of types of adoption (guardianship/kinship care, private adoption, agency assisted adoption, etc.), but just using international adoption statistics, we can see that the number of immigrant visas issued to adopted children has jumped from 17,718 at the time of the census to 20,679 for FY2006. We can’t account for this increase by saying that more people are simply making more money. In fact, the reverse is true: the average American income dropped three percent during the period from 2000-2004 and has only just recently begun to inch just ahead of the inflation rate. What this tells me is that as adoption gains broader popularity, more and more families are figuring out ways to make adoption happen for themselves, even if resources are limited.

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