A reader e-mailed me and asked if I would share more about my personal story with our home study. I am working through a series about each of the interviews we had as part of the home study process.

One of the interviews focused on finances. We discussed our budget, savings, and expenses. We had previously provided all of this information on the adoption application, but we talked about our finances in more detail.

Part of this discussion centered on how adding a child to the family would affect our finances. Was I planning to stay at home with the baby? If so, then how would we manage our finances after losing one income? If I had planned to return to work, then the interview would have focused on who would care for the baby while both parents were working and which one of us would take off work to care for a sick baby.

We talked about how we planned to pay the adoption fee when it came due. The fee was projected to be around $14,000, and we would be expected to pay that in full. Did we have that much money in savings? Were we going to take out a loan? If so, how would we budget to repay the loan? Was family or friends helping to offset the cost?

Talking about our finances was uncomfortable for both of us. Hub and I do not talk about how much money we make or the size of our savings account with other people. Because this was information we had always held close to the vest, it was hard to open up to this stranger about such personal details about our lives.

Our finances were in good shape, so we did not get into budgetary discussions, but I have heard that part of the home study can include helping a hopeful adoptive couple become more financially savvy. The social worker wants to make sure that you can afford to raise a child. You do not have to have enough money to send your child to private school and then an Ivy League college, but you do need to be able to provide the necessities. That was the focus of this interview.

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Photo credit: Lynda Bernhardt