We are finally getting around to doing our taxes this year. It was very frustrating that we only received our final two documents about some investments this week since they were do, oh, two months ago! But even more frustrating since I've been very motivated to get our taxes done this year so we can get the adoption tax credit. But they are finally done and hopefully it won't take too long to get the refund. I know the adoption credit will slow it down, but we can always hope, right?
Back when I had blogged about our total costs related to trying to get pregnant, we were moving towards adoption and I had planned to also blog about our final costs related to the adoption. But now that everything is done, I am hesitant to do so. Logically, paying a doctor huge fees to get pregnant is just as much "buying a baby" as paying a lawyer or social worker to process an adoption. Yet emotionally it feels different and that makes me want to keep it private. I could blame it on Seven and say we want to keep it private for his sake. But that just begs the question. Why should it be more private to know that your parents paid a doctor something like $20,000 to get pregnant than to pay other types of professionals to bring you home? And we didn't even have much in terms of birthmother expenses or vague agency match fees, which are the grayest areas of all to me in terms of the costs related to adoption. The overwhelming majority of it was the homestudy and post placement, court costs, attorney fees, birthmother counseling, and travel to North Carolina. We didn't spend in areas where we didn't feel comfortable spending and the amount was within the target we started with. Still, putting all the details out there doesn't seem quite right.
Dancing in the Rain…
5 years ago
I've never felt comfortable talking about the costs of our adoptions either (outside of with a few friends who were seriously intersted in pursuing adoption). It does feel personal and uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteBe prepared to be audited for your refund. It's not a big deal but everyone I knew who adopted and was able to claim for 2010 were audited and the refund was post ponded till the last possible minute, June 23rd.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I feel like people are so uneducated about the cost of adoption that I have no problem dropping a range when asked. I usually say the average adoption costs 20,000 to 30,000 and K was somewhere in the middle. People are always shocked.