8 pieces and more details

Ok so I promise I won't post every single time another piece or three is added but these first few pieces are so exciting! It also made me think that you might be wondering a little more about the payment breakdowns I shared in an earlier post.  I know that was one of the questions Brian and I initially wondered about when we began the first time around. I see the breakdown, but how much time passes between each chunk of money? So I shall explain....

pre-app $100

formal app $300 (usually a month or two after the pre-app is approved)

home study $1000 (approx. 1-3 months depending on scheduling)

approval fee $4500 (approx. 2-4 weeks after the home study. This is because they have a LOT of paperwork to process after the home study!)

match fee $5500 (This is where the biggest or smallest chunk of time could pass. The match fee only happens after you have been chosen by a birth mom. The average wait time is around a year, but could be more. At our agency the longest a family has waited was 3 years, and the shortest that I am aware of is 1 month!)

placement fee $6000 (For us, we had a little bit more time between paying our match fee and our placement fee because our birthmom was not as far along in the pregnancy as what they normally are when matched. Typically they don't let a birthmom choose until they are into their last trimester. This can vary between 1-3 months between match and placement).

As you can see, it is a little bit more manageable than placing approx. $18,000 in the agency's hands all at one time. However, when you never know exactly when that moment comes that you are 'chosen' we have to be prepared to pay at any time!