Friends,
After much discussion with Heather, and a long string of weeks where I have been unable to devote the time to the blog that I would like, we have decided that until we reach a major milestone (getting listed as a waiting family, etc), or we get a specific request for a topic, we will begin limiting our posts to once a month. The plan is to update the blog on the 3rd Thursday of each month (I'm calling it: "Anything can happen Thursday [fans of BB will get it]". At that time, we will update all of you on the events of the past month, and fill your heads with the mundane doings of school teachers. Also, hopefully, we will have more substantial news regarding the adoption than we've had recently. Before we part, however, I want to give a special shout-out to a former cabinmate of mine from 1990, as he and his family gave a substantial donation to our cause. Our deepest gratitude goes out to him, and his family, and he has proven once again the lifelong bond that Shewahmegon gave us lucky few. Thank you!
Until we meet again my friends, may God hold you in the palm of His hand,
-H&J-
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
A Fun(-ish) Request
Meine Damen und Herren,
Ich hoffe Entdeckungen dieses Buchstaben Sie gut! Nichts viel ist hinsichtlich der Annahme diese Woche geschehen. Und so, entschied mich ich, auszuprobieren mein Deutsch von den Jahren vor. Ich hoffe, dass Sie es einfach zu lesen finden und von den bedeutenden Fehlern freigeben.
No, that was not a mistake. I meant to write all of that in German. Please don't use a German-English translator to look the previous paragraph up- you will get a garble that makes no sense whatsoever. The reason that I decided to write a paragraph in German is that we have had no real news on the adoption front this week, and I have begun reaching the limits of my knowledge of adoption. Without any news, I am finding it difficult to continue posting on the subject of adoption without a) wandering aimlessly around a post and making no point, and b) writing a post that in no way is related to adoption (which I find to be a bad option, given that the whole point of this blog is to talk about adoption.
And so.
My request.
1) Please don't use a cheap trick like funny spacing while writing things for others to read.
2) Please send me an e-mail, text, FB message, snail-mail, or phone call, which should include any questions you have, or any topics you would like me to write about. I think that with your input, we can make this blog more interesting, cogent, and concise. The more information that I know that you want, the more easily I can provide it to you. Hopefully, you will provide me enough topics to write about so that I won't ever again have to write verbose and arcane posts about trivialities and sundries. Heather and I appreciate your support of the blog, and we look forward to discussing your interests in the near future.
Seien Sie meine Freunde wohl,
-H&J-
Ich hoffe Entdeckungen dieses Buchstaben Sie gut! Nichts viel ist hinsichtlich der Annahme diese Woche geschehen. Und so, entschied mich ich, auszuprobieren mein Deutsch von den Jahren vor. Ich hoffe, dass Sie es einfach zu lesen finden und von den bedeutenden Fehlern freigeben.
No, that was not a mistake. I meant to write all of that in German. Please don't use a German-English translator to look the previous paragraph up- you will get a garble that makes no sense whatsoever. The reason that I decided to write a paragraph in German is that we have had no real news on the adoption front this week, and I have begun reaching the limits of my knowledge of adoption. Without any news, I am finding it difficult to continue posting on the subject of adoption without a) wandering aimlessly around a post and making no point, and b) writing a post that in no way is related to adoption (which I find to be a bad option, given that the whole point of this blog is to talk about adoption.
And so.
My request.
1) Please don't use a cheap trick like funny spacing while writing things for others to read.
2) Please send me an e-mail, text, FB message, snail-mail, or phone call, which should include any questions you have, or any topics you would like me to write about. I think that with your input, we can make this blog more interesting, cogent, and concise. The more information that I know that you want, the more easily I can provide it to you. Hopefully, you will provide me enough topics to write about so that I won't ever again have to write verbose and arcane posts about trivialities and sundries. Heather and I appreciate your support of the blog, and we look forward to discussing your interests in the near future.
Seien Sie meine Freunde wohl,
-H&J-
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Last Week's Post
Friends,
I am sorry to be posting this so late, but last week, Blogspot was not happy with me, and prevented me from uploading this. Sorry, and enjoy!
Hi all!
I hope that this latest installment finds you well, and that things having been going swimmingly for you (if you live near me, you might actually BE sw...imming, given all the rain we have had recently). Please forgive the brevity of the following post- I have reached the point in the basketball season where I live in a state of exhaustion, and so I have to channel all of my energy into teaching and coaching, leaving very little to be focused on writing. I hope you will forgive that. Only a few more weeks, and I will be able to go back to writing deeply meaningful (or at least pedantic) things. However, I will actually use this time to do something constructive, and so I hope you find your time well-spent.
At the request of one of our readers, I will spend the rest of the post answering the following question: "$30,000 seems like a lot of money to adopt a child. Where is all of the money going?"
My answer:
Yes, adoption is very expensive, and it does seem impossible that a simple thing like adoption shouldn't be that expensive. The only way to discuss this is to give readers a rough breakdown of the price list. First, approximately $3,000 is spent on the "home inspection". This 'inspection' is actually a background check run in conjunction with the FBI. To complete the inspection, you are required to hire a licensed inspector to liase between you and the FBI (and any state agencies that want your info). This inspection is only good for 1 year, and so, if after the inspection, we do not adopt within a year, we will be required to get another. The next major cost is birth-mother support. This amount typically ranges from $4,000-$8,000 depending on the circumstances of the birth-mother. Although it is illegal to pay a mother for her child, helping defray living and medical expenses. This money is needed, as birth-mothers choose prospective parents, and a family who cannot help out almost never successfully adopts. The next $10,000 or so goes to ANLC to help us advertise our availability to various networks across the United States. Without this money, prospective birth-mothers would have no idea of our existence, leaving us without a child. It seems pricey, I know, but sadly, even in what should be considered a "buyers' market", the whole process is run through a "sellers' market" paradigm. About $5,000 covers the legal fees/lawyers/court fees associated with legally transferring parenthood between two consenting parties. The final $5,000 or so covers the expense of travel, missed work, accomodations, and food while going to meet your child. Which means, in total, we are looking at right around $30,000, and all of that before a child can ever enter our home. I hope that for those of you looking for details, this post will provide the information that you are interested in. For the rest of you, thanks for reading along. I promise, soon, I will have the energy to write things that are witty and entertaining. Until then, thanks for reading, and we'll see you again next week.
-J&H-
I am sorry to be posting this so late, but last week, Blogspot was not happy with me, and prevented me from uploading this. Sorry, and enjoy!
Hi all!
I hope that this latest installment finds you well, and that things having been going swimmingly for you (if you live near me, you might actually BE sw...imming, given all the rain we have had recently). Please forgive the brevity of the following post- I have reached the point in the basketball season where I live in a state of exhaustion, and so I have to channel all of my energy into teaching and coaching, leaving very little to be focused on writing. I hope you will forgive that. Only a few more weeks, and I will be able to go back to writing deeply meaningful (or at least pedantic) things. However, I will actually use this time to do something constructive, and so I hope you find your time well-spent.
At the request of one of our readers, I will spend the rest of the post answering the following question: "$30,000 seems like a lot of money to adopt a child. Where is all of the money going?"
My answer:
Yes, adoption is very expensive, and it does seem impossible that a simple thing like adoption shouldn't be that expensive. The only way to discuss this is to give readers a rough breakdown of the price list. First, approximately $3,000 is spent on the "home inspection". This 'inspection' is actually a background check run in conjunction with the FBI. To complete the inspection, you are required to hire a licensed inspector to liase between you and the FBI (and any state agencies that want your info). This inspection is only good for 1 year, and so, if after the inspection, we do not adopt within a year, we will be required to get another. The next major cost is birth-mother support. This amount typically ranges from $4,000-$8,000 depending on the circumstances of the birth-mother. Although it is illegal to pay a mother for her child, helping defray living and medical expenses. This money is needed, as birth-mothers choose prospective parents, and a family who cannot help out almost never successfully adopts. The next $10,000 or so goes to ANLC to help us advertise our availability to various networks across the United States. Without this money, prospective birth-mothers would have no idea of our existence, leaving us without a child. It seems pricey, I know, but sadly, even in what should be considered a "buyers' market", the whole process is run through a "sellers' market" paradigm. About $5,000 covers the legal fees/lawyers/court fees associated with legally transferring parenthood between two consenting parties. The final $5,000 or so covers the expense of travel, missed work, accomodations, and food while going to meet your child. Which means, in total, we are looking at right around $30,000, and all of that before a child can ever enter our home. I hope that for those of you looking for details, this post will provide the information that you are interested in. For the rest of you, thanks for reading along. I promise, soon, I will have the energy to write things that are witty and entertaining. Until then, thanks for reading, and we'll see you again next week.
-J&H-
Thursday, January 10, 2013
The New Year
Hello again blog-fans,
After two weeks off, I am glad to be writing again. Whether you are glad I'm writing again is an entirely different matter. In any case, it's good to be back, and I am thrilled that I get to spend more quality time with you.
You may have noticed a change to the look of our blog, but if not, I am going to tell you about it anyway. At the urging of some of our most devoted fans, we decided that it would be appropriate to add a widget to the blog that keeps track of our overall progress in fundraising. The "Chip-in" widget displays only the money that was donated to us via this blog. Some of our fans had the brilliant idea that perhaps, only showing what had been donated via the blog might mislead some of our readers. In truth, we have raised almost $9,000 thus far, most of which has not been donated via our blog's widgets. Our fans suggested that by also showing the total amount of money raised, as opposed to simply showing the "Chip-in" amount, we were more likely to engender donations, as people may be more inclined to donate if they see that we are making substantial progress. To those readers who suggested this idea, thank you, as we think it is a brilliant one! Once more, let me reassure you, I am not mentioning this because I am begging for your money, but because this blog was created to be a transparent journey into the world of adoption. If this post inspires you to donate, that is terrific, but if not, simply enjoy (as much as you can) my writing, and consider it my gift to you.
The biggest news that I have to relate this week is in reference to an event that occurred early this week. I imagine that most readers of this blog are unfamiliar with the incentives that states and the national government issue to attract potential parents who are considering adoption. Specifically, the IRS has, in the past, issued a tax credit to adoptive families to help them defray the cost of adoption. Those incentives were set to expire on January 3, 2013. Given the fiscal cliff that was looming, Heather and I assumed that the tax credit would fall to the wayside. This was a discouraging, if not unexpected thought. However, somewhere in the bowels of the Capitol, little elves must have been working to send Heather and me (and other prospective parents) a gift. As of yesterday, Congress signed into law a permanent extension of this tax credit. The credit is worth $12,700! When Heather found out about this (she is very up-to-date on adoption issues), she immediately sent me an email with the details. I did my best to cover up my ecstasy in order that I might focus on teaching for the rest of the day. I'm not sure if I succeeded, but I think my students still managed to learn something. Anyway, back to the point. Although this tax credit only takes effect once an adoption is attempted (states have varying laws about how long a birth mother has to keep her child once it is born), in effect, this tax credit is giving us another almost $13,000 dollars towards our adoption. In essence, with this credit, we are almost 2/3 of the way to the approximately $30,000 we will need to complete our adoption. I estimate that it will not be more than another five or six months before we are able to be listed as a waiting family (meaning that birth mothers can choose us)!!! Having said that, I know we have a long way to go, and we won't be able to get there without more help from generous readers like you, but we are a giant step closer than we were, which has been cause for celebration in the Will household. At the same time, I would like to ask, on a very personal level, if there is anything you can do to contribute towards our adoption, we would be forever grateful. Even if you can only donate $1, that would be $1 closer to our goal. I hate having to say something like that, as I don't want you to think I am only here to take your hard-earned money. I'm not. But I am excited by this news, and I know we need help, and you, Generous Reader, are the only one I can turn to for help (I am including our families under the title Generous Reader, so as not to downplay how amazingly supportive our families have been). Even if you only consider donating, I would like to thank you for at least spending time thinking about us and our journey.
I assume by this point in the post that some of you are asking yourselves where my glib and humorous style has disappeared to. Rest assured, dear reader, it will return, and with a vengeance, but for this week, I have been so focused on the exciting news regarding the tax credit, that I have been unable to drum up a pithy (well, not really pithy, given how verbose I tend to be, even in a post like this, where I am striving for concision) and fun-themed post. Do not fear. Next week, I will return to my usual tone, and we will once again resume the dance of author/reader in the setting that you are most familiar with. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks for the continued, and continual support.
Much love,
-H&J-
After two weeks off, I am glad to be writing again. Whether you are glad I'm writing again is an entirely different matter. In any case, it's good to be back, and I am thrilled that I get to spend more quality time with you.
You may have noticed a change to the look of our blog, but if not, I am going to tell you about it anyway. At the urging of some of our most devoted fans, we decided that it would be appropriate to add a widget to the blog that keeps track of our overall progress in fundraising. The "Chip-in" widget displays only the money that was donated to us via this blog. Some of our fans had the brilliant idea that perhaps, only showing what had been donated via the blog might mislead some of our readers. In truth, we have raised almost $9,000 thus far, most of which has not been donated via our blog's widgets. Our fans suggested that by also showing the total amount of money raised, as opposed to simply showing the "Chip-in" amount, we were more likely to engender donations, as people may be more inclined to donate if they see that we are making substantial progress. To those readers who suggested this idea, thank you, as we think it is a brilliant one! Once more, let me reassure you, I am not mentioning this because I am begging for your money, but because this blog was created to be a transparent journey into the world of adoption. If this post inspires you to donate, that is terrific, but if not, simply enjoy (as much as you can) my writing, and consider it my gift to you.
The biggest news that I have to relate this week is in reference to an event that occurred early this week. I imagine that most readers of this blog are unfamiliar with the incentives that states and the national government issue to attract potential parents who are considering adoption. Specifically, the IRS has, in the past, issued a tax credit to adoptive families to help them defray the cost of adoption. Those incentives were set to expire on January 3, 2013. Given the fiscal cliff that was looming, Heather and I assumed that the tax credit would fall to the wayside. This was a discouraging, if not unexpected thought. However, somewhere in the bowels of the Capitol, little elves must have been working to send Heather and me (and other prospective parents) a gift. As of yesterday, Congress signed into law a permanent extension of this tax credit. The credit is worth $12,700! When Heather found out about this (she is very up-to-date on adoption issues), she immediately sent me an email with the details. I did my best to cover up my ecstasy in order that I might focus on teaching for the rest of the day. I'm not sure if I succeeded, but I think my students still managed to learn something. Anyway, back to the point. Although this tax credit only takes effect once an adoption is attempted (states have varying laws about how long a birth mother has to keep her child once it is born), in effect, this tax credit is giving us another almost $13,000 dollars towards our adoption. In essence, with this credit, we are almost 2/3 of the way to the approximately $30,000 we will need to complete our adoption. I estimate that it will not be more than another five or six months before we are able to be listed as a waiting family (meaning that birth mothers can choose us)!!! Having said that, I know we have a long way to go, and we won't be able to get there without more help from generous readers like you, but we are a giant step closer than we were, which has been cause for celebration in the Will household. At the same time, I would like to ask, on a very personal level, if there is anything you can do to contribute towards our adoption, we would be forever grateful. Even if you can only donate $1, that would be $1 closer to our goal. I hate having to say something like that, as I don't want you to think I am only here to take your hard-earned money. I'm not. But I am excited by this news, and I know we need help, and you, Generous Reader, are the only one I can turn to for help (I am including our families under the title Generous Reader, so as not to downplay how amazingly supportive our families have been). Even if you only consider donating, I would like to thank you for at least spending time thinking about us and our journey.
I assume by this point in the post that some of you are asking yourselves where my glib and humorous style has disappeared to. Rest assured, dear reader, it will return, and with a vengeance, but for this week, I have been so focused on the exciting news regarding the tax credit, that I have been unable to drum up a pithy (well, not really pithy, given how verbose I tend to be, even in a post like this, where I am striving for concision) and fun-themed post. Do not fear. Next week, I will return to my usual tone, and we will once again resume the dance of author/reader in the setting that you are most familiar with. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks for the continued, and continual support.
Much love,
-H&J-
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