That’s a hard question to answer.  Especially when it comes to a human being.

Andrew and I have started looking further into the beginnings of a family.  We went to a foster-to-adopt session last night, and discovered that it’s not the route we want to take.  For many reasons, straight adoption is the way we want to go.

So, I started investigating adoption paths more seriously.  China’s rules are awfully strict; Guatemala is having legal troubles.  South Korea’s children are generally not adopted before age 3.  I was leaning toward Russia all along, and it seemed feasible when all the websites explained the average cost of adoption was $25-$30k.

Well, someone needs to update those websites.  I jumped on a forum of people currently adopting from Russia.  I read post after post, topic after topic of women whose journey to adoption from that country have averaged over $45k, some upwards of $60k, for a single child.

How can we justify spending that kind of money for a child?  That is about half of what we owe on our house…  That’s way more than I spent on my entire college education (including my Master’s degree).

If I bring a child into this household, I don’t want to be paying off the debt forever instead of saving for her college education.  That just doesn’t seem fair to the child.

Is it really worth it?