I am a PP. We have adopted an older child and are well-connected with the older child adoption community in our city. A large percentage of the kids in our adoption community do not end up attending or graduating from 4-year colleges. Many find that school is a struggle. They did not have the prenatal and early childhood experiences of their peers, and are delayed in academic and non-academic ways. They are good kids, who have had a crummy early life, and many of them will pursue alternative ways to achieve an education and contribute to society. College expenses may or may not be an issue. Certainly college expenses should not be a reason to not adopt an older child.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have experience with the Kidsave organization? I've recently learned about it and it appears to be a wonderful organization. I'm wondering if anyone on here has personal experiences to share? I'm also wondering if adoption through this organization wouldn't be quite so expensive? While we would certainly love to adopt an infant, we are both in our 40's and I'm just not sure that's realistic (or even fair to a young child?). One of the issues with adopting an older child is that there is then less time to put away for college which is what specifically made me wonder if it is less expensive than other options. (I also realize that student loans are not the end of the world!)

Thanks in advance!

When you adopt an older child, college expenses are nowhere near the top of the list of concerns. Nowhere near. Don't adopt an older child because it's cheaper. Parenting a child with a trauma history is an immense task.

PP here. Being an advocate family was the best thing we ever did. It's hard work. But so rewarding. I cannot imagine my two little summer visitors never having a permanent family. They were and are great kids, and like all kids, they deserve parents.

We hosted two kids, during different summers, through Kidsave as an advocate family. They were both adopted. Both are doing well, but their adoptive parents are very good therapeutic parents. Good attachment parenting; strong marriages, etc. They have come very far. But it is not by accident, nor by love alone. It is through very knowledgable and resourceful parenting.

The kids in kidsave are not ONLY from Russia or Columbia. I'm a child in kidsave and I live in Los Angeles CA. Kidsave is international and helps people such as yourselves adopt kids from all over the globe.

Kidsave does not bring children from Russian anymore, the children are from Colombia (PP is correct though, when Kidsave first was founded they worked primarily with children in Russia).

Also, like PP said, Kidsave is not an adoption agency. However, they work with all agencies in this area (though they do work more frequently with some than others). Unless you live in Virginia, you don't need a full home study to host, just a brief visit with a social worker.

We hosted through Kidsave and found it to be a wonderful experience. We are in the process of adopting our daughter through the program now. The total cost to adopt an older child from Colombia is typically between $18,000 - $25,000 (including agency fees & travel expenses). Working with Kidsave does make the adoption process go a bit faster than a typical older child adoption from Colombia and it is MUCH, MUCH faster than a toddler adoption from Colombia. The process typically takes 10-14 months from the time you start your homestudy (which can be before or after you host the child, depending on how sure you are that you want to adopt).


You can read the blogs of some families who hosted here: http://www.kidsave.org/media-2/hear_from_our_families/

Again, I can't speak highly enough of the program, the mission, and how blessed we feel to have met our little girl through it!

Kidsave is not an adoption agency.

They are an organization that provides a hosting program for Russian orphans (but maybe other EE countries or other countries) to come to the US. All the children will be older children. If a host family decides to adopt, they will be referred by Kidsave to appropriate agencies to assist.

The fees are not any less than if one does not host but the hosting can count as the first trip so it reduces the number of trips to Russia to 2 (in some cases possibly 1) and the cost of travel.

The issues with adopting an older child are far more difficult and involved that just not having time to put money away for college.

Adopting an actual infant (a child who comes home at the age of 12 months or less) is pretty rare these days and the programs that have such children available are normally $45K and upward once all is said and done (including travel).

Does anyone have experience with the Kidsave organization? I've recently learned about it and it appears to be a wonderful organization. I'm wondering if anyone on here has personal experiences to share? I'm also wondering if adoption through this organization wouldn't be quite so expensive? While we would certainly love to adopt an infant, we are both in our 40's and I'm just not sure that's realistic (or even fair to a young child?). One of the issues with adopting an older child is that there is then less time to put away for college which is what specifically made me wonder if it is less expensive than other options. (I also realize that student loans are not the end of the world!)

Thanks in advance!