So you’ve decided to adopt. You know you’re in for a bumpy ride and one of the biggest bumps is paying for it. An estimated one million children live with adoptive parents in the United States, and Americans adopt more than 120,000 children a year, domestically and abroad. Though there are hundreds of thousands of kids ready to be adopted and families who can’t afford to adopt them.

The average adoption cost is around 25,000 dollars. According to Becky Fawcett co-founder of Helpusadopt.org the cost leans more towards 40,000 dollars. After years of infertility treatments she and her husband decided to adopt. When she received the price quote she startled at how expensive it was. Though thankfully she and her husband were able to cover their costs, her immediate reaction was “What happens if we don’t have this money?” the response was basically “Then you don’t do this”. She burst into tears and said, “I can’t believe this is what happens to people!” It was at this moment that Becky started dreaming. She and her husband used the remaining of their savings after their adoption was final, to create Helpusadopt.org

“I was just a crazy blonde, with a big idea,” she said in regards to the mission to help families finance their adoptions. “People thought I was crazy to take on so much, but when reading [adoption] stories I knew this was what I was meant to do”

They started out slowly, their idea finally coming into place in June of 2007 and launching the website in November of 2007. They began using their own money as well as donations from family and friends. “We got 130,000 dollars from friends and family alone, including our own personal donations” With her public relations background Fawcett made it her mission to spread the word about adoption and their plans. “People hear about this cause and they want to be apart of it.”

Now a year and half later they have awarded eight families over 50,000 dollars. “We’re changing things,” she says. “We hope to give [families] the courage to say okay I can do this!”

With 125 applicants the first round, and more and more discovering the organization she plans to continue to spread the word. They have now received support from bigger organizations such as Neiman Marcus and Comcast Cable. Fawcett says her supporters are mostly “ people who understand what family building means”.

Fawcett now is focusing on awarding more grants, marketing to more supporters and continuing to build her own family. She is now in the process of adopting a second child and hopes to help others do the same. “We want to get babies into homes of those who don’t have one!”

Helpusadopt has had donations in all amounts and appreciates any donation; they have had donations from $7 to $25,000. Even if you are not planning to adopt Fawcett remarks “Everyone knows someone who’s been touched by adoption”. For more information visit www.helpusadopt.org

One Happy Wife is a happy homemaker, former teacher, photographer, and expectant mother through adoption.