this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2024
1063 points (95.2% liked)
me_irl
4424 readers
359 users here now
All posts need to have the same title: me_irl it is allowed to use an emoji instead of the underscore _
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Like, how expensive? Isn't delivering a baby in a hospital like 10k? Is it really more difficult and expensive than 9 months of pregnancy?
Most aren't babies, though, and lots have been through a lot. Having a baby is already a huge commitment; you can't fault people for not wanting to take on a kid with a history of trauma or a significant disability. That's a tall order and the people who do it are saints.
If you have insurance, it's often not that expensive to actually have a baby. IVF is expensive though, and only sometimes covered by insurance. We were looking at $25k for one round of IVF and $5k for each subsequent round, if those were necessary. Adoption was around $50k from what I remember.
Some states require IVF coverage by medical insurance. With those prices, it may actually be cheaper in certain circumstances to move.
This is the best response. Yes, adoption is hard, takes a long time, and can be expensive, and it should be. Choosing to have a child without having the financial means set aside to hedge for their future would be irresponsible.
It's not just financial. It's the longterm commitment to care for another creature. Best example is the animal adoptions during lockdown. So many of those pets ended right back in shelters because people realized they liked the idea of a pet, not the actuality. That's a big part of the reason the barrier of entry is so high for adoption.