Facing the high cost of adoption after already footing the bill for five rounds of IVF, Becky Fawcett wondered: “What happens to all the children who need homes if families can't afford to adopt?” She founded HelpUsAdopt.org to help build more families like hers.

As our quarterly VB Gives Back partnership comes to a close, we wanted to better understand exactly what children and families are facing when it comes to this often cost-prohibitive process. Here, we’ve rounded up a few eye-opening stats about adoption in the U.S.

115,353

domestic adoptions in 2019*

2,069

international adoptions in 2019*

113,589

children and teens in foster care waiting to be adopted in 2021**

$40,000

average cost of an adoption***

715

grants HelpUsAdopt.org has awarded since 2007***

$6,800,000

total value of HelpUsAdopt.org grants since 2007***

From now to the end of March, we will donate a portion of proceeds from every single veronicabeard.com order to HelpUsAdopt.org, which helps families in the U.S. overcome the financial obstacles of adoption. Learn more here. #VBGIVESBACK

*National Council for Adoption “Adoption by the Numbers" report

**U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families AFCARS Report

***Statistic provided by HelpUsAdopt.org