NUNICA, Mich. -- A disabled veteran is hoping to adopt his 16-year-old stepson but is struggling to pay the fees. Now he's reaching out to his community for help.
Joshua Baldus has been a father figure to his stepson Adam for more than a decade, coming into his life when he was just 6 months old. Now he's taking steps to legally adopt him, but needs help paying for the surprisingly high fees.
"Kinda like buying a new car, that sticker shock. Ya know like oh my God," said Baldus. "The paper work for the filing fee for the courts is almost $200.
Add in a $100 dollar home visit, miscellaneous court fees and attorney fees, and the Baldus family is looking at nearly $3,000. But they say it’s worth it to make what they already feel official in the eyes of the law.
"He’s been the one that’s just been there the whole life so far. We’ve been to numerous different states, moved multiple times, he’s always just been there," says Adam Eldred, Baldus' stepson.
Joshua came into Adam's life when he was an infant.
"Adam.. he was 6 months old when we were first together. He learned how to walk between the two of us, His first words were 'dada' to me," says Baldus.
But, with the family constantly traveling while in the service, Joshua says there was never a right time to start the adoption process.
"We've always talked about it and we just, with moving with the military we couldn't figure out exactly how to go about it. But then when we came back to Michigan we were like wait a minute, born here and everything it should be an easier process," says Baldus.
But, the disabled vet says without the donations he's not sure how long the process will take.
"Being a disabled vet and my disabilities have gotten to the point that I no longer work so I'm on just my VA disability income and coming up with that extra money for that adoption was pretty slim to none," Baldus says.
"I've always wanted to get this process done and get him to be my father. But as he said moving and everything has always made it more difficult but seeing people, again, donating is phenomenal," adds Eldred.
The Baldus family has aGoFundMe page to raise the $3,000 for the adoption costs.
