Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life congressman has introduced a measure that would make the adoption tax credit permanent. Rep. Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, introduced H.R. 471, which would prevent that the current $10,000 tax credit for adoption expenses from expiring 2010.

Wilson sent a letter to his Congressional colleagues on Thursday asking them to support his bill.

He thinks it has a good chance of making headway even though abortion advocates control Congress and noted that pro-abortion Ways and Means Committee Chairmen Charlie Rangel, a Democrat from New York, is a co-sponsor.

According to a 2005 adoption cost survey by Adoptive Families, the average cost of adoption was between $20,000 and $25,000.

"Middle-income families who cannot have their own children are watching their dreams of parenting quickly fade," Wilson said in the letter, provided to LifeNews.com. "While some aid is available, the financial strain adoptive families undergo cannot be overstated."

Wilson's bill would provide a tax credit up to $10,000 for qualified expenses relating to the adoption of a child for both domestic and international adoptions. In addition, an employer may offer up to $10,000 in qualified adoption expenses that will be excluded from income.

Costs that may be covered include attorney's fees, reasonable and necessary adoption fees, court costs, traveling costs, and other costs directly relating to the legal adoption of an eligible child. Eligible children are those under the age of 18 that are physically and mentally incapable of caring for themselves.

"As a member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, and the father of an adopted son, I respectfully request your support of this important legislation," Wilson wrote.

Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky is introducing a companion bill in the Senate.