Adoption agency costs make up the bulk of the expenses involved in adopting a child privately. The demand for adoptable children under the age of 2 has increased dramatically over the past 20 years. This demand has created an adoption industry where for-profit entities, such as private adoption agencies, are paid to match birth parents with prospective adoptive parents. However, only 1% of the children born in the United States since 1996 were put up for adoption within one month of their birth. This disparity between families wanting to adopt and available children enables adoption agencies to charge thousands of dollars to facilitate the adoption process.

Types of Adoption
When comparing adoption agency costs, it is a good idea to compare all the various methods of adoption and their respective expenses. In broad terms, the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (NAIC) estimates adoption costs to be the following:

• Domestic - foster care: $0-$2,500
• Domestic - private agency: $4,000-$30,000
• Domestic - independent: $8,000-$30,000
• International - agency or independent: $7,000-$25,000

Adopting from foster care is the least expensive method, and it is also the area of adoption with the greatest need. According to the 2002 National Adoption Attitudes Survey sponsored by the Dave Thomas Foundation, "About 4 in 10 Americans have considered adopting a child at one time in their lives. This equates to about 81.5 million adults. Considering there are 134,000 children in foster care, waiting for families, these children would all have a home today if just 0.2 percent (1 in 500) of these adults actually pursued and completed the adoption process."

Profiling Fees
Private adoption agencies often manage the entire adoption process from start to finish. The costs of each step along the way vary from agency to agency. Almost always, once a fee is paid to an adoption agency it is nonrefundable, regardless of the success of the adoption agency in the placement of an adopted child.

The first fee in the private adoption process will be the application fee. This fee is charged by the adoption agency to begin a relationship with prospective parents. The adoption application briefly describes the prospective parents, their financial resources and the desired sex, age and nationality of the child or children they're hoping to adopt. Application fees generally range from $100 to $500. Some adoption agencies will then charge a "profile" or "program" fee of $500-$1,000 to create a parent profile.

The next step in the process is the adoption home study. This is conducted by a licensed social worker and is performed to determine the fitness of potential adoptive parents. In most cases, the adoption agency will recommend a social worker they frequently use. Home study fees usually range from $1,500 to $4,000.

• Previous Page
• 1
• 2
• Next Page