Adoption Costs - Questions???

[arminnie]

I've noticed in several threads where people talk about high adoption costs - tens of thousands of dollars.

I've also heard mention of how many children there are who need homes (worldwide). It would seem like the costs would be lower so the children could get placed.

Any input on WHY the costs are so much? Is this just in parts of the US or only for international adoptions?

My cousin has adopted two children (newborns) in the past 3 years in Arkansas. She did not have costs ANYTHING like that. The state has been very supportive - even providing temporary medical care in the beginning.

She did adopt children of another race, but I think that just meant it was quicker than waiting for a blue eyed blond baby. We couldn't love her two daughters more and wouldn't trade them for anything. They are part of our big extended family.

 

[janette]

Kids classified as hard to place often have a lower cost to adopt. I have a friend that adopted a bi-racial baby and the adoption agency charged 1/2 of the cost usually involved in adopted a healthy caucasian baby. Although she glad of the savings she was taken aback that the baby she so wanted was considered hard to place.

 

[scarlett873]

We are adopting from China and our costs will be in excess of $10k. Those costs include travel to, from, and within China...various Government fees..documentation fees...agency fees...passport fees...donations to the orphanage...all sorts of stuff.

As I haven't done much research on domestic adoption fees...I think it varies from situation to situation. Hopefully someone with more knowledge and experience with domestic adoption can answer the question better.

 

[kdibattista]

I can only answer for my situation. We are adopting an infant girl from Kazakhstan. We do not care about her race (she could be caucasian, asian or eurasian) and we are also open to a special needs child.

Domestic vs. Internation is a personal decision. For us, it was international. We knew that as much as the US foster care system stinks, the children born here in the US are way ahead of the children in Kazakhstan. Most children in Kaz are given up at birth only to grow up in orphanages at be turned loose when they are 16 with NOTHING.

We also wanted to give our daughter the right to decide when and if she wants to pursue finding her birth family. Most adoptions domestically are now open adoptions. (Note: I know not all). Just because legally her birth parents may not have any rights, that won't prevent her from potentially showing up at my doorstep and disrupt her life.

The chance of a failed adoption is much higher domestically... I have heard all the horror stories. My agency has a 100% placement rate in Kazakhstan. I know that I could not take that heartbreak.

So, for us, we are going international and we need an agency. $30,000 is typical for an adoption in Kazakhstan. China is cheaper but both parents have to be 30.

I'm not saying one way is better then the other... I'm only saying what's best for us. I admire anyone who adopts domestically through the foster care system... I just could not handle the potential heartbreak.

Hope that makes sense and it wasn't too long

 

[lemondog]

We spent almost $30,000 to adopt our daughter from Russia. We chose Russia because I did not like the idea of "competing" with other families here for a birthmother to choose us, and there is just no way in heck was I going to adopt thru the foster care system in my state -- my best friend is an attorney for the DCS here and I have heard way too many horror stories.

Our actual costs that we paid to the agency were around $18,000. This included all the fees like translations, courier service to Russia, overhead, yada, yada.

The rest was fees to the US INS, homestudy (with a separate agency), travel to, from and within Russia, hotel fees, food, souveniers, doctor's fees for us and DD, official Russian paperwork like new birth certificate, passport, etc. The here-and-there incidentals all add up.

Bottom line -- in a country like Russia, corruption runs rampant. DH often was escorted into some official govt. office and told to fork over the cash to get our paperwork done on time. Many think this is wrong, but hey, if it meant getting our DD out of that orphanage and back to the US for the medical treatment she needed, then so be it!

 

[02bBarbie]

I know several people who have adopted from China and their costs have run anywhere from 18-25K. The 25K couple flew business class. The 18K couple flew coach, but had a seat for their daughter on the way back.

It seems like the majority of the fees come from travel (at least as far as China goes)

I know Russia costs more because they require 2 visits

 

[aprilgail2]

We spent almost $30,000 to adopt our daughter from Russia. We chose Russia because I did not like the idea of "competing" with other families here for a birthmother to choose us, and there is just no way in heck was I going to adopt thru the foster care system in my state -- my best friend is an attorney for the DCS here and I have heard way too many horror stories.

!

Another reason people go overseas is the security of actually keeping the child they adopt. I have a friend who had to go through adopting 3 babies before she got one she could keep. The first one the birthparent wanted back after 3 weeks, the second one the day before the deadline she had to pack taht baby up and give it back also since the birth father decided he wanted it....I have 2 other friends the same thing has happened to with the first child they brought home....its heartbreaking!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I have a friend who adopted two children here in the United States. I'm not sure of her exact cost, but my impression was that she paid in the $5k range each time. I think that her adoption agency with associated with Catholic charities somehow and I think she was partially responsible for some medical care for the birth mother.

I know that she mentioned a good portion of it was refunded through Income Tax credits.

 

[happybratpack]

I'm happy to share my information on Lily's adoption. She is considered "special needs" because of her heart condition. If she were NON-special needs it would increase the program fee by $2,500 with my agency. Some of these costs are there no matter where you adopt from and some are China only. Hope this helps.

As you see, I can shave some money off of the travel portion, it just depends on what you decide to do. I picked an option w/ nicer hotels and more meals included, as well as more sightseeing.

****************

CHINA "SPECIAL NEEDS" ADOPTION FEES

PRE-APPROVAL PROCESS
Application & Submission of Special Needs Forms $250.00

Program Fee $2000.00

Home Study for China (4 visits) - $1,000

USCIS Orphan Petition Application Filing Fee $525.00

USCIS Fingerprinting Fee (per person) $70.00


DOSSIER PROCESS

Dossier Fee $300.00
Includes review of dossier, express mail & courier fees. Dossier Fee does not include authentications. Average costs for authentications (Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State, Embassy of the PRC) are $400-$600.


CCAA Express Mail Fee $45.00


REFERRAL EXPENSES

Translation of Medical Referral documents $200.00

Medical Review by qualified specialist Varies – paid directly to specialist ( I spent $100 on this here)

INTERNATIONAL FEES - paid in cash in China
Orphanage Donation $3000.00
Other in-country fees approximately $1,200
These fees vary by region. The fees cover notarizations, advertising, registration, legal photograph, U.S. visa processing for the child, and the medical exam.


TRAVEL COSTS - I am NOT using my adoption agency for the travel & guides, this saved a TON.

Roundtrip Airfare to/from China - Mine is $1,400 for my RT and $800 for Lily's in Premium Economy

Visa Processing for China $150.00 per person
In-Country Travel Fee $1,400 per adult and $380 for Lily
This pays for your hotels, intra-country travel, group meals, and expenses for your coordinator in China


POST PLACEMENT SUPERVISION
Post Placement Reports $500.00

ETA: There are a LOT of misc fees here and there throughout that aren't in the above, like if you need to order certified birth cert, divorce/marriage decrees, your medical exams, etc etc. (as well as quite a bill of overnight charges) These are pretty standard no matter where you're adopting from.

There is a $10,000 tax CREDIT (NOT refund) that you can claim the year the adoption is complete.

 

[trip]

There is a $10,000 tax CREDIT (NOT refund) that you can claim the year the adoption is complete.

Is this the same whether it is a Domestic or Internation adoption?

 

[mickeyfan2]

International adoptions involve bribes. That is where the cost is. The biggest reason for international adoptions is they are closed and final. Many US adoptions are open and can take time for them to become final. Also with IA birth parents are in another poor country, so chance of them seeking out the child are much lower. Some view IA as a way to get a healthy white baby boy (the hardest to get in the US). I also understand that AA kids are not being placed with white couples readily anymore here in the IS. This is not a blast on adoption, but explainations that I have been told by those who choose IA.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Is this the same whether it is a Domestic or Internation adoption?

Yes it is.

 

[pixiemomma]

Well, my cousin adopted her niece and the costs were around $20000. She had custody of her since birth (she was born addicted to heroin, so basically my cousin a cted as a foster mom) and the adoption became final when she was 5.

One of my husband's cousins is in the process of adopting in the US. The are hoping to adopt two newborns. (They lost two children to a genetic disorder.) They have very specific criteria. They expect costs to be wel over $10k per child.

 

[CEDmom]

We adopted from China about 5 1/2 years ago. The entire cost including travel was about $22,000. Costs include those associated with operating the agency we used, having documents translated, INS fees, travel expenses and of course paving the way with government officials in China itself. Some countries are more subtle about receiving monitary gifts than others. I've heard stories about blatent bribery in Russia.

I've gotten asked why we chose international adoption instead of adopting a child here. The reasons are numerous and some personal. I can't help wonder though why anyone who questions me doesn't adopt a child here if they're so concerned about the situation. No one questions someone having yet another biological child.

 

[scubamouse]

Some view IA as a way to get a healthy white baby boy (the hardest to get in the US).

actually it's MUCH harder and a longer process to adopt healthy baby girls. there are FAR more pre-APs that want girls than boys. our process was much faster because we wanted a healthy infant of either sex. wait times w/o a gender request were 0-2 mos. while requests for girls were at least 6 mos.

I've gotten asked why we chose international adoption instead of adopting a child here. The reasons are numerous and some personal. I can't help wonder though why anyone who questions me doesn't adopt a child here if they're so concerned about the situation. No one questions someone having yet another biological child.

Word! And frankly I tend to discount anyone who judges how I built my family who hasn't adopted themselves.

 

[kdibattista]

I've gotten asked why we chose international adoption instead of adopting a child here. The reasons are numerous and some personal. I can't help wonder though why anyone who questions me doesn't adopt a child here if they're so concerned about the situation. No one questions someone having yet another biological child.

So well said

 

[Pixiedust34]

International adoptions involve bribes.

This may be true for some countries, but not for all countries. South Korea has a long standing and reputable adoption program. No bribes are involved there. Holt International began its work in South Korea, and from there other countries began international adoption agencies.

 

[mickeyfan2]

This may be true for some countries, but not for all countries. South Korea has a long standing and reputable adoption program. No bribes are involved there. Holt International began its work in South Korea, and from there other countries began international adoption agencies.

I will need to re-ask my neices parents who adopted a beautiful Korean Girl and brought her home in 2/05. I was under the impression that they needed to "pay" some fees to make things happen.

 

[CEDmom]

I will need to re-ask my neices parents who adopted a beautiful Korean Girl and brought her home in 2/05. I was under the impression that they needed to "pay" some fees to make things happen.

There's a big difference with paying government fees and bribing.

We used Holt and some of our costs involved fees to our DD's provisional government. It offset the costs of processing the adoption and providing foster/orphanage care for her. It also went to providing continued care for children still waiting to be adopted. Some of our expense involved fees imposed by our own government. Korea is much the same.

IA in other countries involved the adoptive parents literally handing out cash to get paperwork processed. If not enough is given the adoption won't happen.

 

[poohbears5]

No one questions someone having yet another biological child



Oh yes they do ! And my answer to them has been you don't raise or support them so why do you ask.