International adoptive parents?

Freckle Face

Gershom,

No where can i find orphanage fee. This is the closest i can find.

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM FEES $8000--$20,000+

Foreign adoption fees include but are not limited to: Payments to SCI or other foreign or American intermediary agencies, foreign government fees, private agency, attorney and child care expenses, and pediatric medical care.

*it was my understanding that the agency owned the orphanage. (at least in Ethiopia) These fees do vary from country to country.

ETA: these are the different "program fees" thru our agency. Keep in mind that you also pay a interagency fee, program administration fee, and agency home-study fee.

China $7,210

Colombia $5,450--$10,050

Ethiopia $6,700

Guatemala $19,250 +$490 DNA testing

India $8,000

Kazakhstan $15,000

Korea $16,615 includes escorting
$14,435 parent travels

Philippines $7,600

Russia $15,000

Hope i helped.

Cochise

Hello Gershom

We adopted from Colombia. There was no orphanage fee.

There was no "development" fee. There was no fee whatsoever that went to the orphanage or the Colombian government [other than a nominal court fee of about US$30.00].

There were a few nickel and dime fees - new birth certificate fee was about US$12.00; Our daughter's new Colombian passport was US$16.00, nowhere near as expensive as the US passport.

Our largest cost was living expenses in Bogota, and that was because we stayed in a very nice upscale apartment. We could have done it much cheaper, and many do.

Of course, we did pay our Colombian lawyer directly - that was about US$2,000. That did NOT go to the orphanage.

There is another answer here who stated that Colombian orphanage fees are "Colombia $5,450--$10,050" - that is totally contrary to our direct experience - I can't imagine where that figure came from.

spydermomma

China does call it an orphanage fee, or something similar enough in meaning to that. The places that are responsible for the care of abandoned children in China are called Social Welfare Institutes (SWIs), usually, and they usually also take care of disabled people and often Seniors as well.

I believe the fee that goes to them is $3,000, though it can vary by a small amount depending on the Chinese province. I have heard it will be going up this Spring, at least in one province, and the others will probably follow suit. There are other fees to China also, to the province and for passport and birth certificate and such. The total of those is about $1500.

Agencies may not charge more for those fees, and that is pretty tightly regulated, I believe. But they can charge for accomodations and guide services in China (our local Chinese guide was amazingly helpful and we still email each other), for help preparing paperwork for the adoption, for training classes, etc. I have never heard of agencies charging unusual or nonstandard fees for adoptions from China.

You didn't ask this, but it is related and important and has been on my mind lately -- some of the impacts of these fees, at least in China :
In the past, Social Welfare Institutes have been very poor and conditions have sometimes been appalling. There was that film of the "Dying Room." For the SWIs that have been chosen to be part of the international adoption program, this is different now, because of all the money that international adoption brings in. And so they can provide a much better home for the children, and the disabled and older people also. So that is good, probably incredibly good for the children and the disabled in many, many cases. New SWIs have been built with these funds. Foster family programs and preschools have been created, disabled children are being raised in permanent foster homes, and fees are being paid for older children to go to school and sometimes even university.

But as anywhere else (and quite possibly moreso), money corrupts. There was a big scandal a little over a year ago about children being bought or possibly kidnapped from their parents, and then bought by several SWIs in Hunan province, and later "sold" by the SWI via the international adoption program.
(widely reported, but here is a meaty essay on it)
http://research-china.blogspot.com/2005/12/finances-of-baby-trafficking.html

And now it appears that the problem is more widespread, and that children who are being "confiscated" until their parents can pay the fees to register them are being quickly processed for international adoption. This story is breaking in the last week or two, and out of the Netherlands, so there isn't too much yet, but the same Brian Stuy does have a good preliminary take on it. (I take what he says with quite a few grains of salt, but it is a very important perspective.)
http://research-china.blogspot.com/search/label/Baby%20Trafficking

It isn't as bad as Guatemala, but it is going that way. I don't think I would adopt from China again except special needs.

Erin L

HI Gershom,

It will depend on the country, and sometimes even within the same country program, it will be slightly different if the country doesn't have a centralized adoption system. I've seen it range from $5,000 - 25,000 depending on the program. Our orphanage fee for Taiwan was $10,000, and I think that's pretty typical. I'm not an expert on Guatemala, so someone can correct me if this isn't quite correct, but here's my understanding of it. Guatemala is one of the most expensive programs, ranging from 15-25 thousand. It is different even within Guatemala because it is not centralized and private adoption agents work with U.S. agencies. This has lead to the high price and ethical concerns you've seen in the media. It is now being reorganized and will hopefully reappear a cleaner, less expensive program. That is compared to China, where EVERYTHING is centralized and the process is quite predictable and all orphanage fees for China adoptive parents are the same. I don't know off hand what it is, but 10,000 would be my guess.

edit: mom5grlz is right. It's not usually called an orphanage fee. Ours was called a program development fee. But, I know it went to the orphanage/social services agency that arranged for our daugh ter's foster care. It went to operational expenses of that organization: staff, supplies, medical care, foster care, legal expenses, etc.

eta: spydermomma - wow I didn't know that had happened in Hunan province. I had heard of the dying rooms, but for gosh sakes China has plenty of genuinly abandoned children they can't deal with, that is crazy. I like that China is concentrating more on special needs adoptions now.

jgf5822

my cousins adopted from an orphanage in russia. it was $20,000.

Kim

We adopted in Russia (twice) and we did not have an orphanage fee. We had a "foreign program fee" but I do not believe that any of that was earmarked specifically for the orphanage. It covered the salaries of our agency's Russian personnel including the lawyer who represented us in court, our translators, our paperwork, notaries, court costs, etc. The foreign program fee was the largest fee that was paid to the agency, but as a previous answerer said, our travel and living expenses were the largest expenses overall.

We were asked to make a donation to the orphanage both times (but only after the adoption was completed), but the amount was left to our discretion. We were able to see what previous parents donations had been pooled to accomplish -- new windows for the baby home, new cribs (old ones had been painted with lead-based paint), etc.

Different countries have different rules, and adoption in each country is run differently - according to the laws of that country.

In some countries, all adoptions are controlled by one central authority. That's how it is in China. There, the orphanage fees are the same throughout the entire country.

In some countries, things differ by locality. It depends on where you are trying to adopt.

Remember, when you adopt internationally, you must follow your own state's laws, U.S. laws, AND the laws of the country you are adopting from.

Jennifer L

Hi! We adopted from Liberia.

Our agency does not charge an "orphage fee" or a "country fee". Our agency runs a foster home in-country. When the children are matched with families, the family pays a monthly stipend to cover for food, clothing, education and medical costs. Before the child is matched with a family, the agency covers these expenses. We sent a check to the agency every month until the in-country process was finished and we were able to travel.

Hope this helps!

Brianna

Well, I would think that an orphan from an International adoption would have a more extended price. They actually do vary in the location and what TYPE of orphange you go to. Different agencies such as St.Josephn in Ohio has a very reasonable price. An estimated cost on a orphan is about 1,000-10,000. Depending on age and race and varying from state or country. If you need further information please contact me.

Sophie

I think the fees vary from agency to agency- but also from country to country and in some cases from in-country attorney to in-country attorney or by in-country entity.

When I signed with an agency to adopt, I was told about four attorneys. Their fees differ by about a thousand or two ($16,000-18,000).

The above attorney fees included all care for the child. My son was in a foster family in Guatemala, but I know there were kids in orphanages (hogars) there as well. The care of the children could be for approximately 4-9 months... it included all shelter, food, medical, clothes, toys, etc.

The AGENCY fees, homestudy, dossier preperation, post placement visit by social worker, etc,... were all the same for my agency no matter whe you adopted from... I think they were pretty similar to other agencies in my state at that time.

Any further questions, feel free to email me.
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When my Aunt adopted my cousin from Smolensk, Russia about 10 years ago, her agency (no longer in exsistence) suggested that she bring a box of supplies with her to donate to the orphanage. So, she did... you know stuff like tooth brushes, combs, socks, etc. But, she could tell that the children would not see them. The orphanage was in shambles. It was a very sad place.

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