The cost of adopting?

realmom lese

i thought you were asking a real deep question, like the cost of adoption on natural families. how it rips them apart. the pain and loss and grief and suffering. but no.

instead, you are the typical PAP, it's all about money that you are interested in.

Just a Mom

I am going to say the same thing. If you go through child services, it is free/very low cost. I don't know why they wouldn't tell you that.

yeahright

Free or nearly free from social services--however it is likely you will still have homestudy, legal and processing costs.

Then--each agency and state is different. I commend you for looking into social services. I will get tons of hate mail on this--but I thought I would also posts in comparison to private adoption costs. I will break down what most attorney, agency and social workers have told me:

Homestudy-runs anywhere from $900-3500

Some private agencies ask for "up front" committment prior to a match (I've seen anywhere from 2-13k--I wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole) and they won't actually tell you what they are doing for you much less where the money goes--and it stops you from exploring other options.

Others don't charge anything up front but typically upon match approximately 1/2 the fees are required.

There are also living and medical expenses of the parents that they may ask for

There is also finalization, legal costs of the parents and the adopters, and some ask for payment of outside 3rd party counseling

I've seen some costs as low as 15-18k in total and I've seen as high as 56k in total. I am not a fan of the "uber" big agencies and the practices of most agencies--however I've run into a few great people who work in the non-profit sector that are truly social workers who take their counseling seriously and are very protective of the natural parents rights.

Good luck!

mommatomykids

Free if you go through child services and adopt through the fostercare system.

sizesmith

There are very few costs to adopt through the state. At times, there are a few court filing fees (usually less than $500), and there are several nickel and dime things, such as TB tests, first aid and CPR courses, etc, that have to be done.

Sometimes, private agencies teach the parenting courses, which can be taken through them (rarely), but most likely, the state will have the courses to do. If you've taken the courses, the resource materials you've gotten should be there that say.

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