Why does adoption have to cost so much?

Oh me oh my...â™¥

I adopted a child...........less than a year ago and it did not cost me a thing. Oh I take that back I had to pay to order the new birth certificate. It just depends which route you go. There are a lot of options!

Melissa

It's paying the agency that usually helps pay for the medical costs of having a baby as well as helps the mom with living arrangements and food while they are pregnant. Also there are legal expenses that have to be paid for. It costs a lot more to raise a child, and adoption costs are tax deductible.

Still Me

Itâ€™s true that adoption is expensive. (Just like good pre-natal care and delivery!) Most private adoptions of infants or toddlers are between 10K-40K, but state adoptions (through foster care) are $0-$2000. These adoptions through your states protective services involve older school aged children, siblings, or very special needs babies and children (severe developmental delays, extreme medical issues, etc.)

Adoption fees with private agencies are for all the services the agency provides to every birthmother helped. Here is a breakdown for the expenses of a typical agency:

1. COMMUNITY OUTREACH: Most full service licensed adoption agencies receive calls from hundreds of women a year. They may provide these women and their children with counseling, emergency food, clothing, formula and diapers, taxi fare, doctor visits, etc. These are women who are NOT placing their babies for adoption.

2. NON-PLACING CLIENTS: Birthmothers may be provided with services such as housing for 10 months, along with all their utilities, groceries, clothing, transportation, medical care, etc., and then choose to parent their babies. Some of every fee goes to these expenses.

3. COURT CASES: All agencies deal with cases where a baby has been born but not placed yet, or has already been placed for adoption, and the birthmother or birthfather seeks custody of the baby. These long, drawn out cases can take 1 - 2 years of court hearings and trials before the case is settled.

4. SPECIAL NEEDS BABIES: All agencies work with babies born with special needs, such as cerebral palsy, HIV+, brain disorders, or babies born addicted to cocaine, alcohol or other drugs. Most agencies reduce or eliminate the adoption fee for the adoptive parents for these babies, so they may be adopted.

5. CLIENTS WHO PLACE: And of course, there are the birthmothers who do place their babies for adoption, and may receive all the above mentioned services -- housing, groceries, clothing, utilities, transportation, medical care, etc. for up to 10 months.

6. FAILED ADOPTIONS: If your adoption fails, good agencies will stand behind you financially as well as emotionally. They will try to absorb that financial loss, and when the time is right, match you with another birthmother without requiring you to pay a second adoption fee.
7. LAWYERS: Agencies have to hire attorneys for all the Termination Hearings. An â€œAttorney Ad Litemâ€ is hired to safeguard the rights of the baby, another attorney is hired for the birthmother, and another one for EACH named possible birthfather. Sometimes a â€œDiligent Searchâ€ is needed in order to find the birthfather, and sometimes a Private Detective has to be hired.

8. OFFICE, ETC. And there is office rent, phones, salaries, office supplies, etc. Anyone who has adopted can tell you that adoption workers are tireless. They work 24/7 and spend some long, long hours away from their families while a baby is being born and placed. Iâ€™ve never known one yet that drives a Mercedes! Social Workers are notorious for their modest salaries.

9. ADVERTISING: Most birthmothers look in the Yellow Pages for help with adoption. That means that in order for an agency to be accessible to clients, it has to purchase an ad. Agencies can spend anywhere from $10K to $150K on a yearâ€™s advertising. Depends on the market they are in, the size of the ad, etc. More than half of what agencies make goes back into advertising. AT&T gets way too much of the adoption fees.
This is what it really takes to keep those doors open at an adoption agency.

Expensive? Absolutely! But at least you now know where most of that fee goes.

Babygurl

Because that's the way America is.......these days everything is expensive. ..... I feel people shouldn't have to pay anything infact I really didn't know that you have to pay to adopt that's stupid.

people are just money hungry

brad_bchnn

it makes no sense to me either, i don't understand why it costs so much

goodquestion

It's a multi-BILLION dollar industry. Don't believe the hype that it's all about finding homes for abandoned babies. They work aggressively to convince women to give up their babies, because every placement is another chunk of change in their pockets.

Are there honest, caring agencies out there? Yes, of course. But overall, it's an industry, not a vocation.

Bouvier

The final cost of adoption varies on the route you choose to go, the agency or attorney you choose, etc., etc., Most agency's will base their fee on a scale. Meaning, couples with a lesser annual income pay the lower side, while couples with the higher annual income pay the higher side of the scale. This helps to even out the overall cost for social workers, attorneys, birth parent counselors, administrative costs, etc., etc., to make adoption costs fair for everyone. Fostering is a less expensive route to go with the hope of adoption in some cases. Many times however, the children are older, and in some cases, may require a little added care for what they have been through emotionally.

Many states offer tax deductions for adoption, do your research, attend adoption seminars, and talk to people! You'd be amazed on how many close friends you have that have an adoption story that you may not even be aware of.

Jen(:

Is a human being, with a mind and heart, not worth a lot of money?

adoptive mom

Oh, stop, y'all.
It costs because there are a lot of expenses involved. I adopted a 14 month old child from an orphanage in another country. Should she have been left naked, unfed, and uncared for all those months? Or do you think that caregivers should just work for free and provide food, medical care, a home, a bed, clothing, bottles, diapers, blankets, and everything else out of their own pockets? Should social workers do our home study without being paid or help us through the process only from the goodness of their hearts? Should the taxpayers of this country foot the bill for the INS paperwork necessary, as well as the state requirements, and other miscellany that we had to pay for? How about our passports and our visas? Should lawyers, judges, and doctors be required to donate their time and expertise?
Those of you who think it's ridiculous for these people to be paid: how long would you be able and/or willing to do YOUR job if suddenly you were no longer paid for it?
And anyway, it doesn't have to cost anything at all. Adopt through foster care and it is virtually free. (Some kids even come with stipends, so it's less than free - they actually give you money if you're willing to give the kid a family and a home.) If you're willing to be patient and wait long enough you can even get an infant; I know a woman who did just that recently. After years of waiting and fostering other babies and toddlers, she received a newborn girl earlier this year.
BTW, we adopted internationally, and it did cost us around $18,000; however we didn't have to have that all at once, plus a good chunk of that was for traveling expenses and hotels and meals for three people, plus the baby for two weeks. (We had to bring an extra adult with us to assist.)

lbear

well the lawyers got to get paid the staff has to get paid it also but i agree that they defently don't have to charge that much it's like they are selling off babies and the people adopting they children out don't get a cent of that.

tricycle_pilot

because the lawyers have to make a payment on their new BMW

mumontherun

so the goverment can get richer

Nana G

really how much does it cost ...

taraloha

I adopted my son through L.A. County and the only costs were for my fingerprints and to purchase things to get our home up to code for foster parenting (extra smoke detector, alarm for the front door, etc.). Expenses were minimal. There are plenty of kids who need a family and not all of them live in foreign countries. We couldn't afford to adopt internationally, so we ended up adopting our son from our home state. It worked out perfectly!

â™¥Mamushkaâ™¥

Because they get money out of it!!!!

Tyrone Biggum

You think its easy to steal a baby?

â˜® â™¥ :D

Because the US has to try to make money out of EVERYTHING!Even a child.Thats sad, adoption should be free,do you know how many familys out there are waiting for a child.........

college_student

because they want to make sure the child goes to a rich family. That's all I can figure out. If they were really concerned about the child's welfare they wouldn't charge so much to adopt. Plenty of families could provide a loving home just don't have a lot of money.

Because there's a movement in the world today to keep motherhood just for the rich. Witness welfare reform, the ridiculous cost of childcare, the high fees for adoption/surrogacy/egg donate/fertility treatments.

It's simply eugenics at work

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