Adopting a child is a long, complicated and grueling process, even before the adoptive parents meet their child. The reams and reams of paperwork serve important reasons, of course: ensuring that the right parents and connected to the right children, and that once a transition is made, the new family is good for life. One of the most important aspects of preparing to adopt is how much money the whole process will cost. Estimating the cost of adoption is, therefore, the critical first step of a life-changing journey.
The Different Types of Adoptions
The first question would-be adoptive parents must ask is, what type of adoption do they want? The prices vary based on the nature of adoption: state adoptions are usually subsidized to adoptive parents (to a cap of $2,000), ameliorating what would otherwise be gargantuan costs; agency or private adoptions are more expensive, starting at $5,000 and going up to $40,000 at most; and international adoptions are the costliest, ringing up a minimum of $18,000 to a maximum of $30,000.
Naturally, there are a number of factors that influence the final adoption bill: everything from the type of services that the agency provides, travel, documentation, state requirements, even some of the birthmother’s expenses. Most agencies allow for flexible payment schedules for families who cannot afford the fees.
Adoption Through A Private Agency
Private agencies that arrange domestic adoptions cover such expenses as counseling for parents (both adoptive and biological), doing an audit on the adoptive parents’ home to ensure it is ready for a child, supervising the post-adoption process and ensuring that parents and child are adapting to the new arrangement as properly as possible, and a variety of other bases that need to be covered for the well-being of everyone involved.
Independent Adoptions
Domestic adoptions done independently tend to cost slightly more. Advertising is high, often running $5,000 alone, and there is the risk of money not being reimbursed if the adoption process falls through. Legal representation must also be accounted for when adopting independently.
International Adoptions
Adopting internationally is, naturally, the most complicated and expensive option. Travel documents, vaccinations (for both parents and children), guides, translating official documents, customs fees and legal expenses, as well as a variety of other costs, contribute in predicting the costs of an international adoption very difficult. For example, the cost of adopting a child from India maxes out, on average, at $35,000. A Russian child, on the other hand, tops out at $60,000. And by comparison, the average cost of adopting a newborn in the United States is $40,000.
