No Fees?

cogbot

I spoke with an agency that deals with "regular" (I don't think that is the right term) adoption as well as foster and foster adopt.   The awesome part of this situation is that as long as you adopt a child that is within our state there are NO fees.

If I find a situation on my own and let them know about it, it will only cost $3000 for legal costs. 

The downside is that we have to take PRIDE classes even if we are not planning on fostering.

I'm getting more info in the mail and I plan on having a meeting with her after we look through things.

Does this seem typical?  I love the idea of not having fees, but this seems different than any other agency I've researched. 

Dr.Loretta

So this would be a private domestic adoption?

I have never heard of it, but IMO it's worth researching. If we did an identified adoption through our agency, the fees were significantly reduced.

LadyRed7

I agree with Dr. L. 'Seems' like a private adoption. Although IMHO, i find it hard to believe that there are no fees at all.

cogbot

I don't think it's considered private.  They will do the networking for us, show our profile book, etc.   

 

CaptainSerious

It sounds fishy to me.  I would ask them what they consider a "fee."  It's possible they have their payments broken down into costs/services/payments/whatever-they-call-it and "fees."  I highly doubt they are offering a free adoption.

Also, I highly recommend researching any agency you are considering to make sure it abides by ethical standards.  For domestic agencies, a great place to look them up is on the yahoo group called "AARD" (Adoption Agency Research ? Domestic).  That group is dedicated to giving honest feedback on agencies.  You can ask about the agencies you are interested in directly, and also search their archives and files.

come*on*baby

If its not adoption through foster care, it sounds fishy to me. 

Our adoptions of our 2 boys were "free" through foster care. The state paid our lawyer fees. A private adoption will have fees, especially through an agency. 

GLynn2009

Unless through foster care this sounds highly unlikely. We did a private adoptions and our fees were just for the stuff we needed to pay to make it legal and it was $7,000. We did not pay for any placement fee or finding fees.  We knew the child already.

mysticl

I worked for an agency that did foster care and DA (not FTA).  There were fees for the DA services.  They were pretty reasonable but they were still there.  At the very least I would expect you to have attorney/court fees.  It could be that they say "no fee" because you wouldn't be paying those fees to you.  I'd look into it more.  Get the complete breakdown of the process.

As for the PRIDE classes, I don't see that as a draw back.  How is learning more about parenting a downside?  

julandjo

There is an agency in my state that operates like this.  The only fees we have to pay are for finalization, so whatever the lawyer charges ($500-800).  It's a very reputable agency and runs a fairly large program.  Although there are no fees, they do ask that you make a commitment to "give back", i.e. be a positive ambassador for the agency and for adoption, and donations of time/talent/treasure to the agency.  They've been doing it like this for a long time; it seems to be successful!