How much does it cost to adopt?

L L CG · January 2012

Anyone know?

austxgrl · January 2012

It depends a million different factors (i.e. country, domestic agency, private, open, medical insurance, housing, etc.) but the average range is $25,000 - $75,000. If you go through CPS it is free. Or there are some agencies/countries that are over $75k but that is the best range. I can tell you that for an open agency adoption in TX the average is $25-55k.

molliedb · January 2012

yes, huge range. i've had friends adopt through foster care at no cost and friends adopting internationally at a super high cost. highest i've heard is in the $30k range though- nothing like the pp posted

austxgrl · January 2012

I should add that private non-agency adoptions in Texas are around $7,000 if the bm has health insurance and housing. Also, there is a great adoption tax credit that will credit back up to $10,000 of expenses. If someone wants to adopt there are options for all income levels.

kiarox2002 · January 2012

When we looked into it, ballpark seemed to be 20K for domestic infant and 30K for international. Adopting through the foster system is free, but it is extremely unlikely that you are going to get an infant who has already had parental rights terminated. We could not afford to do a private infant adoption.

L L CG · January 2012

kiarox2002:
Adopting through the foster system is free, but it is extremely unlikely that you are going to get an infant who has already had parental rights terminated.

This actually might be perfect for us, seeing as I am not all that enamored by newborns.

austxgrl · January 2012

L L CG:

kiarox2002:
Adopting through the foster system is free, but it is extremely unlikely that you are going to get an infant who has already had parental rights terminated.

This actually might be perfect for us, seeing as I am not all that enamored by newborns.

We have some friends that just went this route. From the time they returned the paperwork until placement was eight weeks! They got two sisters whose parental rights had already been terminated. It took an additional 12 weeks for the adoption to be finalized and they were actually paid by the state during those 12 weeks. The girls are absolutley amazing and just so happy to have parents. They called them mom and dad within the first month.

Ruby44 · January 2012

austxgrl:
L L CG:

kiarox2002:
Adopting through the foster system is free, but it is extremely unlikely that you are going to get an infant who has already had parental rights terminated.

This actually might be perfect for us, seeing as I am not all that enamored by newborns.
We have some friends that just went this route. From the time they returned the paperwork until placement was eight weeks! They got two sisters whose parental rights had already been terminated. It took an additional 12 weeks for the adoption to be finalized and they were actually paid by the state during those 12 weeks. The girls are absolutley amazing and just so happy to have parents. They called them mom and dad within the first month.

That gives me chills. SO awesome!!!

kiarox2002 · January 2012

austxgrl:
L L CG:

kiarox2002:
Adopting through the foster system is free, but it is extremely unlikely that you are going to get an infant who has already had parental rights terminated.

This actually might be perfect for us, seeing as I am not all that enamored by newborns.
We have some friends that just went this route. From the time they returned the paperwork until placement was eight weeks! They got two sisters whose parental rights had already been terminated. It took an additional 12 weeks for the adoption to be finalized and they were actually paid by the state during those 12 weeks. The girls are absolutley amazing and just so happy to have parents. They called them mom and dad within the first month.

That's great! Sadly, I think not the norm. My friend is trying to adopt through the foster system and it finally looks like it's going to happen after 2 years and 3 placements that fell through at the last minute. She wasn't all that picky either. I think her main criteria was that the kid(s) be under 5 years of age and she was willing to adopt a sibling group of up to 3 kids. She was really displeased with her caseworker though and is now going through some sort of private agency that helps place foster kids. I think it's through the Baptist church? She had a placement through them within 6 months.

ETA: Wow, that sounded really negative. I didn't mean to be, I think adopting through the foster system is great for a lot of people, it just wasn't for me. DH and I had a lot of fights about this before we got pg with Kate because he wanted to try to foster to adopt, but I couldn't deal with bonding with a baby/ kid and then having them taken away from me. I also really wanted an infant.

My friend is thrilled with her placement though. Now she just has to wait for rights to be terminated (it looks like they will be). She says that the state will even pay for daycare while you are fostering.

molliedb · January 2012

my friends who used foster care also had their placement within weeks, but they were open to a sibling group up to age 10 i think. it was crazy fast

austxgrl · January 2012

kiarox2002:
austxgrl:
L L CG:

kiarox2002:
Adopting through the foster system is free, but it is extremely unlikely that you are going to get an infant who has already had parental rights terminated.

This actually might be perfect for us, seeing as I am not all that enamored by newborns.

We have some friends that just went this route. From the time they returned the paperwork until placement was eight weeks! They got two sisters whose parental rights had already been terminated. It took an additional 12 weeks for the adoption to be finalized and they were actually paid by the state during those 12 weeks. The girls are absolutley amazing and just so happy to have parents. They called them mom and dad within the first month.

That's great! Sadly, I think not the norm. My friend is trying to adopt through the foster system and it finally looks like it's going to happen after 2 years and 3 placements that fell through at the last minute. She wasn't all that picky either. I think her main criteria was that the kid(s) be under 5 years of age and she was willing to adopt a sibling group of up to 3 kids. She was really displeased with her caseworker though and is now going through some sort of private agency that helps place foster kids. I think it's through the Baptist church? She had a placement through them within 6 months.

ETA: Wow, that sounded really negative. I didn't mean to be, I think adopting through the foster system is great for a lot of people, it just wasn't for me. DH and I had a lot of fights about this before we got pg with Kate because he wanted to try to foster to adopt, but I couldn't deal with bonding with a baby/ kid and then having them taken away from me. I also really wanted an infant.

My friend is thrilled with her placement though. Now she just has to wait for rights to be terminated (it looks like they will be). She says that the state will even pay for daycare while you are fostering.

I think every situation/experience is different with CPS adoptions. My friends that were placed with the sisters said they would take sibling groups and up to age 16. They also went through a private agency that only does CPS adoptions (it might actually be the Baptist one, not sure). That is really the best way to go.

On the other hand, my boss did an infant adoption (foster-adopt) through CPS and they had a complete horror story. They did not get all of the medical inforamtion on the birth mom and went through hell. Their daughter is now 19 and gorgeous but they fought (attorneys and all) with CPS until she was 15. It was a long hard road for them.

That is kind of the thing with CPS though, it is a wild card. It is free and there are many benefits like health insurance, college tuition, counseling, etc. But there can be many downfalls as well. Many people really struggle with whether or not it is an option.

Abrooks · January 2012

As others mentioned, it varies and depends on the agency but when we were looking it was 25 - 30K. I definitely support learning more about foster to adopt. I'd love to foster in a few years when our girls are older.

thethomps · January 2012

I had friends do an out of state adoption and it cost around $20K. They were able to raise almost $18K of that through fundraisers. International adoptions vary widely, based on the country. We are possibly considering adopting from DRC and the estimate was around $25K.

jacks123 · January 2012

Hi! I work for a international adoption agency that recently started a domestic adoption program and I also have worked for a local foster care agency and facilitated "foster to adopt" adoptions. If you have any questions about either routes to adoption, I would be more than happy to answer them for you. Private message me and I'll get back to you.

mcgee · January 2012

When we were looking into adopting from China, we were estimating about $25K - $30K when it was all said and done.

IA is really tough now thanks to the US ratifying the Hague Convention. If we were adopting right now, I'd definitely go domestic.

Friends of ours adopted a few years ago using American Adoptions, an agency in the Kansas City area. They waited about 9 months from their profile being activated with the agency to the birth of their son. Total cost for their adoption was around $50K, and my understanding is that their agency had plenty of families willing to spend even more than that, which boggles the mind.

How long you'll wait for a domestic adoption depends on how open you are: how willing you are to have contact with the birthfamily after the adoption, whether your open to any race/ethnic background, how comfortable you are with a lack of prenatal care, drug exposure, alcohol exposure, etc. and also what you can afford to pay in terms of birthparent expenses. Be sure to ask the agency what their policies are in terms of birthparent expenses. Some states severely limit what adoptive parents can pay to birthparents prior to birth and some don't. Some agencies have all families pay a set amount into group pool, so you have the assurance that you won't get hit up for several thousand dollars in birthparent expenses the same week you're matched.

MnMShaw · January 2012

kiarox2002:
austxgrl:
L L CG:

kiarox2002:
Adopting through the foster system is free, but it is extremely unlikely that you are going to get an infant who has already had parental rights terminated.

This actually might be perfect for us, seeing as I am not all that enamored by newborns.
We have some friends that just went this route. From the time they returned the paperwork until placement was eight weeks! They got two sisters whose parental rights had already been terminated. It took an additional 12 weeks for the adoption to be finalized and they were actually paid by the state during those 12 weeks. The girls are absolutley amazing and just so happy to have parents. They called them mom and dad within the first month.

That's great! Sadly, I think not the norm. My friend is trying to adopt through the foster system and it finally looks like it's going to happen after 2 years and 3 placements that fell through at the last minute. She wasn't all that picky either. I think her main criteria was that the kid(s) be under 5 years of age and she was willing to adopt a sibling group of up to 3 kids. She was really displeased with her caseworker though and is now going through some sort of private agency that helps place foster kids. I think it's through the Baptist church? She had a placement through them within 6 months.
ETA: Wow, that sounded really negative. I didn't mean to be, I think adopting through the foster system is great for a lot of people, it just wasn't for me. DH and I had a lot of fights about this before we got pg with Kate because he wanted to try to foster to adopt, but I couldn't deal with bonding with a baby/ kid and then having them taken away from me. I also really wanted an infant.
My friend is thrilled with her placement though. Now she just has to wait for rights to be terminated (it looks like they will be). She says that the state will even pay for daycare while you are fostering.

It also depends on if you do foster to adopt or just straight adoption. You can foster to adopt and have kids in your home before their parents rights are terminated and there is a possibility that the children at some point will returned to the parents or a family member could pop up out of the woodworks. But, you don't have to do that. You can just license yourself for adoption and get a child who's parents rights have already been terminated. If you go the second route, you most likely will not be able to get an infant.

HSartteach · January 2012

My SIL fostered a child almost from birth. The baby was born while the birth mom was in prison. SIL actually knew the family of the birth mom. She fostered for about 1.5 years before the adoption was finalized. All of the baby's surgeries (he had to have a shunt put in), and his therapy, and clothes, etc were paid for. I think she was rather lucky, but I do believe the mom did flip flop on parental rights a couple of times.

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