If you stayed in the hospital...

jenbabe · July 2012

Every agency and hospital might do it differently but if you stayed at the hospital in your own room, who pays for it? Do you pay out of pocket? bill insurance? does the agency pay out of our fees?

hway24 · July 2012

Our insurance paid for it, we didn't pay anything out of pocket at the hospital, and we haven't received a bill from our insurance for anything.

SweetieBelle04 · July 2012

Hmmm...I didn't even think about it. We weren't charged at all. The hospital we were at was very familiar with adoptions (we were one of three adoptive families while we were there), and they had an older wing on the maternity floor that was just for us. The rooms were older and there weren't any ammenities, but the nursing staff was great and took good care of us and DD. I didn't even think to ask about charges, and we never got a bill.

DD's birth mom was covered by insurance, and we paid DD's bill. I guess it's possible that the hospital charged our room to BM's insurance and it was covered that way. Good question!

MagickalNarwhal · July 2012

I forget if it was the agency or our sons birth moms insurance who paid, but it wasn't us. Our agency was also very very adamant that we not give ANY of our insurance info to the hospital to eliminate the possibility of a billing in error. We had a room right next door to our son and his first parents, which was great!

Moomere · July 2012

We joined our DD in the hospital on her second night's stay and had zero charges. We had no BM expenses, no DD expenses or room expenses. She was alone her first night and the hospital didn't have a nursery so I think it helped them out that we were there to care for her.

Also, it was a small catholic hospital, not sure that it makes a difference, but they were very pro-adoption. I'm sure every hospital is different.

summergirl79 · July 2012

I realize this is not answering your question- but just sharing my experience. We thought we may have a room but that wasn't the case- we ended up staying in the room with our son's BM.

silliestbunny · July 2012

We've adopted twice and both times we were in the hospital with our daughters.
With both situations, the hospital comp'd us our room. The were eager to accomodate us. We did not ask for a room. That said, it was clear if they needed the space we'd be booted out. With DD2, we did have to vacate the last night (we were there for four long nights!) to accomodate a busy floor. It worked out for the best since BM wanted to spend as much time as possible with DD2 before we were all discharged.

With a comp'd room, we did not get food service (although they brought us the "special" new parent dinner). Nor did we shower at the hospital.

My best advice (both as an adoptive mom and having worked in hospitals) is to meet with the charge or head nurse early on. Make sure she understands that you do not expect anything and you understand your role (until TPR is signed, hospital needs to defer to BM for all decisions). We had a great experience at both hospitals but one nurse at each facility wanted to be difficult. She kept reinforcing that we were not the legal parents. We understood that, the head nurse knew we understood that, but these two nurses seemed to want to reiterate it at any chance they had. My point- be humble, be easy and accomodating, and respect the hospital and legal rules... and hopefully it will be a pleasant stay.

PS- If you have a choice at all... which you probably won't... try not to stay near the bm. While it may seem ideal at first, it was super hard for us for DD2. Every time we wanted privacy, she could see us close our door and I felt like it might be hurtful to her. She could also hear the baby cry at night..... there are many reasons it made it more difficult... but you get my general point.

Jenn is Silly · July 2012

We stayed at the hospital with DD. Our BM was on state health care, and so DD was automatically enrolled after she was born (our insurance wouldn't cover her until we had "legal" documentation- temp custody).

I was fully anticipating a bill, but we were not charged. We were put in the isolation room, and were pretty much left alone. We did not have access to any services, but we did at least have a room.

The evening/overnight nurse was wonderful, and made us feel very very welcome. I had asked DH to find a vending machine for a drink at like 2 am, and he asked the nurses station for directions, and the nurse just gave him some juice for me. The day time nurses, however, were not so kind, and pretty much through the book at us whenever they could.

c&dwaiting4ourmiracle · July 2012

Our experience is very recent one, last week. We didn't expect the hospital to be so accommodating. We went in the morning of our son's birthday mommy induction and shortly after the charge nurse came to get us. They gave us a room and once he was born they even brought us meals. The staff were amazing and very supportive of the adoption process. We had a wonderful experience, I would say the best care we have ever received. No bill.

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