Do you want to adopt a child? Here’s how much it costs
If you’re looking to adopt a child, there are several things you need to know. The process itself can be a lengthy, complicated endeavor. Not to mention the cost of money, time, and effort.
Most adoptive parents will agree that it will all be worth it, though. Many agencies, both government and non-government affiliated, would be more than willing to assist you throughout the whole process.
Initially, you will be asked to attend preparation classes and seminars. These sessions will help you learn more about the legalities and everything else about adopting a child. A social worker will also be assigned to you to assess your suitability to become an adoptive parent.
The court may also order other assessments, depending on your specific case, including fees and adoption costs. Learn more about it down below.
Types of adoption
Adopting is an option that is available to almost everyone. So long as a person or a couple is capable and suitable, adopting a child to become a family is achievable with the help of legal assistance.
You will go through rigorous background checks such as a police home check, three or more character references, and undergo a complete medical checkup. Before going into these details, it is good to have an essential background on the types of adoption that could be an option for you.
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Agency adoption
There are thousands of fully licensed adoption agencies that can help you with the adoption process. They will assess possible adoptive parents and find a child that will be good for that family.
The agency will then arrange all the legalities needed for the adoption to go through. Agency adoption often costs a lot more than foster adoption because of all the legal fees that need to be processed and approved.
Fost-adoption
A child will be in your care as a foster kid. Usually, a child is put in the foster system. After some time, the expectation is that you will eventually become the child’s legal parent or guardian.
The foster care system will have to assess you carefully and see if you are fit to become a foster parent before placing a child in your care. A social worker may work closely with you for months up to years before adoption can be an option.
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Independent adoption
Also commonly known as open or private adoption, this type of adoption happens when birth parents give up their parental rights. By doing so, they agree that the child is now solely the responsibility of the adoptive parents.
They will also be the legal guardian until the child turns of legal age. This usually happens in hospitals or when the child is newly born, and an agreement is made or signed between the biological and adoptive parents.
International adoption
Infants are usually the first ones to be adopted from foster care or with the help of adoption agencies. More adoptive parents want to adopt infants than infants are waiting to be adopted in the United States.
Another option is international adoption or adopting a child from the foster system of another country. The whole process is complication and expensive, but it surprisingly takes less time for the adoption to be of finalization.
Closed Adoption vs. Open Adoption
There are two kinds of adoption: closed and open. The former is the type where no identifying information about birth and adoptive family are shared. If you are the adoptive parent, you will not receive any information about the child’s biological family before joining your family. The information may be release when the adoption is of finalization.
Depending on your state laws and the agreement, this information may or may not be of release to the child when they turn the legal age of 18. Open adoption, on the other hand, allows for an association between birth and adoptive family.
The child may also contact their biological family in varying degrees, such as phone calls, letters, or meet face-to-face. When they turn of legal age, they may choose to keep close touch or even look for any surviving relatives if that is in their, and your, best interest.
Cost of Adopting a Child
Common knowledge is often of misconstruction because adoption can be costly, but not for the reasons you might assume. There are many options for adoption but adopting from foster care is often of state-funding. In most cases, there are little to no fees when processing it with the help of a country, state, or tribal public child welfare.
The costly kind of adoption is usually one that is done via a private agency. According to Child Welfare Information Gateway, adopting a healthy newborn or baby or adopting another country can cost anything from $5,000 to $40,000. If you choose to work with an attorney during an open adoption, it can also be costly. An attorney’s fee can range from $8,000 to $40,000 and averages $10,000 to $15,000.
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Why do you have to pay to adopt?
Adoption fees go to a lot of resources needed to complete the whole process. The legal proceedings involve attorneys, physicians, therapists, social workers, government administrators, adoption specialists, counselors, and many more. The legal functions are of completion and fulfillment by fully licensed agencies and individuals. That means most of those fees go to pay for their legal assistance.
There are also other factors contributing to why adoption can cost a lot of money. These expenses can also vary depending on someone’s adoption journey. For example, someone who adopts from their local town will spend close to none for traveling while those who choose to adopt a child from another state or another country will pay much more.
There is also the matter of medical expenses and living expenses. Depending on the adoptive parents’ agreement with the birth parents, they may have to pay for the hospital and living expenses of the birth mother.
What is the least expensive way of adopting?
Foster care adoption is a significantly less expensive adoption process in comparison to all other types of adoption. The average fees foster parents have to pay somewhere upwards of $2,500. You will work with a state-assigned social worker to help guide you through from the beginning until the end of your fostering period.
You may also be profiled, and if unfit, you may be of denial to fostering rights, and the child can be taken away from your home.
However, bear in mind that the foster system’s primary goal is to reunite children in foster care with their blood or surviving relatives before turning of legal age. Many children are not up for adoption because they still have family somewhere. But if your foster child is up for adoption, you will be the first on the list to be a candidate as a permanent guardian or a legal parent.
Final Thoughts
Everyone’s adoption journey is unique. Each case is particular in its way, especially if the intention for adoption comes from a place of love and wanting to form a family. In the United States, thousands of children of varying ages are still looking to find a good home and a forever family. After all, they did not choose to be born. However, they deserve a happy life with people who will care for and love them as their own.
The unfortunate reality is that not all foster kids are up for adoption. A good percentage end up in bad foster homes that lead to traumatic experiences for the children. The system is far from perfect and needs better support from the state. If you are open to the idea of foster adoption, please consider this above other types of adoption.
