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What Experts Say

Adoption costs vary widely, depending on how you choose to adopt.

Foster-to-Adopt

Foster-to-adopt is the least expensive. If you adopt through a state agency, your child's adoption will likely be free. If your child has special needs there may also be subsidies to help offset the cost of his or her care. Sometimes doing foster-to-adopt through a private but state-funded agency will include some minor processing fees.

Domestic Infant Adoption...

Adoption costs vary widely, depending on how you choose to adopt.

Foster-to-Adopt

Foster-to-adopt is the least expensive. If you adopt through a state agency, your child's adoption will likely be free. If your child has special needs there may also be subsidies to help offset the cost of his or her care. Sometimes doing foster-to-adopt through a private but state-funded agency will include some minor processing fees.

Domestic Infant Adoption

The cost of a domestic infant adoption through an agency or lawyer can range anywhere between a few thousand dollars into the tens of thousands. A great deal will depend on:

Where you're adopting. Some states are just more expensive than others.

Whether or not travel is involved. (If you are adopting from another city or state, you will need to travel to pick up the baby.

Whether or not your state allows you to pay expenses for the expectant parents. Not all states allow potential adoptive parents to pay for things like rent, food, or medical expenses for the expectant mother they match with. Also some women will have insurance or Medicare and won't need help with medical expenses.

Whether or not the child you adopt is considered hard-to-place or has special needs. Some agencies price adoptions based on their feelings about how difficult it will be to place that child.

Outside of these unpredictable expenses you will also need to pay for your home study to get approved to adopt and for any processing costs of having the agency or attorney handle your adoption. These fees will depend on the discretion of the individual agency or lawyer.

International Adoption

In international adoption, you will pay the agency home study and facilitation fees, the fees in the country of origin, and any travel costs. How much you spend will depend on:

Where you go to find your child. Countries all have different fee structures.

Which agency helps facilitate the process. Agencies working in the same country may charge very different fees.

Travel considerations. Some countries will want you to visit just to pick up your child. Others want you to come twice -- once to visit the child and again to pick her up. How long you stay in-country will also depend on the program. Of course the transportation costs will also depend on when and where you're going.

Anticipating Costs

Richard Mintzer, author of Yes, You Can Adopt!, says that research is vital.

"There aren't too many ways to cut costs," he says. "The main thing you need to do is look around the different agencies and talk to people who have gone other routes so that you don't suddenly find out that you find an agency that costs twice as much."

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