Adopting A Child From Another Country?

Question

My sister wants to adopt a child from Korea. Isn't adopting very expensive? About how much is it all together? I'm curious about the process but she won't tell me anything!

Answer 1

The adoption process anywhere is quite expensive, how ever more people are turing to forgien countries to adopt because the United States adoption are very long, for babies or toddlers because there is a waiting period and the rights of a parent are always in question. Not to mention how much a person make, how old they are.. ect. Adopting from the U.S. foster care system is generally the least expensive type of adoption, usually involving little or no cost, and states often provide subsidies to adoptive parents. Stepparent and kinship adoptions are often not very costly. Agency and private adoptions can range from $5,000 to $40,000 or more depending on a variety of factors including services provided, travel expenses, birthmother expenses, requirements in the state, and other factors. International adoptions can range from $7,000 to $30,000.

While there may be a small fee required up front, any requirement that all fees be paid immediately following application should raise red flags. When talking with your professional, ask about the payment schedule, and about sliding scale fees if your financial resources are limited.

I have a friend who has been trying to adopt for quite a few years. She was 38,and he was 43 when they started the process. She is a special needs teacher and he's a computer tech. They make okay money and own a house, have good credit. They were put on a waiting list but said it could be 3-5 years. Fast forward to  5 years later, they still haven't gotten a baby. She has kept in contact and on day recieves a call from the adoption agency, who didn't call to tell her good news, but that they would be taken off the Baby list because SHE WAS TO OLD. ( she is now 43) but they had older kids that they would be better suited for because of her age.  She was willing to take a child from the newborn to 3 race, or s*x  or even if they had down syndrome. She was more than happy to open her home. So they turned to Forgien adoption for that reason. 1 year later she is the mother to a 14 month baby girl from china.  No one questioned her age, just that she would be a good mother.  I agree, that there are so many kids and babies in the US that need adption, but the laws protect the "biological parents interest" over the babies and so getting a child from another country is an alternative which in some ways, I object to, as neighbors adopted a boy from russia, only to find out 3 years later, that it had AIDS. A co-worker of my husbands adopted from another country and that child had sever mental issues, which they ened up giving that child up as they were not equiped to handle her or so they said.  Your sister may feel that if she reveals to much, it might not go through. I know several people who normally are loose mouthed but don't or wouldn't say much prior to the adoption.. but spilled when they got the baby.

Answer 2

Are you genuinely interested about the process, or do you just want to know about your sister's finances?

eta: Sorry! You mentioned the money twice, so I wasn't sure how much of an answer to give you. The process depends on what kind of adoption you're doing.  

For all adoptions, you'll have a homestudy done. The home study means they talk to you & your husband about adoption, ask questions about your background, etc., and they inspect your home for whatever your state mandates (fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, exits...). Sometimes you have to take parenting classes, or at least do some required reading about adoptee issues. You'll have to get recommendation letters from people & prove that you're financially secure. You'll have a police check done. If you're adopting internationally you get fingerprinted & they run you through the federal computers too.  Usually you have to have a medical exam done. There' a lot of paper involved.

As to the cost of international adoption, they can really vary.  Each of our adoptions cost us about 10k in fees total  - that went to the U.S. Governmnet (immigration paperwork) our agency, the orphanage, and government fees to the country we adopted from.  Travel costs were in addition to that.  I do know of people who paid something like 30k for their  international adoption. It all depends on what country you go to, and the fees for the agency you choose.

If you adopt through the foster care system, there's no charge at all. They even give ongoing support in many cases.

Also, If you adopt, there is an adoption tax credit of around 11k for actual expenses incurred, so you would be able to get some money back.

Answer 3

There are so many children right here under your nose that need adopting.  I was one of those children growing up, and due to out of country adoptions I grew up in foster care, orphanages, and never had a family!

Answer 4

It is a pretty intensive process, lots of paperwork and lots of "hurry up and wait" moments.  It's worth mentioning that South Korea, last I heard, only uses very few agencies and that agency must have an office within a so-many mile radius of the adoptive family.

Holt Adoptions comes to mind as one of the few with a South Korea program.  

The process is long and yes, expensive, but it's not impossible.  Remember there is an adoption tax credit so some of the fees can be reimbursed after the adoption finalization in the following year's taxes.

Edit: Forgot to mention the book "How to Adopt Internationally", they make new editions every couple years, so make sure you get the most recent one.  It takes you step by step for the whole process, including a section of country-specifics.  It's a great resource, even if you are just doing your homework.

Edit again: Time frame and cost is entirely dependent on which country is involved in the adoption.  Some take a year or less, others longer. There are considerable differences in the programs of different countries, which is why it's a great idea to research them all.

Answer 5

People are right, there is a lot to it, its a long process, and its expensive!

Adopting out of the country is an option many people go towards because it tends to be cheaper and the waiting period is much shorter. Unless you know a mother giving up a child, most adopt from an agency. The typical wait period for a white baby in the US is 10years and will cost you roughly $100,000  --- this is why many families foster then adopt, its cheaper and the wait time is shorter.

Adopting overseas averages $50,000 and has a 2 year wait, depending on the country and the number of times you'll have to fly there will affect the cost.

Something to also note, typically you have to be over 25, although some agencies require you are at least 30.

I, too, can probably not have kids and have looked into things now knowing the wait I'll have to endure. HTH!

Answer 6

1. decide to adopt - and where to adopt from - and hook up with an adoption agency that is licensed in the USA and in the country where you intend to adopt

2. get US government permission to bring your adopted child into the USA as a citizen

3. adopt the child in the foreign country and bring him/her to the USA

4. transition - this will take a year or so and it happens at its own speed - also, some parts of assimilation are faster than others

We adopted an older child from Colombia. It took about 4 months at the US end - we finally had to get our US Rep to intervene to get our I-600A approved. Then it took about 2 months for the Colombia portion.

After the tax credit, our total cost was about $8,000 and we could have done it cheaper [extremely nice apartment in Bogota, for example].

We met our daughter through a summer visitation program - up to then, adoption was the furthest thing from our minds.

The reasons for international adoption include:

- it is usually much faster than a domestic adoption, unless you specify "skin color, gender, hair color, eye color";

- it is usually much cheaper, though I read of people spending $20K and up, which proves the adage about fools and their money; and

- I think it is safer - the chances of someone showing up at our door asking to re-bond with their baby or asking for a handout are insignificant.

We told our daughter, now 16, that if she ever wants to hunt for her parents we'll help her and fund the project, but so far she has shown indifference to the idea - they abandoned her at age 3, so I suspect it is unlikely she'll look for them.

Because of the guerrilla wars in Colombia, it has the third largest number of displaced children in the world [Darfur and Congo are 1 and 2]. By all reports, the government agency there, Bienestar, is remarkable for lack of corruption.

Answer 7

Created by an adoptee and adoptive mommy: This is an easy to read article with information on adopting from different countries, including cost ranges, time ranges and adoptive parent requirements. http://www.adoptive-parenting.com/intern...

People have hearts for different countries, nationalities and skin colors. Keep in mind there are children of ALL DIFFERENT nationalities right here in the US that need homes. The positive thing about adopting here from the foster system you get a complete family, medical background on the kids.

You can't be guaranteed of that from other countries. You will also allow your children the opportunity to grow up and possibly know their extended family. (The sides that are secure and stable).

There are MANY happily ever after stories in the foster adopt system.

Answer 8

Yeah especially from another country if she wants to adopt why not here there are a lot of kids here that need a good home and a good family

Answer 9

It's a very long and expensive process. My parents adopted my sister from Ethiopia 7 years ago, (I'm French by the way!!), it took 4 years from the first demand to the day we picked her up from the airport. I don't know the exact amount of money because my parents never discussed it with us but we're talking thousands not hundreds (Euros). Some people think that it's "buying" a child but that's not the case, it mainly administrative costs and then plane ticket and some other things....

I don't really know much more, hope it helped.