Adoption, why does it cost so much?

Question

If there are so many children without homes, why does it cost so much money to adopt a child? Its like only rich people can adopt children.

Answer 1

Nope, not only rich people.  Dh & I are just regular working class people with a mortgage on our home and car payments just like about everyone else. :-)  We adopted & found a way to do it.

We took out a second mortgage on our home.  We know of people who applied for adoption grants, did fund raisers, scrimped & saved every bit of money they could for years to save up, etc.  You might check with HR to see if your or your spouse's company offers an adoption benefit.  You can qualify for a federal tax credit (http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc607.html ) and see if your state offers a tax credit or deduction, too.  Just some ideas for helping you swing the financial aspect of it.

Adopting from foster care carries no or nearly-no costs.  Consider that.  There are lots of kids in foster care looking for adoptive homes.  Go to http://www.adoptuskids.org to look at a photo listing.

Adoption costs so much when done privately or internationally because of all that's involved.  You need to get birth, marriage, divorce, etc. certificates & pay to get them.  Often they must be notarized and authenticated (which costs more).  There are fees for other documents you'll need and the notary & authentication of those.  You'll need to be fingerprinted by the state, the FBI & if international by Immigration as well.  It costs not only to have the fingerprints done, but the background checks and child abuse & neglect checks done.  It costs for Immigration to process your adoption file & give approval.  It costs to have your dossier (paperwork) translated if you're adopting internationally.  It costs for the homestudy visits and post placement reports to be done.  It costs in salaries for EVERY person who is involved professionally in your adoption.  There are legal fees that must be paid.  If domestic, the birth mother's prenatal & neonatal care must be paid and the baby's as well.  If international, the foster care or orphanage must be given money to be able to continue to provide care for the other kids in there.  There are fees for the child's medical exams, immunizations, visa, passport, etc.  There's the fee for your passports and visas, too.  Also airfare, food, lodging, etc. when/if you travel.

Lots of expenses...lots of paperwork, lots of people involved.  They all need and deserve to make a living for providing you their expertise.

Answer 2

You're right, it does cost alot many times.  It kind of depends on how you go about it, what age you adopt, how long you are willing to wait, and where you adopt from.  

There ARE ways to adopt and it NOT cost a years salary.  However, you may have to foster the child for awhile first and then WAIT and hope that everything goes your way in court.  Also, I'm pretty sure adopting older children is not as costly as adopting babies.  And of course, adopting special needs is less expensive as well.  

Most people, however, desire to have a healthy infant.  And I can understand that.  Taking on a child is a big responsibility.  Taking on an adopted child, with years of emotional baggage and/or special needs is an exceptional feat that should only be tackled by those who feel a special call.  

As for WHY it cost so much...well...I can only speak for the adoption processes that we went through.  We had two domestic adoptions not work out and eventually adopted internationally....so I've done the paperwork for both.  

Alot of the money goes towards all the people that are handling your case.  There are a ton of "behind the scenes" people that you never encounter.  And all those papers that you have to sign and have notarized or sealed or whatever.....they all cost somebody something...so YOU are footing the bill.  Plus, in our case we were paying for all the foster mother payments, our adoptive child medical expenses, doctor visits, clothing.....even though he wasn't living with us yet, we were paying for his living expenses that year while we were in the adoption process.  

So, by the time the adoption was over, we had paid several thousand dollars towards his care.  But, I didn't mind at all.  That money made sure he had a GOOD foster mom (whom I still stay in contact with), good medical care, and all his necessities.  He was my "son" before he was my son.  I was willing to take care of him.  

Most people that are TRULY wanting to adopt don't complain about the money too much.  They do what it takes to bring their child home.  I wish it were cheaper.  But, in our case, the money went towards our son and payment of the courtcase.  Not much else.  And that's not cheap.  

I'm interested in hearing what others say.  I'll check back.

Answer 3

well i don't think poor people should be adopting children.

Answer 4

Depends on what kind of adoption you are pursuing.  Infants will cost more to adopt because there really aren't that many healthy infants available for adoption.  Most are aborted.  Children from other countries cost more, mostly for two reasons a) bureaucracy and b) to further support the needs of the orphanage.

Adopting children from foster care is generally extremely cheap to almost free.  So not all adoption is expensive.

Answer 5

At one time I felt the same way as you.  However, as we went through the adoption process, I realized that many of the expenses are needed to protect the children.  Fees for criminal background checks, fingerprints, and home visits are all needed to keep harmful people from trying to adopt.  If it was free, every pedophile and child abuser would be trying to adopt children.  The fees and costs help to keep the children safe and free of harm.  It also helps to protect the adoptive family from having an adoption overturned by insuring that the proper paperwork is completed, etc., since it is a legal proceeding.

I wish adoption was more affordable, but I also understand why it isn't.  What we should be pushing for is more government assistance for adoption once an adoptive family is approved by an agency or after the finalization is complete.  That would insure our children are safe, but also help adoptive families provide loving and safe homes for children.

Answer 6

i dont actually know how much it costs, but i think that PAYING for a child is rediculous. i mean in one way, SOMEONE has to take the time to make the arrangements for the parents who want to adopt. and i think thats the issue is that those people have to make money (just like everyone else). if ONLY huge companies would sponsor these organizations, maybe it wouldn't have to cost anything to parents. anyways. enough of my ranting

Answer 7

It's not expensive to adopt through the state. And no, you don't always have to foster first to adopt a child from the state. You can choose to be matched with one whose parents' rights have already been terminated.

If you choose to adopt an infant, then yes, it's ridiculously expensive. If we're talking U.S. infant adoption, it's largely because the agencies have to spend huge amounts of money trying to ensnare pregnant women into giving up their kids.

If we're talking international adoption, then it depends on which country as to why the fees are so ridiculous.