[sak9645]

If a child has significant special needs, the agency representing him/her may well reduce its component of the adoption fees in order to help find him/her a home. Of course, the agency can't eliminate fees not paid directly to it, such as airfare or the USCIS fees, but it can reduce the agency fee substantially.

Whether you need an expedited homestudy depends on the country from which you are adopting. As an example, you don't need it for China's Waiting Child program.

With this program, if you find a child you can parent on an agency's Waiting Child list, you ask the agency to consider you. If the agency feels you are the best qualified family, it will send some brief information about you to China immediately. China can decide to reject you as unqualified, or it can give preapproval. Only after it gives preapproval do you need to get your homestudy, USCIS clearance, and dossier done.

Once you have an approved homestudy, your USCIS clearance, and your dossier, you send it to China. China will then review it in an expedited manner. If this paperwork shows nothing that changes China's opinion of your qualifications, it will approve you to adopt the child and officially refer him/her to you. Then, you will wait for China to grant travel authorization and travel to meet and adopt your child.

Except in a huge emergency, where a child really needs an operation urgently, getting an expedited homestudy is not a good idea. The whole purpose of the homestudy is to prepare you for the challenges of parenting an adopted child. This preparation cannot and should not be done quickly. Adequate counseling about issues such as transracial parenting, medical risks in adoption, dealing with a child's sense of grief and loss, etc. takes time, but it can really help you parent your child effectively.

Sharon