[krake19761]

Hello!

We are in the very beginning stages of our adoption journey. Right now, we are deciding on an agency and on a "country". We're open to both domestic and international adoption, any race. The more research I conduct, the more I realize that there are many AA babies/children who are ready for forever families. In your research, did you find that adopting an AA baby was cheaper than international or Caucasian adoption? How much did your adoption cost? And, if I may also ask, what was your wait time?

Thanks so much for any information!

Chrystie

[DebCsMom]

AA adoptions in general are less expensive than Internatonal & Caucasian domestic adoptions. The wait is also generally shorter.

We too adopted AA because of the need for AA children in our own country who needed families. We adopted 3 times in 4 years. Our children are 6, 4 & 3. We also have 2 bio children 18 & 16.

The costs for our adoptions was between $10,000 & $13,000. Each of them had extra expensive involved. Our first we had lengthy legal fees. Our 2nd we had to pay the medical bills. In our last the BMom agency told us one fee & then once they got our Homestudy which stated our income, raised that fee by $3000!!!!! I also had to stay in Ohio for 2 weeks so we had alot of hotel bills, food, gas, etc.

Our wait for our first was pretty fast. Our homestudy wasn't finished yet when we matched. Turned all our papers in end of February, we matched end of March. Our agency had to hurry our homestudy along because the BMom was dilated to 3 at our match!!! Fortinately our daughter waited a few more weeks. With our second we updated our homestudy in December. Had a match a couple weeks later. He was born a week after that but it failed. At the end of June we were ready again. Got a call a couple weeks later & our daughter was born a few days after that. With our son we updated in June. Registered with our Referral service & attorney but told them we didn't want to be shown to BMoms unless they were due at the end of September & beyond. In early August I got a call about a baby due end of Spetember. BMom chose us end of August & our son was born 3 weeks later.

In general from what I have seen, AA adoptions are quicker & less expensive. GOOD LUCK!!!!

Deb

[Linny]

The costs for international adoptions are not always more expensive than some of the domestic adoptions. I know that with one agency we've spoken with, to adopt from Africa is almost as inexpensive as adopting domestically.
Anymore, many agencies charge the same fees for any race, but your wait may still be shorter.
Our last two babies (for now) are AA. Our wait was longer for our youngest one, because we specified the gender, and actually turned down a couple of situations due to a lot of alcohol and drug exposure, and the fact the baby might have been full CC.

Overall, our last two adoptions were under 10k. I know these same types of adoption are possible, though you have to be willing to wait and search. Oftentimes, going through an attorney is much less expensive than an agency.

Generally, if you are not specifying the baby's gender, your wait will be under 12 months. Oftentimes, much sooner than that....but as of late, the fees for any adoption situation are outrageous and totally out of control! This is why it's vital to search and start a good line of networking with other attorneys and agencies.

Please feel free to pm me if I can be of any further help.

Sincerely,

Linny

[traceyk]

We paid 12,000 and that included ALL b-mom expenses and lawyer fees. If b-mom changed her mind we lost nothing, the money rolled over to the next match. Our wait was 2 weeks. We got the call she was born and TPR was signed. This was after a failed placement 2 days previous and that day we had the choice of three situations to choose from. We put in for boy or girl and were willing to accept smoking and marijuana as well as preemie 34 weeks and up. We did not consider international or CC due to the need for families and that was where our hearts took us.

[Wisdom]

Your adoption went very well. My dh and I are also just starting out on this journey. For now we've decided to go through the foster care system (we're not yet certified), wanting to adopt an infant, but would still consider a private adoption agency if the fees weren't so high ($13,000 or less total costs). I've called a few agencies and all have said total costs would more than likely be no less than $17,000 and could be more if there are birthmom fees. That frustrates me b/c with such high fees it makes me feel it's all about making money, and it makes me feel like we're buying a child. We're willing to pay appropriate legal fees, fees for the birthmom if necessary, and of course fees to the agency as long as they're not trying to gouge our pockets. Your fees are the ballpark area we'd like to pay. Can you tell me what agency you used (please pm me). We're in California but would consider using an out of state agency. We're a biracial (interracial) couple seeking a biracial infant. Thank you.

[jillned]

Both of our adoptions were inder $11,000.

[jaenelle]

We will have spent about $18,000 including EVERYTHING -- homestudy, all travel, legal, post-placement visits, etc.

Agency fee itself was $13,000, to give you an idea of what the "extras" may cost.

Yuna is full African-American and healthy and beautiful. We waited just over two months from agency approval to placement.

Incidentally, we used the same agency as traceyk.

[Kat-L]

Originally Posted by krake19761

Hello!
How much did your adoption cost? And, if I may also ask, what was your wait time?

Thanks so much for any information!

Chrystie

For my first adoption in 1998, the wait was about 6 months and the costs (homestudy, agency fees) were $1200.00 I also had court costs. All together it was less than $2000.00


For my second adoption in 2005, there was almost no wait. The homestudy was done by the county at no charge. The agency placement fee was $1000.00. The post placement visits were $875.00. The lawyer fees were $900.00 and the court costs were about $75.00. It was about $3100.00 total.

Both of my daughters are African-American. In both adoptions, I chose agencies that didn't require adoptive parents to cover birthmother expenses.

[mommy2b...again]

Hi,

We are also interested in adopting an AA infant. We would love to have a bi racial baby. If any one has an agency they were pleased with and affordable fees (under 15K) please PM me!

Thanks,

Jim and Debbie

[krake19761]

How do you find agencies that don't require payment of birth mother expenses? Can those of you who used these type of agencies post their names (or PM me). Thanks!

Chrystie

[marilyna]

We went through Foster Care and are almost ready to finalize on our two siblings (we got both of them at birth-they're AA, Cauc & Hispanic). We'll only have to pay about 1,000 for attorney fees, but will be reimbursed by the state for this. We'll also receive monthly subsidies for the kids, Medicaid, and free college for them, because they're considered special needs (sibling set). We'll also receive the full Adoption Tax Credit for them even though we're paying nothing to adopt because they're special needs.
Tomorrow, we're supposed to be taking placement of a 3 month old Caucasian boy. He will be Foster and we don't know if he'll be adoptable or not. But he may be.
I've been thrilled with how well our situations have turned out. Financially, foster is so much better than regular adoption.
There are lots of frustrations and fears of losing the kids, however.

[mod]

Are you guys including all of your costs? We are using the same agency as TracyK and while our agency fees are only $13,000....there was also the homestudy $3000, travel to Texas when the time comes, hotel costs, finalization costs 6 months down the road, and all of the paperwork/criminal record check costs.....putting us closer $18000 to 20,000 by the end. unless someone knows of a really cheap way to travel.
I am just curious because it seems like our costs are way above everyone elses.

Monique

[jaenelle]

Originally Posted by mod

Are you guys including all of your costs? We are using the same agency as TracyK and while our agency fees are only $13,000....there was also the homestudy $3000, travel to Texas when the time comes, hotel costs, finalization costs 6 months down the road, and all of the paperwork/criminal record check costs.....putting us closer $18000 to 20,000 by the end. unless someone knows of a really cheap way to travel.
I am just curious because it seems like our costs are way above everyone elses.

Monique

We used that same agency, and our costs are right about $19,000-$20,000. So yours are at least in line with ours.

[mod]

Kati,
Thanks that makes me feel better. I thought we were pretty typical as far as expenses went and then I read other's posts (I mean those that have done domestic adoption, I know fost/adopt is alot less) and thought I was missing something.
I PM'd you a while back, did you ever get that?

Tracey, I just realized that I spelled your name wrong on my prev. post. Sorry.

[jillned]

Our homestudy agency that we adopted our son through charges 10% of your income for the placement fees. I think the homestudy was 1500 or 1800 and postplacement was 750. Our attorney was 1200. The facilitaor we used for our daughter charges 7200 for AA adoptions, then we paid 1500 to the licensed agency that completed the adoption, 750 postplacement, 500 homestudy update and 1000 for attorney.