[JaelynElise]

Could someone please explain the differences b/w an agency, facilitator, and adoption lawyer in regards to the following:

1) Can any of the above do EVERY part of the adoption, or will you need one of the other 3 as well?

2) What are the limitations of each?

3) Which one tends to be least expensive?


Anyone who has experience with using JUST one of the 3, I would love to hear your story.

Thank you!

[browntap]

I think no matter what, an attorney is needed to finalize and do the legal work. Some agencies have attornies that they work with and that is included with the agency fee (that is the case with the agency I am working with).

If you go through a facilitator, you will still need to have a homestudy done and in some states that requires a licensed agency, other states only require a licensed social worker. Plus you would need an attorney to finalize.

If you go through an attorney, you will need someone to do your homestudy also. Sometimes the attorney recommends someone. I spoke with a Quad A attorney in Indy and he has a woman at a paralegal service do a lot of his homestudies for adoptive parents, again it depends on your State's laws regarding homestudies.

We are using an agency because we think it is important that the birthparents receive as much counseling before and after placement as possible so that they cannot only make the right decision in their situation but also so that they are at peace with whatever decision they choose. The agency we are using is a small agency only licensed in our state. For AA and biracial babies they have a TOTAL fee of $10K. No added medical, bmom expenses, or attorney fees, those are all part of the package. The homestudy fee was separate ($1000). Plus their application fee is minimal and none of the $10K is due until placement and then the rest is due at finalization.

It's difficult when you are working with a specific budget and you see situations listed and they seem reasonable. Until you read that legals, finalization, travel and bmom expenses are all extra. Then you are entering into unknown territory. In my personal opinion, I would steer clear of any attorney, facilitator or agency that required a lot of money upfront.

Also, facilitators are not legal in every state, so double check yours to see if it is legal. From my personal research into facilitators I've found that they usually require thousands of dollars upfront for a one to two year contract time. If that time is up and you are not matched, I believe you are out that money.

Ultimately, call around, surf the net, you can find reasonable fees, it just takes a little more digging around!
Good luck,
Tammi

[JaelynElise]

Thank you for your reply. I would LOVE to have your situation with the $10K for everything! Does that include the attorney, or is that separate?

I keep reading posts saying that I shouldn't use an agency that requires alot of up front money, but I can't find any that don't. HELP!

[browntap]

It does include the attorney, but only if we use the one the agency has an agreement with, and we will use her. 10K does not include homestudy fee (1000), application fee (150) and I believe maybe we have to pay for one of the follow up visits. But that's it! Plus they only work with bmoms in our state, so the only travel will be by vehicle and if needed we could stay one or two nights in a hotel and then drive back up home if the birth is on the other end of IN.

Call around! You might be surprised at what you find! I have found 3 different places with very low fees in my state. One place only charges $3K for placement, about $1K for legals and usually they do not have any bmom expenses or medical, if they do they said it is usually less than $500! I know a woman who adopted through them and only paid $5K (placement fee and legal and 1K for homestudy)!

Good luck, keep researching! I only found out about these places in my state by asking on these boards and friends who have adopted. They are out there, but since they are smaller, they don't have the big bucks to do all the national advertising.

Tammi

[enerad]

We found a agency in Californa that has a sliding scale, and is somewhat ala-carte. We pay for the services we use. We also can use an attorney, or facilitator to help with outreach, or legal issues. They are very reasonable.

[Support2Adopt]

You should be able to find an agency that handles everything. Some agencies have their own attornies they work with when one is needed. As far as signing relinguishment papers, at least in CA, if the worker is a Notary Republic, she can have the papers signed.
As far as a facilitator goes, all they can do is to help match you up. They cannot take care of any of the legal aspects of an adoption.
JJ

[KristinaAndNick]

browntap-
We have just began looking into all of the different kinds of adoptions, and have been trying to figure out which type would be best for us. After reading the responses from this forum, we are very interested in using an agency. We are from Indiana also and were wondering if you could give us the name of the agency you mentioned. We would appreciate any other suggestions! Thank you all!

[mommymarz]

Hey Browntap,
We also used an agency that provided everything except the attorney for finalization. We are in CA and used Holy Family Services. They have a sliding scale based on income and a cap of I think $12K. We did 2 infant adoptions for less than $18K.
Their fees included the homestudy, post placement visits and a contribution of $1.5K to a birthmom medical expense fund to provide care for those without medical insurance. They gave us a list of attorneys and we chose the one we like and it only cost us $300 for finalization. The fees are also spread out during the process. Soemthing like 30% at homestudy, 30% at placement and 40% at 90days post placement.

With the federal adoption tax credit and CA Adoption Assistance Plan monthly checks we came out ahead of the game.

We initially contacted a few facilitators but the bottomless money arrangement, the need to coordinate many uncovered requirements such as homestudy and post placement visists and the lack of counseling for the birthmoms made us chose an agency adoption.

Our agency even has support groups for aparents during the process and a social group for post placement.

Agency adoption isn't right for everyone, especially those who may not want to wait 2-3 years for a baby. Both our girls are biracial and we only waited 16 months.
Good luck in your search for the adoption journey that is right for you.
Mommy Marz
amom to Nora 6 and Carly 3

[monroeman]

This is a link to the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse website:

http://naic.acf.hhs.gov/

It will take you directly to the search page that will give you several options in looking for adoption resources specific to your state, including agencies. This will be a good place to start in your search for agencies. I don't think it is an exhaustive listing, so check for other resources also. You can also click on HOME and search around the site. It's a very good source of information.

Best of Luck