[poisson]

I am wondering if people might share their thoughts regarding the advantages and disadvantages of independent adoption versus using an agency.

This may be a very elementary question, but we are new to this and are lost! We have read books but would like to hear some personal experiences and advice from experinced people.

Any thoughts would be greatly greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading this.

[tobeafamily]

Independent - generally more cost effective - fewer dollars going out in professional fees. You do all your networking, searching, screening yourselves. I recommend independent adoption for people who've adopted before and 'know what it's like' or people who feel confident enough to screen situations, network, search, and coordinate services themselves/don't feel like they need outside support.

Agency - can be more expensive - can provide you with full services, including homestudy and postplacement supervision. Good for 'first time' or 'unsure' adopters. They will search for you though I recommend you network & search on your own as well. Most offer pre-adoption counseling and support for both adoptive and birth families, screening of potential situations (yours and theirs), post-placement supervision and support. Some are very restrictive regarding whom they'll work with - religion, age, income, sexual preference, etc. Others are more open. Avoid anyone who 'guarantees' you a baby in x period of time or for y dollars.

Just a few thoughts.

Regina

[wwjdmelissa]

We adopted independently and we were able to do this with the assistance of a friend of mine that has done it twice. The difference is that an agency helps guide you through the paperwork here in the states and has facilitators in the countries that are experienced with adoptions. We used an experienced facilitator in Ukraine that our friends used and they were awesome. I never had one problem with them and they are much cheaper than what an agency would charge. We paid $10,000 for our adoption plus our homestudy which was done back in 1999 so all we had to do was update it for this adoption. PM me if you want more info on the independent adoption. I can give you an email address that will help you a lot!! Good luck!