[mkviola]

We had our homestudy update yesterday and I am feeling a little down today. It could be that I was up all night last night with my mind going, though. Anyway, we thought we put away enough money to cover our second adoption. We put away the amount that our daughter's total adoption was, which was high at the time. We found out yesterday that we probably will need to come up with another $5,000 to $8,000 (to include traveling fees, because we do interstate). Apparently there really isn't a difference in fees anymore between AA and biracial children, which is WONDERFUL. It sounds like most agencies our agency networks with are in the $15,000 to $20,000 range. (That is on top of our agency fees). It's worth it to us and we love our agency, but we definitely did not expect this. We also found out that because of all the uncertainty with international programs, there are many more families doing domestic. That will obviously increase our wait time. Is anyone else seeing/ hearing this who has adopted domestically before?
I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense. I ended up only getting 2 hours of sleep last night between thinking about things and having a sick little girl... Thanks for listening!

[sugarandspice697]

Yes I have heard this too. One agency told my friend and her husband that they couldn't accept applications for families wanting to adopt domestically - regardless of the child's race.

Unfortunately, many experts don't expect the situation in international adoption to get any better. Nowadays, its very difficult for single women to adopt healthy children under 12 months old internationally. China, Guatemala, Vietnam and Ethiopia have tightened their restrictions on singles (some couples are also shut out of the programs too).

[KLL08]

I sent you a pm with the names of agencies we worked with that are less than the amount you listed! I hope it's helpful!

[Linny]

I sort of keep my thumb on the pulse of adoption fees and what you're speaking is correct. However, brace yourself to find that many agencies/attorneys/faciliators are now charging even higher fees to the tune of $25k-40K. I find it not only discouraging, but sickening.

While I can agree it's proper there's no discrepancy between the ethnicity of a baby/child; it seems the fees for special needs babies/children have risen significantly as well. In a special needs case, the adopting family is taking some risk as to the long term effects of the drugs/etc....however, adoption entities are acting as though these babies are healthy in every respect and charge the outrageous fees regardless of the special needs of any situation.

Further, I'm told by adoption entities that birthmothers/fathers are asking for more funds, meaning higher expenses from the hopeful adopting couple. I've never been one to agree with paying fees in 'matching' situations, but every hopeful adopting person should be aware of the possible risks involved in losing those funds.

It's not a good situation when those who offer services (agencies/attorneys/facilitators) raise their fees---seemingly---just because. My advice to anyone hoping to adopt without going into deep debt is to continue to network with various adoptiong entities and do their homework regarding birthmother expenses, etc. There ARE less expensive situations, but it takes a lot of diligence and patience in order to find them.

Good luck.

Sincerely,

Linny

[mommamarci]

I have seen this too. We just adopted last year, placed in March, finalized in September. I recently found out our agency fees went up. If we were to adopt again today, we would probably need an additional $5000... It's crazy! We had planned to adopt again in about 2 years (if foster care did not work out for us). I am just not sure now...

[Fran27]

$20k is the low end... Pretty often, when you add up hotel, travel, ICPC and other random fees, it comes up to $25k or more.

We were on the list for 2 years and two months after we got our kids, they increased their placement fees by $2000. It's definitely more expensive than it used to be.

I have to add though, and I know it's controversial, but you might be able to pay less if you go with one of those agencies that have lower fees for AA adoptions.

[mkviola]

KLL, thank you for your PM. I responded.

With our agency, we don't pay any money (besides the initial homestudy) until TPR. I keep trying to weigh that with the expenses. It's not even our agency who gets it, but these other agencies. I just don't understand why they are raising these fees. Most of us on this journey have been through so much to have our children. It's just disheartening. I really appreciate your responses. Hopefully others will be more aware than I was.

[sugarandspice697]

Holy smack! I just looked through some available adoption situations and NONE of them were under 20K! I paid 13K for Julia's adoption process and that's consider extremely high for embryo donation/adoption standards.

[mkviola]

Isn't it crazy???
Our agency does have a couple networking agencies that are under $15,000, but chances of us ended up there aren't overly likely. Who knows what will happen. Some of these agencies were ones who did have the lower AA fees our first time around, but it sounds like that doesn't happen as often anymore (which again is a good thing that is being phased out). It's just amazing that fees all around have raised that much. We don't have the lawyer fees, so the only other additional fees will be travel. But still, depending on how long you have to be somewhere, (especially if we end up going to IL!), that sure can add up.
Thank you all again for sharing!

[JustCourtney]

Melissa, I PM'd you with our agency info.

[MB80sgirl]

Can anyone who knows of any agencies with reasonable fees to adopt an AA girl please PM me? We've been waiting almost 2 years.

[TXTennis]

If anyone knows agencies that place cc or hispanic girl under 2, for a reasonable fee, PM me the information? Thanks.

[Linny]

You know...when it came to fees, I never entered in the amount we'd have to pay for travel, etc.....just knew some states were 'goes' and some were 'outs' based on where relatives lived and so on.

I never liked the fact there were different fees for different ethnicities; but the fact is, when many agencies changed their fees to fit every ethnicity, they simply RAISED ALL FEES!!!
Further, you'd be shocked at how many agencies still try to convince people the adoption tax credit is more like a reimbursement...when this simply isn't true. And, if they can 'claim' that the credit IS a type of reimbursement, then they'll tell adopting people that 'their fees are based on the adoption tax credit because that's how much you'll get back after your adoption'!!!!
Again, simply NOT true for everyone and certainly, it's NOT a reimbursement by any means. Still, there are caseworkers who'll tell clients this is the case....(grrrrrr)

I often wonder if enough adopting couples 'held out' and refused to pay expenses as well as the staggering fees many now charge, just how many would be forced to drop their fees into a reasonable area? And, I still believe we-as adopting people---have more 'power' than we realize.
For dh and I---we are done. We're in the process of adopting our last baby........but we're also older and have adopted many babies. I can't imagine being 23 again and looking to build my family through adoption!!! It's no wonder many couples/singles are now faced with the reality they'll only be able to afford the fees for only ONE baby/child!
IMO, this is a tragedy for all; and until something is done---either by us-as hopeful adopting parents---or some other avenue, the trend to charge more---taking advantage of hopeful adopting people will continue....

Sorry.....I'll jump off the soapbox now....

Sincerely,

Linny

[jaenelle]

We had planned on adopting again through the same agency we adopted Yuna through -- but they raised their fees $10,000 the last time I checked, and possibly even more now. What we paid for Yuna's adoption was outside what we could comfortably spend, but she was such a perfect situation we didn't feel we could pass it up. So glad we didn't, but now we are left with basically no hope of adopting through a private agency in the US due to the cost. We also considered international adoption but the only program we can afford won't accept us due to our ages and length of marriage, plus it's also very close to the upper limit of what we could spend.

So we're hoping to become foster parents and see if we can possibly adopt a kiddo from the state system. I have no idea if we'll even be approved for that, and no idea if the type of child we want is even available though the state, but we feel like we've got to try. Classes start in about 10 days.

DH and I are both lucky to have stable (if lower-paying) jobs and less debt than many people we know. We're slowly working to improve our financial situation, improve our home, and just trying to take it one day at a time.

[mondk]

We plan to put back, or take out a loan...for adoption #2 if I don't get pg first...we're looking at around $20k for it all but we are going with an agency in our state this time. They are a non-profit agency, if anyone wants their info, PM me.

Blessings, Michelle