[G35Guy]

I was wavering between a Guatemalan adoption and a domestic one, and I think I've decided that I'm going to go with a domestic adoption. The higher cost of a foreign adoption and the hague convention coming into play soon are weighing heavily against foreign adoption for me.

So, how do I go about picking an agency (or should I look at a facilitator or some other method)? I'm in Ohio, I'm a single man, age 30. Being single, I think the best way for me to go at this point is to aim for a newborn boy. I am open to latino, caucasian and asian babies. I'm also open to african american babies, but I'm not sure how well that would go over with parts of my family, so I'm going to rule that out for now.

I know the adoption has to be finalized in Ohio, but does the agency used need to be in Ohio? I assume that if I'm open to an interstate adoption it is more likely I will be matched to a child as the pool is much larger than Ohio alone. What are the added complexities of an interstate adoption?

From many of the posts on this board, an adoption for the type of newborn I'm looking for sounds like it will run between $10,000 and $20,000. Does that sound like a good ballpark? I've got $6000 saved up so far.

Thanks, and any agency recommendations you have would be greatly appreciated by PM.

[denisenw5]

You would have several choices. You could use an agency located in Ohio who only places in Ohio. If you went this route, you could avoid interstate. You could also use an agency out of state. You would then have to have an Ohio agency complete your home study. If going out of state, it is important to ask where the agency does placements. If they are a national agency then you would need the Ohio agency to do the home study, the agency you choose to match you with an expectant parent, and many times an agency in the state where the expectant parent lives to complete the placement paperwork. Most agencies will allow you to decide to finalize in Ohio or in the state where placement occurred. In Ohio, we require a minimum of six face to face post placement visits, two of which must occur in your home. In Ohio, if you use a facilitator, be sure to talk with the agency about how much money you paid the facilitator as there are many judges in many counties who will not finalize adoptions where large fees were collected by facilitators. One last tidbit about adopting from out of state. You must stay in the state where placement occurred until you have approval by both states. Ohio has been known to move slowly at times. The time can range anywhere from several days to several weeks. Hope this helps!