[michaelandanna]

Greetings! My wife and I are seriously looking into adopting internationally. I was wondering which countries would be on the lower end of the spectrum for costs. There are some that are just far too expensive for us (really sad!! :0( ) but we do have to be realistic.

Thanks for your info...

Michael and Anna

[LadyBugz]

Independent (where you do it all yourself instead of hiring an agency) is more of your time, longer waits, etc, but less of your money. Some countries would technically allow you to go independent (like Kaz), but it is not recommended. Other countries (like Ukraine) make it very easy on independents from what I hear. When we were looking at indp Ukraine, we were expecting under $15,000. Just a guess as I have no info on them, but Mexico might be cheaper, too. Averages for international seem to hover around $20-23K I think. Special needs and older children have lower costs as well. And countries with black children like Haiti routinely come in under $10K I believe.

[sak9645]

Ethiopia is an excellent choice for lower-budget adoption, if you feel that you can parent transracially. There are only five U.S. agencies authorized by the Ethiopian government to place children from that country, and they are all experienced and "solid". You can see the list on the U.S. State Department website. The program is fairly stable, and open to a wide range of adoptive families. It is possible to adopt sibling groups or unrelated children. And both travel and escort are possible.

Surprisingly, China isn't all that expensive, and it is one of the most organized and ethical programs around. Many married couples adopt for under $20,000 including everything from homestudy on. Many singles adopt for around $15,000. Some agencies really work to keep costs down, and there are many U.S. agencies from which to choose.

My feeling about independent adoption is that it can work well if a person understands the language of the country, understands its legal system, has good contacts within the country, is familiar with USCIS requirements, and has a good understanding of the medical issues affecting internationally adopted children.

Otherwise, it can be very risky. Many people have tried to adopt independently from countries such as Ukraine, Mexico, and Russia, and wound up without a child and without their money.

As an example, they may have decided that they could parent a healthy child up to 18 months of age. The facilitator may have assured them, before they traveled, that such children were available. When they got to the country, however, they may have found that only children over age five, or with major special needs, were available.

As another example, some families were introduced to children, and fell in love with children, who were not eligible for immigration to the U.S. In some cases, they even managed to adopt the children, but could not bring them home unless they were willing to live overseas with them for two years.

There are many shady foreign facilitators, as well as "lawyers" who may or may not be in good standing with the foreign country's bar association. If you use one of these people and have a bad experience, you have no recourse.

Even some honest foreign facilitators may not have a good understanding of medical terminology and the implication of some "red flag" language in medical records for the American adoptive parent. As an example, they may not bother telling you that the birthmother drank alcohol, because they do not know about fetal alcohol syndrome and its effects on learning and behavior. Many American families do not feel equipped to deal with a child with fetal alcohol syndrome.

If you are a "newbie" to adoption, or if you are dealing with countries that are well known to be "risky", such as Mexico, I would strongly recommend that you work with an agency with the highest standards of ethics and long experience in adoption. It may cost you a little more, but you are much more likely to bring home a child you can parent.

Sharon

[bumpkin]

Just a thought, have you considered adopting through your state's foster care system. It's free and so many babies, toddlers and children are in need of a home.

Don't mean to hijack your thread, but I never gave it a thought until I started to research it on this forum.... fast forward 13 months and we now have twins that are 16 months old - placed with us at 6 months. Not only was the adoption free, but we were paid as foster parents until finalization (1100 per month tax free). Not that money should be an incentive, it was just a bonus to us and something we didn't expect after previously adopting through a domestic newborn program. If you need more info, feel freee to pm me.

Good luck on your journey - wherever it takes you!

[jewell2blue]

Hi,

Liberia, Sierra leone and South Africa are certainly among the lowest if not THE lowest.

jewell

[petersonsuri]

I just adopted a 2 1/2 year old from Bulgaria and all costs will come to 15,000. This includes HS,INS,Dossier preparation,travel cost(2 trips) and country and agency fees...everything. The wait for healthy may be a bit as it is a new system but you can do it for this cost.


Mary

[ll_bay]

India can be very reasonable too, especially if you adopt a special needs child. We adopted siblings for under 20K and one child for about 10K (not including travel, though, so it will be more like 15K when we're done- it would be cheaper if only one of us traveled or if we used an escort).

[adoptionmommy]

Sierra Leone is not doing adoptions anymore...and South Africa only works with Hague countries now. THe US is not a Hague Convention Country.

Have you looked at Liberia? I spent just over 17,000 for the adoption of two girls in total. The tax credit is 20,000.


I also sent you a pm.


Jessica

[hdowns]

We are adopting from Colombia and we expect it will finalize at about 17000 after travel, homestudy, dossier, hotel, etc. etc.
Colombia has a very stable program. The timeframe can be very long though and they are strict about parent ages for infants.
I could talk to you more about this if interested in knowing more...
best of luck!
Hdowns

[Tsmom]

We are adopting from China. We are requesting a girl under 2years old. (They have boys too) We were told it would cost about 12-13 thousand, but we figure it will be about 15-16 thousand because both us will be traveling. (One trip 12 -14 days). China has an excellent reputaion for healthy children, their honesty about their childrens health, and is one of the best programs in the world. I wish I would have known this 2 years ago when we were in the process of adopting from Ukrain. The cost was going to be around $30 thousand for a 9 year old girl. Under 7 years old was close to 50 thousand! The adoption went bad. We found out the photolisting was a scam and she wasn't there. Good Luck in whatever county you choose!

[Sean&Shan]

I would be lieing if cost was not a factor when we began our research but there a many other factors that need to be seriously considered as well, and price should not override them......

How accurate is the health info about your child?

What is the country's reputation/statistics for infant health and developmentally related problems?

How stable is the country's government?

What is the country's reputation/ stabilty of their international adoption program? Timelines, fees, ethics?

What type of travel is required?

and let's not forget..... Can you embrace this culture, celebrate it and include aspects of it within your families traditions and day-to-day life?

Comparing agencies and comparing countries is kind of like comparing a banana and a cucumber..... Be careful to make sure that when you are looking at the bottom line it includes all fees- Not all agencies include homestudy or travel in their fees- making comparisons inaccurate. But again, I encourage you to look beyond the fee structure to make a decision you can embrace with your whole heart.