The differences between private and state adoption are immense, with each having their own advantages and disadvantages, depending on the adoptive couple.

The following is an overview of some of the main factors that adoptive couples should consider before choosing a private or state adoption.


Adoption Cost

Private Adoption - $15,000-$45,000

State Adoption – Time, cost of home study

The cost of adoption is often the first factor that hopeful parents research. However, some only look at the amount of money required for the adoption and don’t look at other costs.

Private adoption costs a significant amount of money, while state adoption costs a significant amount of time. Adoptive families must ask themselves which they value more.

There are hundreds of steps, legalities and people that facilitate a successful private adoption, and they all factor into the overall cost. The adoption agency must advertise for the adoptive family and seek birth mothers, conduct an adoption home study, provide the birth mother’s living expenses, verify the adoption legally, conduct post-placement visits, pay a professionally trained staff, and much more. All of those factors provide the adoptive family with a newborn baby to call their own.

State adoptions cost little money for foster parents because it is cheaper for the state to allow foster parents to raise the state’s foster children as opposed to placing them in a state-funded group home. Sometimes the foster family is even paid a stipend to raise special needs children.


Wait Times

Private Adoption – Three to nine months at American Adoptions

State Adoption – Over two years for termination of birth parents’ rights¹

Shorter wait times are more important to some people than others. For example, adoptive couples in their early 30s or couples in their late 40s who already have older children may not feel the immediate pressure of adding to their family.

Conversely, adoptive couples in their late 30s may start to feel their “golden years” of becoming parents slipping away, so time is valuable to them. These parents often decide that the cost of a private adoption is worth it because of the high likelihood of receiving a baby within months.

Adopting through the state can be a lengthy process for foster parents, simply because of the amount of time it requires to adopt. In the foster care system, birth parents are given ample opportunities to change their lifestyles and become quality parents, disallowing their children to become eligible for adoption for over two years on average, and sometimes even longer.¹

If the birth parents get treatment and rehabilitate themselves, their child will usually be taken from the foster home and given back to the birth parents. However, if their parental rights are ultimately terminated, the child will then be available for adoption.

The termination of the birth parents’ rights and the adoption process itself is much quicker in a private adoption.

Adoptive families need to balance their priorities and goals when it comes to adoption costs and wait times. Doing so will ensure that the adoptive family makes the right choice for their situation.


Uncertainty

Private Adoption – Medium

State Adoption – High

There is going to be some degree of uncertainty no matter which type of adoption the adoptive family chooses, but the source of the uncertainty is different for each.

American Adoptions has a high success rate of nearly 85 percent of completed adoptions once a match has been made between the birth mother and adoptive family. The few times the adoption isn’t successful is when the birth mother changes her mind at some point, usually right after the birth. All precautions are taken to avoid these scenarios, which make them infrequent, but unfortunately they can and sometimes do happen.

Adoptive families pursuing a private adoption will often feel some uncertainty because their futures are tied to a birth mother’s final decision of completing her adoption plan. The private adoptions that are unsuccessful can make this feeling of “not being in complete control” strong for some adoptive families, even though there is a small chance of a disruption.

State adoptions, on the other hand, have a very high uncertainty rate because foster parents have little control in the proceedings of the adoption. For example, a couple may sign up to become foster parents in hopes of adopting a child. They receive the foster child and immediately fall in love with him or her. A year goes by, and the child’s birth parents clean up their lifestyles and the child is then reintegrated into their family, leaving the foster parents childless after an entire year of bonding. The foster parents will then have to move on and repeat the process with another foster child.

This scenario happens frequently in the state adoption foster care system. In fact, only 19 percent of children who exited foster care in 2008 were adopted, while 60 percent of the children were either reintegrated with their birth parents or with a relative.¹


Adoptee’s Age

Private Adoption – Newborn baby

State Adoption – Less than 1 year old to 18 years old

The adopted child’s preferred age is yet another factor that needs to be discussed before determining which type of adoption is best for the adoptive family.

American Adoptions only facilitates the private adoption of newborn babies and infants. Because many adoptive couples prefer newborn babies, this is reflected in the cost of a private adoption.

As for state adoption, foster children of all ages need homes. In 2008, 28 percent of adopted foster children were two years old or less, with only 2 percent of them being babies less than 1 year old. Also, 63 percent of all adopted foster children in 2008 were 3 to 10 years old. Thus, those who adopt through the state usually adopt an older child.

In summary, adoptive parents hoping to adopt a newborn baby through the state foster care system may have to wait a while, but for adoptive parents who don’t care about the child’s age, this is a non-issue.


Birth Parents’ Involvement

Private Adoption – Birth Mother’s Discretion

State Adoption – None

All adoptive families of American Adoptions are required to be willing of at least a semi-open adoption, which simply means that the adoptive family and birth mother exchange pictures and letters with the agency’s mediation.

If a birth mother desires an open adoption, she will be matched only with adoptive families who are willing to participate in that relationship.

Families adopting through the state foster care system will very rarely have any interaction with the adopted child’s birth parents.

Both methods of adoption will allow the disclosure of the adopted child’s family medical history to the adoptive family, as long as it is known.

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Clearly, there is a lot for adoptive families to think about when deciding between a private and state adoption. The biggest difference for most adoptive couples is the fees required in a private adoption versus minimal fees in a state adoption.

American Adoptions encourages any adoptive couples deciding between each type of adoption to do plenty of research and to be comfortable with their choice before making the final decision.


* All private adoption statistics are those of American Adoptions

¹ http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/tar/report16.htm