American Adoptions’ costs may, at first, seem higher than other adoption professionals, but it’s important to understand why. American Adoptions is a full-service adoption agency that operates nationwide, so our estimates often represent national variances.

Our agency allows you to set your own Match Budget, a sum set aside to cover the medical, living and legal expenses of the adoption. This helps you set an amount within your family budget, allowing you the greatest flexibility possible.

Below are several reasons that American Adoptions costs more than other adoption professionals.

Support - American Adoptions provides 24/7 support to our birth mothers. This availability helps birth mothers decide what the best choice is for their baby.

List management - It is common for adoption professionals to not properly monitor their adoptive family waiting list. This means they will often activate more families than they are able to place babies with in a timely fashion. American Adoptions closely monitors our family lists to ensure timely placement for our adoptive families.

Accuracy of costs - Professionals may estimate adoption expenses lower than is truthful. This leads families expecting low costs to be shocked at time of placement or when an adoption doesn’t work out. Every year, we recalculate the average cost of our adoptions and thereby provide accurate estimates.

Protection from many hidden risks - Some professionals charge hourly for their services, which can provide a false estimate of expenses. For example, a prominent adoption attorney may estimate his or her fees at $20,000 for a successful adoption; however, the $20,000 fee estimate does not include his or her expenses for providing legal services to birth mothers who do not choose adoption. In these cases, the attorney’s legal expenses can be thousands, in addition to the successful adoption expense estimates. 

If a professional’s fees are at risk, determine their experience, client satisfaction and success rate; it’s not uncommon for families to lose thousands of dollars before they learn of previous bad dealings. American Adoptions covers many of the fees at risk should an adoption prove unsuccessful, thereby protecting our clients from many of the financial risks associated with adoption.

Online and Person-to-Person Education - American Adoptions provides online education, support and counseling through videos and manuals similar to an online learning environment. This allows you to view the presentation at your own pace or to repeat a segment for better understanding.

We also offer each adoptive family person-to-person education and support through their Adoption Specialist, who walks them through each stage of the adoption process. Additionally, we can arrange for a social worker to come to you. Whatever contact you prefer, American Adoptions has an option to cater to your learning or communication style.

Professionalism and experience - Many families overlook an organization’s professionalism. Consider how the organization presents themselves in person, online and over the phone. Are written materials professional and informative? How stable and reputable is the organization? Does the staff have solid credentials and experience in adoption? Do they seem competent and responsive to your needs? Is the organization licensed and regulated? A company’s professionalism and experience often mirrors their success.

Wider fee ranges - Since we work in 50 states, our expenses vary with state laws. Each state varies in legal procedures and costs of living expenses, Medicaid and health insurance. Because of these variations, our fee estimates have wider ranges than if we worked in only one state. In other words, in one state living expenses may be lower and therefore your adoption might be on the lower end of our range. On the other hand, your adoption might occur in a state where the legal work is more involved and therefore your adoption might be at the higher end of the range. Variation also is related to the needs of the birth parents. Each family sets their budget, so you have control over budget limitations. The natural advantage of working in so many states is that we reach more birth mothers.

Advertising - American Adoptions spends more in advertising than most adoption professionals to reach more women facing an unplanned pregnancy through a variety of outlets across the country. But unlike some professionals, American Adoptions’ advertising fees are paid once and never expire.

Marketing research - Advertising and networking are worthless without marketing research. American Adoptions invests a great deal of time in reviewing the effectiveness of our advertisements, mediums and networking connections. We cut back in areas that are no longer producing. Most professionals do not perform marketing research to determine advertising and networking effectiveness. This means you will likely spend much more in advertising than is necessary. If a professional says they spend less in advertising per family than American Adoptions, then you may face longer wait times.

Quality of service - We offer more services to birth parents and adoptive families to make the adoption process better. American Adoption’s birth mothers typically feel supported and are provided a wealth of excellent information and resources at their fingertips. Adoptive families feel supported during the adoption process and are educated regarding the pitfalls and roadblocks. This education and support provides the services necessary to navigate through the challenging waters of adoption. Like anything in life, adoption has its challenges but our clients feel much more secure with our staff being there through the good and tough times.

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To better understand American Adoptions costs, call 1-800-ADOPTION to speak with an Adoption Specialist or request free adoption information.