When considering adoption, many people often worry about the adoption costs associated with choosing adoption. From questions about what medical costs and legal fees will be paid to questions about other adoption costs, many people wonder if they can afford to choose adoption.

For Birth Mothers

• What adoption costs are included in the fees paid to their adoption agency/professional? While some agencies include costs for items such as the advertising of waiting families to expectant mothers or fees paid to lawyers, some adoption professionals require additional payments for these services. Families should know upfront what services are included in their fees, and what additional adoption costs they will be responsible for.
• Some of the biggest costs in an adoption are costs related to the unplanned pregnancy itself. These are costs that an adoptive family would have if they were pregnant themselves and the courts view them as the responsibility of the adoptive family. These items include all medical bills, maternity clothing and possibly other items such as rent and utilities during the unplanned pregnancy. Should the adoptive placement disrupt due to a birth mother changing her mind, adoptive families may prefer to work with an adoption professional that will help protect a family's adoption budget in such cases. For example, American Adoptions offers limited financial risk adoptions,  meaning families do not lose any money already paid out to a birth mother's medical, legal or living expenses should she change her mind and decide not to move forward with her adoption plan. American Adoptions also allows families to place a cap on their adoption budget, meaning that family will only be matched with a birth mother whose financial needs do not exceed the family's affordable adoption budget.
• Families also should consider other resources available to them to offset some of the costs of the adoption, such as the federal adoption tax credit, military subsidies, adoption grants, adoption loans and other financial resources.