Navigating the Financial Reality of Adoption: What You Need to Know

How much does adoption cost? It’s one of the first questions families ask.

But not every adoption estimate tells the same story.

After surveying 40 leading adoption professionals representing more than 6,000 completed domestic adoptions, we found that the vast majority of adoptions fall in a consistent range.

 

 

A lower estimate doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve found a better deal. And a higher estimate doesn’t automatically mean you’re getting better service.

What matters is what that cost provides and how it affects your chances of successfully becoming parents.

There are three areas every family should understand when comparing adoption costs.

1. What Are You Paying the Agency to Do?

Your agency fees should do more than put your name on a waiting list. They should create opportunities and provide the experienced support needed for those opportunities to succeed.

 

 

That makes marketing and outreach one of the biggest factors affecting how many adoption opportunities an agency can create and how long its families may wait.

Marketing is also expensive, which makes it an easy place to cut costs.

Less outreach can mean:

• Fewer opportunities.
• Longer waits.
• Lower chance of successfully adopting.

One way to evaluate an agency's investment is its website traffic. If an agency isn't reaching many people considering adoption, it becomes harder to consistently create opportunities for the families it serves.

Experience matters, too.

Look for an agency with at least five full-time social workers who each work with approximately 20 expectant mothers per year. Experienced professionals can provide meaningful support, identify concerns early and help navigate the challenges that can otherwise prevent an adoption from moving forward.

Lower agency fees aren't an advantage if they come at the expense of the services that help you adopt.

2. Are the Variable Expenses Realistic?

Legal, living and medical expenses vary from one adoption to another, so no professional can tell you exactly what these costs will be before you are matched.

Each of those expenses comes with a cost that families must budget for, and with many other agencies, becomes a repeated fee when an adoption doesn't work out.

• Legal expenses: $8,000–$10,000+
• Living expenses: $6,000–$10,000+
• Medical expenses: Often little or none, but potentially significant depending on insurance and individual circumstances

If an agency's estimate falls significantly below these ranges, find out why.

Some estimates may reflect a best-case scenario rather than what families commonly experience. Others may not include certain expenses at all.

Medical expenses are a good example. Some agencies include them in their advertised cost range, while others don't, which can make one agency appear less expensive even when the actual costs may be similar.

Before comparing prices, make sure you're comparing the same expenses.

3. Who Takes the Financial Risk?

This is the cost many families don't think about until an adoption opportunity doesn't work out.

Money already spent on living expenses, legal services and agency fees can be lost after a failed match. On average, approximately $10,000 to $12,000 can be at risk, and in some situations, the loss can be much higher.

At most adoption agencies, the adoptive family assumes that risk.

American Adoptions offers families another choice through our financial protection program.

Consider an adoption opportunity where $14,200 has already been spent when the match doesn't work out.

Family-Assumed Risk

• You absorb the applicable losses.
• Money already spent may not be recoverable.
• In this example, $14,200 of your adoption savings is at risk.

Financial Protection

• American Adoptions absorbs covered losses.
• Your covered adoption savings remain protected.
• In this example, your covered loss is $0.

Financial protection can't take away the disappointment of a failed match. But it can prevent that disappointment from also putting thousands of dollars of your adoption savings at risk.

We offer both options so you can decide which approach makes the most sense for your family.

Look Beyond the Adoption Price Tag

It's natural to want to keep adoption costs as low as possible.

But the lowest estimate isn't necessarily the lowest final cost, and it isn't an advantage if it reduces the services that give you the best chance of adopting.

When comparing agencies, ask four questions:

• How effectively are they reaching expectant mothers?
• Who will support you and the expectant mother throughout the adoption?
• Are their cost estimates realistic and complete?
• If an adoption opportunity doesn't work out, who carries the financial risk?

Ultimately, families aren't just trying to determine what it costs to start an adoption.

They want to know what it takes to successfully become parents.

Talk With an Adoption Coordinator About Costs and Your Options

Understanding cost is one part of choosing the right adoption professional. Explore the links below to learn about three other factors that can have a major impact on your adoption success.

Disclaimer
Information available through these links is the sole property of the companies and organizations listed therein. American Adoptions provides this information as a courtesy and is in no way responsible for its content or accuracy.