By now you will probably have decided to pursue domestic adoption or adoption from overseas. Adopting internationally is potentially even more complicated; in adopting from another country, you need to deal with not only the standard legal issues, costs and paperwork, but possibly language barriers and immigration concerns too. Make sure your agency is experienced in working with the country in question as well as accredited there; you might want to make sure they have representatives actually based in that country. And will your agency help with travel arrangements, when the time comes for you to travel there? Many countries have hugely different requirements when it comes to adoption; does your agency allow you to easily switch your application from one country to another, for whatever reason?
A Costly Process
Adopting a child is probably one of the costliest things you will do – the average cost to adopt through an agency within the United States is around $14,000 and many adoptions can cost more than this. Be realistic - remember that you are paying for the agency’s services and there is no guarantee that you will get the child you have always wanted. Be wary of an agency if they require that all your fees be paid upfront.
Your agency should be able to supply you with a comprehensive list of fees, a detailed breakdown and explanation of what they include as well as a schedule of when they are due. It’s well worth the added cost to you to have an experienced adoption attorney look over the fee structure as well as the other paperwork. You should also be suspicious of an agency that seems to charge too little for their services or seems to have “hidden costs.”
From the consumer point of view, you might ask to see the company’s most recent annual report and find out how they spend their leftover funds. If the agency is a non-profit agency, it is particularly important to know how much of their income goes on administration.
The adoption process can be time consuming to say the least. Ask your agency for some guidelines on how long the whole process might take, although you should also be wary of an agency who promises to find you a child before the family assessment has been completed. Don’t be afraid to jump ship and switch agencies midway through the process - having already established of course that your fees paid so far will be refunded to you. From this viewpoint, it can be a good idea to have a “second choice” agency as a backup, in case the agency you chose is simply not working out.