Adoption agencies set up their fee schedules in a variety of ways. Be sure to review the fee schedule and specifically ask what happens if an adoption falls through. In our agency, we paid for the application fee and the home study when each was completed. We did not pay the bulk of the fees until after the birthmother’s parental rights terminated, even though we had custody of Nicholas (as foster parents) during the ten-day period in which his birthmother had already signed the relinquishment papers but still had the legal right to choose to parent. If she had chosen to parent, then we would not have paid any money toward this failed adoption. Any costs associated with counseling a placing mother who chose to parent would have been absorbed by all hopeful adoptive parents through a possible increase in adoption fees.

Most agencies do not set up their fee schedules in this manner. Many require hopeful adoptive parents to pay a certain amount at each stage of the process so that only a few thousand dollars are due at the time of placement. Many also require full payment of fees BEFORE the birthmother’s parental rights fully terminate. Then, if the birthmother chooses to parent, the agencies are split on how they handle this financially. Some agencies will credit your account and apply that credit toward another match. If you wind up adopting privately or through another agency, you forfeit the credit. Other agencies force the adoptive parents to bear the cost of a failed adoption, which means that if the placing mother chooses to parent, the hopeful adoptive parents do not get a credit or refund for the failed adoption. I have heard horror stories of adoptive couples who have endured several failed adoptions, were out of pocket in the tens of thousands of dollars, and still were not parents.

Be sure to check out the financial aspects of any adoption arrangement instead of just choosing the agency with the lowest fees. An agency with lower fees can wind up resulting in a more expensive adoption, depending upon the circumstances and the fee structure.

Related Links:

• Adoption Orientation


• Choosing an Adoption Agency


• Exploring your adoption options: Domestic Adoption through LDS Family Services, part 2


• Exploring your adoption options: Other domestic adoption methods, part 1