Considering Your Adoption Options

If you believe you are ready to adopt, there are many different adoption options to consider. Each option comes with its own price range and other individual factors. It's a good idea to be familiar with the various adoption options so you can make an educated choice before proceeding with one of the most important steps of your life.

Adoption Options - Foster Child Adoption

This is one of the most common adoption options in the country, with about half of all adoptions coming from the United States foster child system. One of the advantages to adopting a foster child is the cost. It's possible to adopt a foster child for little or no money. Public adoption agencies do not charge a fee, and costs that may be required for a foster child adoption - such as legal fees and court costs - can be reimbursed from your state after the adoption is completed. The children available for foster adoptions have been removed from their homes because of physical, emotion or sexual abuse. On top of that, the child may have special needs. However, there are domestic programs that allow people who adopt foster parents to receive a monthly subsidy to help take care of the child's special needs.

Adoption Options - Domestic Adoption

In this case, you rely on a public or private adoption agency to match you with an available child. There are babies available in the United States, though you can speed up the process if you choose an African-American infant or child as opposed to a Caucasian child. Adoption experts have said you may have to wait 6 months to a year longer for a Caucasian child. Other options await in a domestic adoption, including whether you want an open or closed adoption. That's the difference between knowing and having contact with the birth family and the two sides not knowing one another at all.

Adoption Options - International Adoption

International adoption, referred to as intercountry adoption, is yet another of the adoption options that are available. Once again, you choose an adoption agency and do some research to determine what country you will choose to adopt a child. There are nearly 80 countries that have signed a treaty with the United States, making the process a little smoother. Expect an international adoption to cost as much as $40,000, though there is no set cost in an international adoption. That's because there are travel costs and other fees not a part of domestic adoptions - such as a program fee to the country and an orphanage fee in some cases to the institution where your adopted child had been living.