The Average Cost of Adoption - What to Expect
A Guide to Typical Adoption Costs
Adoption is a life-changing and beautiful decision. As with most big decisions, you are likely balancing many thoughts as you begin the adoption process.
Learning more about the adoption process can help you decide where it is best to invest your money, and well-thought-out preparation can put a hopeful adoptive family in the right place to successfully handle the average cost to adopt a baby.
That’s why we created this guide to the average cost of adoption—so that you can get the expert help you need to make the difficult steps of your journey successful, and decide how to plan financially.
What is the Average Cost of an Adoption?
The average cost of adoption is dependent on several variables, like the type of adoption, the adoption professional and other unique details of your situation. Each of these factors can influence typical adoption costs.
Additionally, for families adopting a baby through a private agency, the current actual expenses of giving birth and completing the adoption process at the time you adopt will influence the overall cost.
The best way to find out our most updated average cost of adoption in the U.S. is to contact our adoption professionals at 1-800-ADOPTION.
What Makes Up the Average Adoption Cost?
A lot of work goes into a successful adoption. There are attorneys, physicians, courts, social workers, administrators, advertisers and more involved in the adoption process.
Each of these professionals plays a vital role in the process, and they must work in harmony for each step of your adoption to be successful.
The average cost of adoption is made up of several key categories, with each playing a vital role in a successful placement.
Adoption Agency Fees
In most cases, a hopeful adoptive family will work with an adoption agency. While there are different types of adoption agencies, each will have fees associated with the adoption services it provides.
These fees go toward the foundational functions of an agency, like staffing, office space, supplies and more.
Each agency has different fees, and the way an agency structures its costs can impact the average cost of adopting a child with that professional.
When you’re considering different agencies, you should look for a fixed fee structure and ask whether or not the agency has expiring contracts.
Agencies without fixed fees, or with contracts that expire, are more likely to unexpectedly increase your cost of adoption.
Variable Adoption Costs
These are typical adoption costs that can change based on each individual adoption situation. Variable costs are largely made up of expenses to support the prospective birth mother.
These expenses are court-approved based on the adoption laws of the prospective birth mother’s state. There are several types of variable expenses that could come up in an adoption.
Variable adoption costs are the primary reason that most adoption agencies will quote adoptive families a range of average adoption costs rather than a hard number.
However, it is uncommon for any of these expenses to skyrocket and cause the average cost of adoption to jump significantly from the initial estimate.
What Is the Average Cost to Adopt a Child with American Adoptions?
American Adoptions’ average cost of domestic adoption is in line with national averages, and we can help you tailor your budget to your needs. To get the most up-to-date average cost of adoption with our program, contact us today.
We pride ourselves on being transparent about costs upfront with any hopeful adoptive parents and on providing the best possible services in return.
As a fully licensed national adoption agency, we work across the country to keep wait times down.
Our team of specialists is always responsive to the needs of adoptive parents, and our media team helps create adoptive family profiles and videos to find the perfect adoption opportunity with a prospective birth mother.
How Can I Prepare for the Average Cost of an Adoption?
Most people don’t have tens of thousands of dollars lying around. Being able to afford the average cost of adoption takes planning and preparation.
Start budgeting early on if you believe adoption is right for you. Keep in mind that American Adoptions has ways to help you stay within your adoption budget, and you can always speak with your adoption specialist about this.
There are also adoption grants available from many different organizations. As hopeful adoptive parents, you can apply for these grants and loans to help ease the financial burden associated with the adoption process.
While no one is giving grants that equal the average cost of an adoption, these grants can still be a big help.
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.
