Domestic vs. International Adoption

1. Cost

The difference in the cost of international adoption vs. domestic adoption is a subject that many people don’t understand. In fact, adoption costs as a whole, and the reasons they are necessary, is something that most don’t have a good grasp on.

When it comes to international vs. domestic adoption, total costs can be similar, typically costing tens of thousands of dollars. But both processes also have their own unique costs.

For example:

• Budgeting for a visa is only necessary if you adopt internationally.
• Providing living expenses for an expectant mother like help with rent or utility expenses is usually only required for domestic adoptions.
• International travel expenses can be much higher and international adoption may require multiple longer visits over months to years. These travel expenses are somewhat unpredictable and can be one of the most important factors in determining total adoption costs.
• Financial protection: American Adoptions provides families with financial protection when an adoption doesn’t work out, which is not something you will find with international adoption. This can make a big difference, because a disruption can drain your adoption budget.

Families adopting domestically should be prepared to travel to the birth mother’s location for the birth of the baby and stay until the baby is released from the hospital. If the baby is born outside of the adoptive family’s state, the family must stay until ICPC approval has been granted, which usually takes 7 to 10 business days.

This guide further compares the costs of adoption in the U.S. vs. international adoption. Or, read the following to learn more about how much it costs to adopt a child with American Adoptions.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed about cost (many families do!), you may want to research the many available ways to finance your adoption.

3. Wait Times

The time it takes for a family to complete a domestic adoption vs. international adoption depends on many factors.

For families adopting domestically, the two most critical factors are:

• Your openness in your APQ
• Your agency’s advertising effort

The more open a family is to certain situations (like different races, medical histories, and substance uses), the more exposure their adoption profile will receive and the less time they will typically wait. But this is also dependent on your agency’s advertising.

With American Adoptions, your profile will reach more potential birth parents than it would if you joined 25 other adoption professionals at the same time.

That’s why our wait time is an average of 12 months.

The wait times for international adoptions also vary and depend on a family’s adoption plan, as well as country-specific issues.

For example, many U.S. families have adopted children from China. Historically the U.S. and China have had a good relationship when it comes to adoption, but the beginning of the global COVID-19 pandemic halted adoptions, and in 2020-2021 the number of U.S. adoptions from China dropped from hundreds to zero, and many adoptions fell through.

There are also countries with volatile political climates that can drastically impact families and children. Ethiopia abruptly closed the country to all foreign adoptions recently, disrupting hundreds of adoption plans. Something similar happened when Russia decided to halt all U.S. families from adopting Russian children.

These changes can happen suddenly and leave families in limbo, making international adoption wait times longer and less predictable in many countries. Families considering international adoption should carefully research wait times and current U.S. relationships with the countries they are considering adopting from to ensure they will have a stable adoption process.

While wait time is an important factor to consider, it should not necessarily make or break your decision of domestic vs. international adoption. It all comes down to your specific situation and priorities.

Waiting Children

The age of children available for adoption also depends greatly on the type of adoption families pursue:

• Private domestic adoption usually results in the adoption of an infant (children of all ages are available through domestic foster care adoption)
• International adoption ranges from infants to teenagers, depending on the country of origin

According to the latest research by the National Council for Adoption, the number of private domestic agency adoptions has risen steadily over the years, from 14,549 children in the early 1980s to a peak of 25,737 domestic infant adoptions completed in 2019, before falling to 19,658 during 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began (the most recent year statistics are available).

While domestic adoption has been on the rise, international adoption has declined significantly over the past several years, with just 1,622 adoptions in 2020 and 2,971 adoptions in 2019, down from 4,099 in 2018, 4,714 in 2017 and 5,370 in 2016.

In 2010, when the international adoptions totaled 11,058 the countries with the most U.S. adoptions were China (3,401), Ethiopia (2,513) and Russia (1,082). In 2013, China declined to 2,306, Ethiopia to 993 and Russia to 250. Since then, as previously noted, Ethiopia, China, and Russia have closed their borders to U.S. adoptions.

There are many reasons for this — most of them on the logistical and political side of the international adoption process. This does not reflect a decreasing need for adoptive families to provide loving homes to waiting children.

There are still millions of children in the world who need to come home to a family through adoption; the process of doing so is just more complicated today than it was during the peak of international adoptions in the mid-2000s.

Domestic vs international adoption statistics, as you can see, show types of adoption on two different paths. While these numbers are helpful in understanding the big picture, they don’t have to impact your decision. Your family is unique, and you can choose the type of adoption that will be best for you.

5. Legal Concerns

Domestic adoption and international adoption also have their own unique legal concerns.

Hopeful parents adopting internationally should fully research the adoption process required by each country, as each has its own set of legal mandates that must be met before the adoption is finalized. This can make international adoption more complicated to complete. Not only are finalizing the adoption according to U.S. law, but also international laws of the country of origin, not to mention the additional visa, immigration and citizenship processes.

One very large legal concern in domestic adoption is the myth that the child's biological parents may come back years later and take the child back.

Many adoptive families believe that international adoptions are "safer," because there is routinely no contact with the birth parents in international adoptions prior to and after the completion of the adoption. However, the fact is that once an adoption is finalized by the U.S. courts, the adoptive family is recognized as the child's family by law.

Although adoption laws vary from state to state, the laws remain very clear. Despite stories in a few high-profile cases, post-adoption revocations are extremely rare and are usually a result of unsound legal practices.