Adoption costs: An in-depth guide | Carrot Fertility
November 14, 2024
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Carrot Fertility
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The average cost of most adoptions can range anywhere from $40,000 to $80,000 depending on a number of factors, such as the type of adoption, location, and more. But there are so many factors that can impact the overall cost.
In this article, we’ll look more closely at these different kinds of adoption and how the costs add up for each of them.
What is adoption?
Adoption is the process of transferring permanent parental rights from a child’s birth parents to another person, or people. As a result of the process, the adoptive parents maintain the same rights — and responsibilities — as the biological parents.
But that’s just the dictionary definition. Adoption can take many forms: adopting from another country, adopting a younger family member in need, or even becoming a parent to a child who was in foster care. Whatever adoption path you choose, the process can be complex and costly.
The importance of adoption
Adoption is important because it can provide a stable, loving home for children in need. Family relationships and emotional bonding are critical to a child’s development, and adoption can facilitate that positive environment that they might not have had with their birth parents.
Adoption can also alleviate the stress on birth parents who are unable to care for a child, whether that’s for financial, psychological, or physical reasons (or a combination of these). While it’s never an easy decision to relinquish parental rights, it can be what’s best for them and their child. In many cases, birth parents become part of the child’s extended family through open adoption, which means more meaningful relationships for the child and all of their parents.
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Below are some of the most common costs associated with adoption. While different types of adoption have their own fees, you’ll likely need to pay for the following in most situations:
Legal fees
Potential cost: $500 – $12,000
Whether you’re adopting through an agency, foster care, or another method, legal fees are a guaranteed part of the process. This could be as simple as the cost to file paperwork or as complex as retaining a family lawyer for ongoing international negotiations. And the cost to retain an attorney varies greatly from region to region. (Hence the wide range in potential costs.)
Transferring parental rights involves contracts, and sometimes the courts, to make it official. Engaging a lawyer who is well versed in adoption law is both critical to navigating the process and potentially expensive.
Adoption agency fees
Average cost: $15,000 – $30,000
If you’re adopting through a licensed, private agency, there will be fees for the services they provide. What is covered by these fees varies from agency to agency and could include: intake screenings, family matching, home visits, birth parent travel, adoptive parent trainings, and post-adoption counseling.
Home study and background check expenses
Average cost: $900 - $2,000
Home studies and background checks are important steps in the adoption process to ensure the child is being placed in a safe and loving home. The laws governing these processes vary state to state, and so do the costs associated with them. If the home study is for taking in foster children, the upfront fee may be reimbursable.
Travel and accommodation costs
Average cost: $1,000 – $9,000
Adoptive and birth parents don’t always live in the same place. That’s why it’s a good idea to plan for travel and lodging expenses — both for yourself and, potentially, for the birthing parent. This could include the cost of updating your passport, as well, for international travel.
Birth parent expenses
Average cost: $6,000 – $8,000
As with any big financial investment, adoption comes with a lot of smaller expenses that can surprise you — and add up quickly. Depending on the type of adoption you choose, these expenses might include financial support for the birth parent: housing, food, doctor visits, and counseling.
While the costs in the last section are common, there are unique fees associated with the various types of adoption. Here’s a closer look at what to expect, depending on the path you choose. (Cost ranges provided by CreatingAFamily.org.)
The cost to adopt through a licensed private agency can vary greatly, as you can see from the given range above. That’s because every agency is different, and every state has its own rules and regulations about adoption agencies. In general, agencies seem to cover birth-parent costs that other adoption routes don’t — think travel, living expenses, healthcare, and more.
In addition to agency fees, be prepared to pay for your own attorney, too, to help navigate the process.
Independent adoption costs
Cost: $25,000-$45,000
An independent adoption is an adoption between the birth parent(s) and adoptive parent(s), without the intermediary of an agency. This type of adoption is usually facilitated by attorneys instead.
While the elimination of agency fees can reduce some costs, adoptive parents might have to do more legwork, such as finding and screening potential birth parents. You might also be responsible for the birth parent’s financial needs during the adoption process: rent, healthcare, et cetera.
Adopting from foster care costs
Cost: Minimal to free
Adopting children from foster care tends to be the least costly option, because the children in need are being cared for by the state’s social services. In fact, in many states, foster parents receive a monthly stipend from the government to assist with the costs to care for a child they have taken in.
An important note: Being a foster parent does not guarantee adoption. The goal of foster care, in most cases, is reunification between the child and their birth family. So while the low cost to foster, and potentially adopt, might be of interest to intending parents, it’s essential to understand that even this path has its ups and downs. Connect with your state’s foster-care department to learn more about this option.
The cost to adopt from another country varies, depending on where you live and where you’d like to adopt. While usually done through a private agency, international or intercountry adoption has a lot of costs on top of what you can expect from domestic adoption.
Additional costs for international adoption include, but aren’t limited to:
Citizenship and immigration fees to bring the child to your home country
Document translation and interpreter fees
Orphanage donation fee (required by some countries)
Travel expenses — potentially for multiple trips
International telephone and postage costs
Second-parent adoption
Cost: $2,000 – $3,000
Second-parent adoption is the adoption of a child by a second parent in the home who is not biologically related to the child. This type of adoption is common for LGBTQ+ couples using donor-assisted reproduction and in blended families of all orientations for adopting children from previous unions. This type of adoption can be important because some states require you to be the legal parent to make decisions about your child’s health and wellbeing.
Second-parent adoption is relatively inexpensive, with the costs boiling down to the legal fees required to complete and file the appropriate paperwork.
Financial assistance for adoption
Adoption tax credit
In the United States, the federal government offers an adoption tax credit of $16,810 (2024). This is not a deduction, but a refund to offset adoption costs, dollar for dollar. Of course, there are stipulations for what can be claimed as “qualified expenses.”
According to the National Council for Adoption, these qualified expenses include: court fees, agency fees, attorney fees, dossier, travel and meals, and any other expenses that are required. Re-adoption expenses related to the intercountry adoption of a child also qualify. Generally, the only adoption-related expenses that do not qualify are birth mother expenses.”
Adoption assistance from your employer
Many employers understand that families grow in a variety of ways — and some of those ways are more costly than others. That’s why more and more workplaces are covering costs of adoption through benefits like Carrot Fertility.
While traditional healthcare plans tend to be behind the curve, supplemental fertility care from Carrot provides coverage and reimbursement for costs associated with adoption as well as IVF, gestational surrogacy, and more. And in addition to financial support, you’ll have access to a wealth of vetted information about adoption and experts to help guide you every step of the way.
There are a number of nonprofit organizations that fundraise and provide assistance to families who want to adopt. For example, HelpUsAdopt.org is a 501(c)3 offering grants of up to $30,000 to intending parents. Your adoption agency or attorney should be able to direct you to other similar organizations.
Government subsidies
Depending on the state you live and adopt in, a monthly stipend might be available to support caring for children in foster care, especially those with special needs. Contact your state’s social services department to find out more.
The costs of adoption: Worth every penny
While some of the numbers above might be surprising, we know the rewards of adoption, for parents and children, outweigh the costs every time. With the right financial planning and adoption experts in your corner — and maybe even an assist from your employer — the journey to parenthood might be shorter than you think.
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