Each year, Adoptive Families polls newly formed families across the country to get actual information on the cost and length of time it took those families to complete their adoptions. We are grateful to every one of you who took our most recent Cost & Timing of Adoption Survey.
Adoption expenses vary according to the route and country program, the agency or attorney used, and secondary expenses, such as travel. With the exception of adopting a child via the U.S. public foster care system, it remains expensive to adopt in the U.S. or internationally. Total costs range from almost nothing, if you adopt from U.S. foster care, to more than $50,000 from several international countries. Of adoptions finalized in 2015 and 2016, international adoptions cost an average of $42,000; U.S. newborn adoptions cost an average of $37,000.
As with cost, adoption timelines vary depending on route. There is a much greater range of wait times reported in U.S. newborn and foster adoption than in international country programs. On average, a majority of families will be matched with their child, an expectant mother, or receive an international referral within one year; the vast majority will be matched within two years. It’s important to keep in mind that a certain percentage of families will always experience waits that are much shorter and much longer than the average. Before signing on with any adoption service provider (ASP), prospective parents should ask about average wait times, the number of families on the waiting list, and what, if anything, the ASP can do if your wait time continues to lengthen.
The notable exception to the one-to-two year average wait is the “Traditional” (non-waiting-child) China adoption program, in which 100% of families that adopted in 2015/16 waited longer than five years. Families that adopted a waiting child from China in that same period, on the other hand, had a much different experience, with 68% receiving their referrals in less than six months; 86% in less than one year.
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Country-by-Country Data
Here are the average expenses and timelines reported by families who completed adoptions in 2015 or 2016 from the U.S. and the top three sending countries in 2015 (the latest year for which the U.S. Department of State has released international adoption statistics)—China, Ethiopia, and South Korea. Along with the data, we present individual comments that indicate why a family’s total cost or timing might fall outside the averages.
U.S. Newborn,
via an Adoption Agency
Adoptions in 2014 (all U.S. newborn): 18,329*
Average cost: $42,337
Matched within 1 year: 64%
matched within 2 years: 84%
U.S. NEWBORN (AGENCY) COST
The average costs reported by families that adopted a U.S. newborn through an adoption agency in 2015/16 represented a 1.9% increase over the previous two-year reported average. The total costs for a domestic adoption via an agency are now about $10,000 more than adoption via an attorney, on average.
The total costs cited below exclude expenses associated with any “false starts” with expectant mothers. Thirty-six percent of all U.S. newborn respondents experienced one or more false starts. Of those families, 62% reported costs of less than $2,500 associated with each false start. Eight percent of all U.S. families with false starts were matched with an expectant mother who ultimately decided not to place the child after giving birth.
U.S. Newborn (Agency) – Average Cost Breakdown
| Home study fee | $2,397 |
| Document preparation & authentication | $955 |
| Adoption agency application & program fees | $16,442 |
| Adoption consultant fees | $1,999 |
| Attorney fees | $4,337 |
| Advertising/networking | $1,880 |
| Birth family counseling | $1,069 |
| Birth mother expenses | $3,919 |
| Foster care | $71 |
| Travel expenses | $2,117 |
| Post-placement expenses | $2,063 |
| All other expenses | $5,088 |
| AVERAGE TOTAL** | $42,337 |
** Average represents total costs before claiming the Adoption Tax Credit.
U.S. Newborn (Agency) families on their total cost:
“Our match happened late in the birth mother’s pregnancy, so there was not much birth family support expense. Our son’s birth expenses were paid by the state medical insurance. Also, the birth father released his rights up front, which helped decrease legal costs.”
“Our agency charges a flat $35,000 ‘not to exceed’ fee. They cap the fee regardless of false starts or a long wait.”
“I’m very fortunate to work for a company that has already reimbursed a portion of the adoption expenses, and I also plan to use the adoption tax credit when I file in 2017.”
“The National Down Syndrome Adoption Network connected us with a family who were looking to place their child. Most of the fees from agencies were reduced.”
“Our daughter was in the NICU for 16 days. This would have been very expensive, but her birth mother enrolled her in Medicaid, which lasted for 30 days after she was born. Only the birth mother can do this, and we didn’t even know she had until we never got medical bills and called the hospital to ask why.”
“Our agency had a sliding scale according to income.”
“The legal fees from courts in two states bumped us into higher-than-average expenses. It was a contested adoption.”
“We choose a national agency that charged about $10,000 more, but had faster placement times.”
“Overall, our adoption expenses were very high. Last-minute plane tickets and 14 days in a hotel for the ICPC waiting period added up. Our state also requires five follow-up home study visits.”
“We paid $3,000 extra in the profile fee because we were gender specific. Our post placement and legal fees were much higher because finalization took 10 months instead of three because the birth father contested the adoption.”
“We worked with one agency for two years and then switched to a different agency. Since we already had a home study in the state, our second agency waived that fee. We were fortunate to not have to travel out of state for our adoption.”
U.S. NEWBORN (AGENCY) TIMING
The average wait times reported by families that adopted a U.S. newborn through an adoption agency in 2015/16 were similar to the timing results from the 2014/15 survey. A larger proportion of families were matched later in the expectant mother’s pregnancy, however, with 40 percent of all U.S. newborn respondents matched less than one month before the baby was born. Fifteen percent were matched after the baby was born.
Total time to adopt as reported in this survey includes any time spent in false starts. In general, the fewer restrictions you place on the child you hope to adopt in terms of race, prenatal exposures, gender, and birth family contact, the shorter your wait will be.
U.S. Newborn (Agency) – Average Time to Be Matched
| 0-6 months | 42% |
| 6-12 months | 22% |
| 12-18 months | 11% |
| 18-24 months | 9% |
| 2-3 years | 9% |
| 3 years or longer | 7% |
U.S. Newborn (Agency) families on their total timeline:
“From the day we turned in our forms to receiving our child, it was about three months. We were open to races and medical situations, and that was in our favor.”
“We received the call the day after we were approved by our agency to be shown to expectant parents. The expectant mother was in labor early and needed a family. The baby was born in the early hours of the next morning.”
“We signed up with multiple agencies, which increased our exposure significantly.”
“I could explain why our adoption went so smoothly and quickly and offer reasons to help others, but all I can say is we got very lucky.”
“We waited about a year…then got the call and our daughter was already born.”
“We live in a small state with a small number of placements. This leads to a longer wait.”
“We were ‘picky’ by agency standards; we did not want any prenatal drug exposure, history of major mental illness, or any criminal history. I believe this is why our profile was shown so infrequently over our wait. I wish the agency had given us statistics, so we could have had more realistic expectations about our wait time in light of our checklist selections.”
“Our agency mostly works off a list, so we were prepared for a two to three year wait. It ended up being right at three years.”
“We switched agencies after two years. Our original agency had more affordable fees, but, in the end, didn’t have the resources to match us with an expectant mother. Our second agency moved very quickly, and we waited only about six weeks before we were matched and met our baby.”
* Total of 18,329 domestic adoptions in 2014 includes both agency and attorney adoptions. Source: Adoption: By the Numbers, from the National Council for Adoption.
U.S. Newborn,
via an Adoption Attorney
Adoptions in 2014 (all U.S. newborn): 18,329*
Average cost: $31,890
Matched within 1 year: 68%
Matched within 2 years: 83%
U.S. NEWBORN (ATTORNEY) COST
The average costs reported by families that adopted a U.S. newborn through an adoption attorney in 2015/16 represented a 7.8% decrease from the previous two-year reported average.
When families adopt independently, through an attorney rather than through an adoption agency, their expenses can vary greatly. For example, expenses may be quite low if they match through word of mouth, the expectant mother’s expenses are minimal, and the legal procedure is straightforward. On the other hand, a family’s expenses can be much higher if they use online services or pay a consultant or a facilitator to work on their parent profile or find the match. The breakdown below includes agency expenses because some families began working with an agency, then switched to an attorney, or may have needed to work with an agency for the placement. The total costs cited below exclude expenses associated with any “false starts” with expectant mothers.
U.S. Newborn (Attorney) – Average Cost Breakdown
| Home study fee | $2,006 |
| Document preparation & authentication | $557 |
| Adoption agency application & program fees | $4,111 |
| Adoption consultant fees | $2,719 |
| Attorney fees | $10,672 |
| Advertising/networking | $1,632 |
| Birth family counseling | $846 |
| Birth mother expenses | $5,031 |
| Foster care | $0 |
| Travel expenses | $2,018 |
| Post-placement expenses | $1,050 |
| All other expenses | $1,248 |
| AVERAGE TOTAL** | $31,890 |
** Average represents total costs before claiming the Adoption Tax Credit.
U.S. Newborn (Attorney) families on their total cost:
“Our adoption was less costly than normal because we were introduced to the expectant mother by a mutual friend. We just paid for a lawyer, and some medical expenses.”
“It was less expensive because it was in state and the birth parents didn’t need too much in the way of expenses.”
“We created our own adoption website, were matched with our child’s birth mother in five weeks—and she was at the end of her pregnancy and had almost no living expenses. She was also in-state, so attorney expenses were low.”
“My second adoption was the result of my first. I wasn’t trying to adopt, but I was contacted by my son’s biological aunt asking me to adopt the child she was expecting.”
“My home study fee was high because I paid extra for it to be expedited. The birth mother had insurance, so I only paid her co-pays and deductibles. My insurance covered the birth of my son and my stay at the hospital with him.”
“The woman we were matched with didn’t have housing, so the birth parent expenses were much higher than we’d anticipated.”
“We matched when the expectant mother was only three months pregnant, so we supported her for a longer period of time. We also had a long (three weeks) ICPC period.”
“We completed a private, interstate adoption. So, the attorney fees were higher than we anticipated, but the costs were still lower than an agency adoption. We were quoted ‘placement fees’ of about $30,000 from agencies.”
U.S. NEWBORN (ATTORNEY) TIMING
The average wait times reported by families that adopted a U.S. newborn through an adoption attorney in 2015/16 were slightly longer than the timing results from the 2014/15 survey. Sixty-eight percent of families who completed this year’s survey were matched within one year, compared to 67% in the previous survey, and 83% were matched within two years (86% in previous survey). However, more families reported very short or very long timelines, with 53% matched in less than six months (46% in the previous survey) and 8% with wait times over three years (3% in the previous survey).
Total timelines as reported in this survey include any time spent in false starts. A larger percentage of U.S. attorney families match very quickly, compared with U.S. agency families, as this group includes families that match through word of mouth or online before seeking the services of an attorney. They may also actively search for a match rather than waiting on an agency’s list.
U.S. Newborn (Attorney) – Average Time to Be Matched
| 0-6 months | 53% |
| 6-12 months | 15% |
| 12-18 months | 4% |
| 18-24 months | 11% |
| 2-3 years | 9% |
| 3 years or longer | 8% |
U.S. Newborn (Attorney) families on their total timeline:
“We became parents before we even planned to start our search! We were matched through a family friend after we told our family that we intended to adopt.”
“I am in family medicine. One day, our daughter’s birth mother came into our offices in labor and wanted to place our daughter for adoption!”
“We signed on with an agency, and went through the home study process and classes, when a friend told us that the attorney she had used was working with two expectant mothers who were due soon. We switched to her, were matched, and our son was born two months later.”
“We went six false starts. Some were just contact that faded away, some were matches that fell through after the baby was born.”
“We had to coordinate with an agency in another state, and they seemed to keep messing up the paperwork.”
“The birth father contested the adoption, and then appealed the decision.”
“It seemed like we were on the list forever. In fact, we were thinking about stopping the process when we got the call that led to our daughter.”
* Total of 18,329 domestic adoptions in 2014 includes both agency and attorney adoptions. Source: Adoption: By the Numbers, from the National Council for Adoption.
U.S. Foster Adoption
Adoptions in FY 2015: 53,549*
Adopted a child younger than two years: 47%
Adopted a child younger than five years: 68%
Adopted a child younger than 10 years: 88%
Average cost: $2,622
Qualified to receive a monthly subsidy: 89%
Average monthly subsidy: $840
Matched within 1 year: 60%
Matched within 2 years: 75%
Finalized within 1 year: 40%
Finalized within 2 years: 76%
U.S. FOSTER ADOPTION COST
The average costs reported by families that adopted through U.S. foster care in 2015/16 was $2,622, slightly lower than the previous two-year reported average ($2,811 in 2014/15). A significant percent of families reported $0 in expenses. However, with relatively minimal costs involved, a small portion of families who report very high costs can skew the overall average. Families that reported higher expenses may have had medical expenses, included new clothing and furniture for the child in their total cost, hired a private attorney, or traveled multiple times and/or a long distance to visit the foster child before placement.
Foster adoptive families may claim the full adoption tax credit, regardless of expenses paid. Children may also qualify for ongoing monthly subsidies, health coverage through Medicaid, and, in some states, college tuition.
U.S. Foster Adoption – Average Cost Breakdown
| Home study fee | $447 |
| All other document preparation & paperwork fees | $100 |
| Attorney fees | $923 |
| Travel expenses | $458 |
| All other expenses | $694 |
| AVERAGE TOTAL* | $2,622 |
** Average represents total costs before claiming the Adoption Tax Credit.
U.S. Foster Adoption families on their total cost:
“Adopting our sons was 100-percent covered by children’s services. We were actually paid to take classes and we received a stipend to foster them.”
“I would urge families to look into adoption. In our state, all children are considered special needs, so our cost was $0 and we receive a subsidy. You do have to hang in there, though, as the process took two years.”
“My children were considered special needs because they were older, a sibling group of five, and they are racial minorities. Because it was a special-needs adoption, all our fees were covered by the state. My attorney was a family friend who covered the remaining balance (about $100 per child) as a gift to me.”
“We could have submitted our bills to the state and we would have been reimbursed. It would have been completely free to fost-adopt! We chose not to do that, however, as we could afford the expenses.”
“Our costs were higher because we had to do some work to our house the home study. It’s also hard to calculate the expenses associated with time away from work for repeated court visits.”“We did have to hire an attorney to resolve some of the post-adoption paperwork, but this was an unexpected and unusual expense.”
“Our state’s foster system is notoriously horrible, so we paid for a private adoption agency to do our home study so we could adopt from a different state. Also, we took our son to every doctor under the sun to have him tested. We were able to get a few subsidies from the results.”
“My cost was higher due to visiting my child every weekend for three months. She needed more time to get to know me.”
“We paid for private training and a home study, as the local waiting lists were prohibitively long.”
“While we did not incur any significant out-of-pocket expenses, we have experienced a very significant loss of employment income. We have adopted two newborns who were born with substance addictions. Therefore, I was unable to work while providing their full-time care. It adds up to a large sum, but it was worth every penny.”
U.S. FOSTER ADOPTION TIMING
In U.S. foster adoption, placement can happen quickly, and often with little warning, but 47% of families fostered one or more children before adopting. The entire foster process, from foster certification to adoption finalization, is often lengthy, but the child may be in your care for most or nearly all of that time.
Some families that adopted through U.S. foster care reported slightly longer wait times compared to the 2014/15 survey. Fifty-nine percent of families who completed this year’s survey were matched within one year vs. 64% in the previous survey.
U.S. Foster – Average Time to Placement of Child Adopted
| 0-6 months | 44% |
| 6-12 months | 15% |
| 12-18 months | 7% |
| 18-24 months | 8% |
| 2 years or longer | 26% |
U.S. Foster – Average Time from Placement to Finalization
| 0-6 months | 15% |
| 6-12 months | 25% |
| 12-18 months | 20% |
| 18-24 months | 16% |
| 2 years or longer | 24% |
U.S. Foster Adoption families on their total timeline:
“The baby was voluntarily surrendered at birth to the state foster agency, so there was no wait for termination of parental rights.”
“We were able to expedite the adoption for security reasons, because the child’s birth family lives less than one hour away.”
“We were very proactive in communicating with everyone involved with our adoption and also responded very quickly to any requests for information or meetings.”
“Our child was from another state, so we had to foster him for six months before we could work on our adoption.”
“Child Protection Services in our state allowed the birth parents chance after chance to reunify when they did not work their plan.”
“Foster care staff are overwhelmed by the amount of children in the system and underwhelmed by the pay. This creates a lot of turnover, with new workers to be trained (and some who are not sufficiently trained), which lengthens the time children stay in foster care.”
“Our court case went without decision for more than six months, so they reopened the case for investigation, then finally made a decision one and a half years after the termination case initially ended. Then there was an appeal, and lots of red tape in getting the adoption file completed and getting finalization date set.”
* Source: The AFCARS Report #23, Preliminary FY 2015 Estimates as of June 2016.
China
Adoptions to the U.S. in 2015: 2,354*
Average cost: $35,082
Traditional Program, matched within 5 years: 0%
Waiting-Child Program, matched within 6 months: 68%
Waiting-Child Program, matched within 1 year: 86%
Waiting-Child Program, matched within 2 years: 92%
Adopted a child younger than two years: 44%
Adopted a child younger than five years: 76%
CHINA ADOPTION COST
Total costs excluded expenses associated with any previous unsuccessful attempts to adopt, and were similar for Traditional and Waiting Child adoptions. The average costs reported by families that adopted from China in 2015/16 represented a 2.7% decrease from the previous two-year reported average.
The greatest variations in cost tend to fall within the program fee, depending on the adoption agency used, and the travel expenses, both major and in-country—some families choose to bring more family members on the trip, extend their stay beyond the required length, or stay in higher end hotels, or must travel during a peak season; others save on these expenses by using rewards points for travel or lodging. The in-country adoption expenses for China include the $5,700 orphanage donation required by the CCCWA.
China – Average Cost Breakdown
| Home study fee | $3,138 |
| Adoption agency application & program fees | $8,662 |
| All other document preparation & paperwork fees | $2,705 |
| In-country adoption expenses | $6,520 |
| Child’s passport, visa, medical exam, and other fees | $615 |
| Major travel expenses | $6,538 |
| In-country travel expenses | $3,526 |
| Post-adoption expenses | $1,307 |
| All other expenses | $2,071 |
| AVERAGE TOTAL** | $35,082 |
** Average represents total costs before claiming the Adoption Tax Credit.
China families on their total cost:
“We traveled alone and did not do any sightseeing. We did not eat out much or buy many souvenirs.”
“We had to travel at a peak time in the summer, and traveled with our two children. It would have been about $5,000 less if just we parents had traveled.”
“We paid more than normal for return airfare because our son had a medical emergency.”
“We had to re-do our home study and background fingerprinting because of the time between paperwork. That added an additional $3,500 to our expenses.”
“We went with an agency that is known as a ‘hand holding’ agency. They did all of our authentications and took care of travel and guides. We just had to pay for the flights they booked. I did not want to have to think about any of that, and I think the wonderful service was worth the higher expense.”
CHINA ADOPTION TIMING
Adoption from China has slowed down significantly over the past decade. Families that wish to adopt a healthy infant from China must apply through the “Traditional” program and be prepared for a wait of longer than five years for their referrals. Families that are open to an older child and/or a child with special needs (which vary from minor, correctable needs such as cleft lip to ongoing health conditions) adopt through China’s “Waiting Child” program; the wait for a referral in this program can be minimal, as many families select their child from a list of waiting children.
China Waiting-Child Program families on their total timeline:
“We received pre-approval to adopt our son before our dossier was logged in. From our log-in date to our travel date was three-and-a-half months.”
“We received our son’s referral quickly because we were open to a boy. The wait would have been longer for a girl.”
“Normally adoption from China take two weeks, but because we adopted two from two different provinces it took three weeks. Once province was willing to expedite our paperwork, otherwise it would have been closer to four weeks.
“We had a longer wait because we turned down several referrals before accepting one.”
“We originally submitted our dossier for a non-special-needs child in December 2008. After having biological children, we decided to switch to the special needs program in 2015. Once we switched programs, we were matched very quickly with a child.”
* Source: FY 2015 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption, from the U.S. Department of State.
Ethiopia
Adoptions to the U.S. in 2015: 335*
Average cost: $30,633
Matched within 1 year: 60%
Matched within 2 years: 70%
Adopted a child younger than two years: 40%
Adopted a child younger than five years: 60%
ETHIOPIA ADOPTION COST
Total costs excluded expenses associated with any previous unsuccessful attempts to adopt. After the total cost to adopt from Ethiopia rose sharply in recent years, families that completed the most recent Adoption Cost & Timing survey reported a significant decrease in expenses last year—of about 20%.
The greatest variations in cost fell within the program fee, depending on the adoption agency used, document preparation and paperwork, and the travel expenses. In-country adoption expenses increased last year. When adopting from Ethiopia, families must either take two trips or one longer trip (of three to four weeks).
Ethiopia – Average Cost Breakdown
| Home study fee | $2,000 |
| Adoption agency application & program fees | $10,000 |
| All other document preparation & paperwork fees | $2,100 |
| In-country adoption expenses | $5,833 |
| Child’s passport, visa, medical exam, and other fees | $1,200 |
| Major travel expenses | $7,000 |
| In-country travel expenses | $1,500 |
| Post-adoption expenses | $1,000 |
| All other expenses | $0 |
| AVERAGE TOTAL** | $30,633 |
** Average represents total costs before claiming the Adoption Tax Credit.
Ethiopia families on their total cost:
“Our costs were very standard for an Ethiopian adoption. If you factor in our failed first attempt, however, they were higher, as the first agency we worked with went bankrupt and we lost $6,500.”
“We took an extra trip to meet our children.”
ETHIOPIA ADOPTION TIMING
The length of the Ethiopia adoption process has increased several times in the last few years, as the country enacted an intentional slowdown in the review of adoption cases in 2011, and as the Pre-Adoption Immigration Review (PAIR) process was implemented in 2014. Wait times have remained similar within the past two years; in the 2015/16 Adoption Cost & Timing Survey, 60% of families that adopted from Ethiopia received their referral within one year, compared with 56% in the previous Survey.
An Ethiopia family on their total timeline:
“We were on a wait list that we felt we would probably never see the end of, so we switched and ended up adopting a waiting child from a different agency.”
* Source: FY 2015 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption, from the U.S. Department of State.
South Korea
Adoptions to the U.S. in 2015: 318*
Average cost: $40,000–$50,000
Matched within 1 year: 83%
Matched within 2 years: 100%
Adopted a child younger than two years: 50%
Adopted a child younger than five years: 100%
SOUTH KOREA ADOPTION COST
Fifty percent of families that adopted from South Korea in 2015/16 reported expenses between $40,000 and $50,000**, which remains similar to the last Survey. Agency program fees have risen in the last few years, as have travel expenses since South Korea began requiring two trips instead of one.
** Average represents total costs before claiming the Adoption Tax Credit.
South Korea families on their total cost:
“We were able to use frequent flyer miles to cover much of the airline costs.”
“Going in, we knew that the cost of an adoption from South Korea was a good bit higher than some other countries’ programs. The level of pre-adoption care in Korea is exceptional, and it shows in the medical details available to us as well as the therapy provided to our son.”
SOUTH KOREA ADOPTION TIMING
After a slowdown in adoptions from South Korea following the country’s implementation of its Special Adoption Law in 2012 and annual quotas, respondents to our 2015/16 Adoption Cost & Timing Survey reported shorter wait times. Eighty-three percent of families that adopted in 2015/2016 reported receiving referrals within one year, vs. 56% of respondents to our 2014/15 Adoption Cost & Timing Survey.
For many families with long overall timelines, the longer wait came after receiving the referral.
A South Korea family on their total timeline:
“We were pleased that we were on the shorter side of average time for a South Korean adoption! We had saved for 10 years before beginning the application process, so we were ready to move quickly through application to matching to dossier sent to Korea.”
* Source: FY 2015 Annual Report on Intercountry Adoption, from the U.S. Department of State.
About the Survey
Adoptive Families’ Annual Adoption Cost & Timing Surveys are conducted online, and are open to families that have finalized adoptions in the two most recent calendar years. The information about the adoptions reported on here was collected from May 2016 through February 2017 and includes information about 1,113 adoptions finalized in 2015 and 2016. It’s important to note that this survey collects self-reported data.
Giving Back
In order to gather as much data as possible, we once again posed a challenge: If more than 1,000 parents who adopted in 2015 or 2016 completed our survey, we’d select one at random and donate $250 to the adoption charity of his or her choice. We are grateful to every one of you who took the time to share your data and are thrilled to report that more than 1,100 surveys were completed!
The winner of our giveaway was Melissa Becker, of Minnesota, and we were honored to make a donation to the Gift of Adoption Fund in her name. This non-profit organization awards grants to hopeful adoptive parents regardless of race, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, or sexual orientation.
Copyright © 2017 Adoptive Families magazine. If you’d like to reprint this information or cite our findings, please contact Adoptive Families about crediting us appropriately.
