There are a variety of things that factor into why an adoption costs so much. A parent may think to themselves that they should not have to pay for an adoption because they are giving a child a home that society would in all likelihood have to care for. While this basic opinion is true, there are costs that an adoption agency has to address. The first major cost is advertising. To effectively reach birth mothers to educate them on their options and to connect those women with waiting adoptive parents we must advertise. Advertising is effective but very costly. All For You has seen the positive results from advertising aggressively and believe that is the best way to serve birth parents and adoptive parents.
The second major cost is staffing. Being available 24/7 for women who are in crises is a very stressful and time consuming task. It is not uncommon for our birth parent support counselors to talk to our birth mothers every day. These women, and men sometimes, need a lot of emotional support. They often need help meeting their basic needs such as housing, food and medical care. They need assistance in making a plan of adoption that they can live with and successfully carry out. They often need more intense counseling both before the child is placed and after the child is placed. This counseling can sometimes last years. We do not stop working with a birth mother once she has placed her child. We will continue in our relationship with her for as long as she wants us to. Our support counselors spend a large amount of time around the delivery of the child. This time is spent in helping the mother through the labor and delivery process, updating and reporting to the adoptive parents, facilitating the relationship between the adoptive parents and the birth parents, collecting medical documentation, coordinating with the hospital social worker and staff and making the necessary arrangements for the child to be discharged to the adoptive parents. In addition there are various other costs associated with operating a business. All For You ranks in the middle to upper cost range of adoption.
Complete the Contact Us page to receive a packet of information that will include our fee schedule. There are four major types of fees as listed below:
Primary Agency Fee: This fee is paid to All For You Adoption. We require a small portion of the fee up front to begin the process but the bulk of our fee is due only after the baby is placed with you and the birth mother's rights are terminated.
Secondary Agency Fee: This fee is paid to an agency/attorney in the state where the birth mother resides. A portion of this is due usually at the time of match with the balance being due either at the time of placement or after all services are rendered.
Birth Mother Expenses: This is a fee paid on behalf of a birth mother. The financial assistance that you provide to a birth mother is at risk. If she changes her mind about the adoption you will lose this money. Therefore we are very careful with your money. We do not give money directly to a birth mother. We pay her bills directly to the vendor. We do not want a birth mother to feel like she is placing her child for adoption for money, so we only allow expenses covered that are necessary and needed. Of course this amount can vary as there are many different situations. You will receive a written estimate of birth mother expenses at the time of a match.
Attorney for Birth Mother: An average amount is $500.00.
The fees above are for the services associated with placing children of all ethnicity and all levels of health. If we have a child that is considered “special needs” and we do not have a family available for that child we will sometimes waive a large portion of our normal fee in order to recruit a family for the child.
The expenses listed above are typical with adoption, however cannot cover every adoption situation. All For You works hard to estimate what your costs are going to be at the time of a match offer and will notify you of any changes throughout the adoption process. Most birth mothers are covered by medical insurance and therefore medical costs are minimal if at all. In some cases there are additional legal expenses needed for a minor birth parent or to represent the child according to state law.