What’s the difference between a law center and adoption agency?

There are many types of adoption avenues. One that most people think of first is an agency and I can tell you agencies are the most expensive way that you can go. You could wait months or years before a match with a birth family for a child is made. Another option is to foster-adopt. Children in foster care can be adopted that are legally free and who’s parents have had their rights terminated by the courts for being unfit. You can be licensed in foster care and can specifically tell them that you want to be licensed for foster-adoption situations of children that are legally available for adoption. Infants are possible in foster care, but typically, older children are what are placed.
There are other options. Private adoption, usually done with the help of a lawyer, is also an avenue to go. This is how my husband and I got our first child. The catch to these though is they do not locate children for you and you have to come to them with an all ready identified situation that is agreed on and in place between all parties involved. There are a few lawyers that will locate for you but they will also charge large sums of money to do so and there is no guarantee of how long you may be waiting.
There is also surrogacy, embryo adoption and kinship adoption if someone in your family with children would ask you to take the children. In these cases a lawyer is needed to help facilitate the process legally for all parties involved.
International adoption is working with an agency that helps locate and place children with families from other countries. This is not the cheap way out and can be pricey depending on what country you adopt from. The problem with this is that you are also subject to US laws but also the laws of the country you adopt from. You can wait several years before being matched and other countries may stop, discontinue or not accept applications for adoptions at any time without warning. There is also the added expense of travel and in country stays when adopting internationally.

Adoption can range from a couple thousand to $40,000 depending on which way you go. When we adopted my son my husbands company paid part of the adoption costs (some companies do, many do not but it doesn’t hurt to look into it). The adoption credit is only given AFTER the adoption is finalized on your federal tax forms but it does help if you have had bigger expenses. Our final out of pocket cost was only $2,000 with our lawyers. If we had to pay the entire thing it would have been $8,000, but like I said, my husbands company picked up part of the expense through their employee program for adoption.

When looking at adoption interview several case workers and avenues first before deciding on which way is best for you. Questions to ask up front: how long is your typical wait for a match? While no one can guarantee a length of time they can give you an average of families they have worked with in the past. Also ask: How many families are you currently working with? The bigger the number, the longer you are likely to wait. How many adoptions do you place each year? Find out if they are listed with the better business bureau and call to find out if any complaints or problems have been reported on them. If there have been you may want to consider walking away- fast- and find a different direction. Ask how many open or closed adoptions they do in a year. Agencies will tell you they don’t do closed any longer or that you will wait potentially years for a match but it isn’t true. While open is what most go with, there are still closed adoptions being done. My sons adoption was a closed situation and that was at the request of the biological mother. If they charge you big sums of money just to apply for their services a red flag should go up in your mind. Agencies and adoption placements that cost you loads of money to apply are in it for the money not in it for the best interest of the families they work with- adoptive or biological. It would also help you to learn adoption language and ask people you know who have adopted about their experiences with their agency or lawyer. Asking questions is free and the more you ask the better informed you will be before making a choice.