Why Does it Cost So Much?

International adoption is not any more expensive than some domestic adoptions :) Our adoption will cost about $40,000. Of that, $12-14 is in travel expenses. That is a big chunk. The money we pay to our agency pays the salaries of the people who translate our documents, communicate with the embassy in the US and in the country we're adopting from, goes to the orphanage we are adopting from for humanitarian aid, and to make sure nothing gets messed up and that we can bring our baby home. We believe that it is money well spent. We have some friends who recently went to meet the baby they had received a referral for. It turned out that the baby has some pretty severe medical issues and our agency arranged for the baby to be admitted to the hospital and cared for for several days, had at least one MRI done to find the source of seizures the baby had been having, to have the baby cared for by a neurologist, etc. This couple had to turn down the referral because they are not equipped to care for this child. But our adoption agency is caring for this child! If part of my agency fees have gone to pay for the medical care of this baby, I will be ecstatic :) I hope this helps you understand :) Karla

Hello, I just wanted to say I totally understand your frustration - and for me the issue is - why does it cost more to adopt according to skin colour? How can we justify this? I've read Russian adoption is now in the 45K range...while adoption from the Caribbean or Africa remains at around $20-25K. $20,000 difference - this is the part that makes me furious. Asian adoption seems to fall somewhere in the middle. But, of course, this is the case with domestic adoption as well. Otherwise - for our adoptions a large part of the expense was travel.... Karyn

I can share some of what I know for Russia. The foreign fees tend to be around 10,000 alone plus the agency fees. The foreign fees included lots of things: Money to the orphanage where your child is living (This allows them to have enough things for all of the children). In Russia, there are tons of documents and things which have to be signed and notarized on Russia's end. Usually your coordinator (who is also paid), gets those things ready for you before you come over. I don't know where the rest of it goes and personally, I don't care. I have the greatest child from there and it was worth every penny. When we first started, we had only 20,000 in savings. we had no idea where were going to get the money, much less things we needed for our son. People threw us showers and we just kept working (sometimes 2 jobs) and saving. By the time we went to Russia, we had most of it and the rest of it (travel and hotel) we put on credit. It will work out. Don't give up!!

"I've read Russian adoption is now in the 45K range...while adoption from the Caribbean or Africa remains at around $20-25K. $20,000 difference - this is the part that makes me furious. Asian adoption seems to fall somewhere in the middle." A large part of why Russia is so expensive is the two trip requirement. Moscow is an expensive city, one of the most expensive cities in the world and you must go there (I believe) to adopt from Russia. Africa requires one trip and is a relatively cheap place to visit. Karla

Actually the fees have NOTHING to do with skin color. Its the long in country stays and frequent trips in the former Soviet Union bloc that makes it so high. Although most of the children from Russia are Caucasian in appearance there are Asian children available and the fees are the same. I also agree with Karla K about Moscow being so expensive too. BTW China cost the same as Ethiopia (and Asian and African country respectively)and Ukraine (a country were the children are also Caucasian in appearance) fees very close to Vietnam's (give or take a couple of thousand dollars)