private domestic adoption cost WITHOUT agency

We attempted to do this about 4 years ago. We had a relative who wanted to place with us but the birth father refused to sign. The lawyer was an adoption attorney and VERY good at her job. She charged based on the number of hours she spent on the case. $500 was the retainer and $5,000 was the most she would charge. (unless the adoption was contested and went on for years or something) It was up to us if we wanted to offer living assistance, medical or any of that and we said no. We didn't want the expectant mother to feel any obligation to us in the event that she gave birth and changed her mind, we felt all along that she should make her final decision after holding her baby. Turns out, she begged us to take the baby home when we were at the hospital with her, but we just couldn't do that without the bfather signing. It was very hard to walk away. After that experience, we decided to go with an agency. But, I don't think there is anything wrong with using attorneys and searching on your own. Best of Luck.

We just tried to do a private domestic adoption...the fees ran around 10,000 including an attorney for us, an attorney for the emom, and her living expenses. In the end we did not adopt because emom did not disclose serious medical information before we matched...none of it came out until the baby was born with the same serious genetic issue her other children have (and she never told anyone about). We lost all of the money. I don't know if an agency would have been better about getting the info upfront...but I feel like they might have.