How are these high priced agency "non profit?"

Non-profit only means the business makes no money on paper. In my opinion, yes...the salaries of those involved are super high but the business technically doesn't make any money.

All it means is the business can't make any profit. But they can give huge salaries to employees and themselves. Plus money is spent in advertising, in counseling, helping pregnant women find lodgings, taking them to the doctor, etc. They often have a standard fee that everyone pays, even if their case was simple, which is just an average between the cheapest situations and the most expensive ones. And let's be honest, they'll have no problem placing a baby born for $30k, but some people might not want to spend the $50k some situations really cost.

A quick overview of the difference can be found on this page - skip the first part in blue - skim the next two parts and then see the final section on Mission, Ownership, Tax-exempt Status. [url=http://www.accountingcoach.com/nonprofit-accounting/]Nonprofit (Not-for-profit) Accounting | AccountingCoach.com[/url] Kind regards,Dickons

It's just sad how much this is about money and how little it is about helping a child find a good home. The adoption machine has made it so difficult for expectant moms and waiting families basically because of greed. I understand that people have to make a living, but there is a better way. Why all of the up front application costs? Why not just charge for placement? You will still place many, many children. Even a place like this, where desperate parents come to find adoption information is censored because of money. Imagine how much time could be saved if we were allowed to openly discuss agencies. I have seen it done on IVF message boards -- the truth always comes out. There may be some disgruntled people, but those with good experiences will jump to defend their clinic if it's a good one. It's just frustrating that we are censored on what could be such a helpful site because of a fear of offending an agency and losing money for this board -- it's sad because this could be a huge help for children finding their best home. But it's clear that this adoption business as a whole has no intention of helping children - it's all about the money. And it really is just sad and infuriating.

While I'll agree adoption is a huge business, let's also remember some of this is also from adoption entities who highly encourage birthmothers to ask for large sums of money from the hopeful adoptive folks; AND, those same groups who tell the hopeful adoptive folks it's ASSUMED they should pay such fees! I've often wondered, WHO started this practice in the first place? You know, which came first, the chicken or the egg kind of thing. Our family has been adopting over 30yrs. I've seen the fees/expectations raise incredibly and I continue to read about the BIG money some adoption entities are making and the losses from hopeful adoptive folks because they've bought into this pressure. Here's the bottom line: Don't deal with agencies/attorneys who tell you 'this is how adoption is done nowadays' when it comes to being forced in paying big monies for the practice of 'matching' or communication post-placement or monies pre or post-placement, etc. Don't be swayed by agencies/attorneys who'll tell you, 'oh, that's okay if your situation fails, we simply roll your (huge money) over to the next situation'. The birthparents almost always choose the adoptive parents for their child...NOT the agency. Your 'rolled over money' is STILL being used by the adoption entity---while you wait. They've given no guarantee you'll actually have a baby/child. They've only told you your money will continue to stay WITH THEM until a birthparent chooses you. (And that may not happen for a long time---especially if this is an adoption entity that doesn't have very many birthmothers to choose families.) Don't agree to any more open-ness than you're comfortable with. There IS no 'wrong or right adoption communication'. Each one is unique. Just as pregnant ladies should be able to require an update each month, or no further communication at all; why shouldn't adoptive parents ask the same and be matched with a releasing family accordingly? The requirements of what we want/expect should lie with the expectant ladies/men and us. *We're* the parties who will continue to go into this journey up until the birth and possible releasing of the newborn---and perhaps, beyond---NOT the adoption entity. We're hiring these people to do the counseling/legals, etc. Our monies are paying them these high salaries. We enourage such practices when we buy into the high fees and/or rollover fees for matching or birthmother expenses or post-placement fees or feel pressured into an adoption we might not really feel comfortable with. As parties to the adoption, we really do have more power than we exercise. Maybe if we only dealt with adoption entities who did what they were hired to do and didn't buy into some of the 'PC adoption speak' some adoption entities use, those adoption entities would have to lower their fees and be forced to do what birthparents and adoptive folks hired them to do---reasonably. Vent over. Sincerely, Linny

Linny - up until around the mid 80's the family of the expectant mother paid - either for her time in the maternity home or wherever they sent her. One newspaper article from the 60's interviewing a big agency said they charged the family of birth $10 per day for the maternity home - a time when $10 equalled about $50-$60 in todays dollars - a heck of a lot of money to pay each month (they also had a sliding scale by income but that was the set amount plus they got charity donations from others as well...). When families didn't need to hide the family shame they stopped paying to protect the family name. Then the industry got the laws changed to allow the prospective parents to pay instead because prior to that it was illegal for any expenses to be paid by the adopting family. Kind regards,Dickons

You are misinformed so please allow me to make a clarification. The agency discussion rule is not in place because we are afraid of offending agencies. It's in place because there are too many dishonest people. This rule has been in place since 2001 or so, long before agencies really did a lot of advertising on here.We used to allow agency discussion and what we found were those that would give glowing reports and actually worked for the agency. We had people who never used the agency in any way shape or form giving reviews both positive and negative. There were misleading statements made all the time and when both sides (clients and agencies) couldn't be trusted with the truth, it became clear we needed to shut it down completely. We can't be responsible for the reviews given and yet our members expected us to be. Our members were fed up with all the in post advertising, negativity and fighting over agencies and then found several whose adoptions were affected because of things the agency read.So no..it's not about offending advertisers. Certainly we do like to keep them happy but we also like to provide a place for members to not be bombarded with this topic during their need of support. Our site isn't about agency reviews, there are plenty of other sites out there for that purpose. Here we focus on support, education overall, and trying to build a community between all members of the triad. We prefer to keep our focus on that and keeping our boards free of pesky reviews one doesn't even know is true.If it doesn't suit you, it doesn't, but please be mindful how you complain. After all, your membership is free and you still benefit from the things we DO offer.

I know the non-profit agency we used does a TON of outreach and education programs. They do hospital trainings to teach staff about how adoption works and to dispel adoption myths so that expectant parents and prospective adoptive parents will have better experiences in the hospital. They do teen pregnancy prevention training at schools, and adoption education at schools - dispelling adoption myths and taking it deeper than "Teen Mom" or "16 and Pregnant" do. They work with expectant moms who don't place to get them set up with the social services they're entitled to, and to help them figure out if placement or parenting is best for them. Those are some of the things that a good non-profit will do with the money.Obviously, they also spend money on advertising and outreach trying to attract expectant mothers who need to place their children for adoption, and that is part of the expense, too. And then all the services that actually go with completed adoptions - birth parent counseling, birth father search, adoptive parent counseling, openness mediation, support for the foster parents who care for babies between release from the hospital and placement with their adoptive families, etc.I agree, it's expensive, and I feel frustrated by that, but OTOH I do recognize the legitimate uses of the money.

I'm not sure what agency you are using but not all agencies can be lumped into the "not caring" category. After working for a non-profit adoption/foster care agency (as a social worker) and now using one for our adoption I definitely feel that these particular agencies care about children and families and aren't just out there for the money. They do extensive work to help families and their workers aren't making high salaries (believe me, I know). But we also aren't being charged 40,000 either. I'm sure there are agencies out there that don't have the best intentions but there are good ones out there as well.

My STBAD spent time with an agency when she was preganant. One of the agencies that provides housing on site and major support before adn after placement. It costs major $$ to provide housing at the level this agency does. The girls have on site teachers so they continue their education. They get day to day counseling, medical care and all the things that a regular person needs to live a normal life. It was an wonderful time for her at 13 yrs old. Even with an adoption through foster care, there are things that must be paid for. In foster care, those fees are absorbed by the state. There are laws which must be followed when an adoption occurs and most of that is legal filings which like most legal issues, costs money. Some agencies have lower fees based on what they are willing to provide before,during and after. I figure the parents of my DD's baby paid about $30,000(she doesn't know the exact amount)and she got plenty of counseling and had time to develop a great relationship with the parents and still feels(almost 2 yrs later) close to the live-in couselors at the agency.