Adopting sibilings- has anyone?

1. Two chiildren take up two airplane seats, unless one or both children will be under age two and you want them to fly on a lap ticket (no seat guaranteed). Any child two or over will pay full fare or close to it, so you will wind up paying double the airfare. Most airplanes charge as much for a one way ticket, regardless of the age of the traveler, so you will probably pay the cost of two round trip adult tickets for your two kids. That's not something you can get around. 2. Two kids eat twice as much as one, assuming that they are roughly the same age and size. Meals overseas are often cheaper than meals eaten out in the U.S., but you will definitely be spending a lot more for food if you adopt two kids, instead of one, and are living overseas for a few weeks with them. 3. You will not pay extra for filing an I-600A for two children, rather than one, but it's still a walloping big fee. 4. You will not pay extra for having a homestudy for siblings, but it's still going to cost you a few thousand dollars. 5. Many countries charge an orphanage fee, designed to offset what the orphanage has paid to care for a child until he/she is adopted and also to provide some funding for the care of kids who will never be adopted due to age or disability. As an example, China charges $5,000 per child. It makes sense for these fees to double, given that the orphanage has had to feed, clothe, and pay attention to two children, instead of one. 6. Each child will need his/her own Russian documents, such as birth certificate, adoption decree, and passport. In addition, each child will need his/her own U.S. visa, Certificate of Citizenship, etc. It makes sense that the fees for these things will double for two children. And on and on. There's no unfairness about it. Many agencies also reduce their fees for sibling groups (three or more), children who have significant special needs, and school aged children, so you could wind up paying well under 50% for the second child, if you are open to such children. Sharon

What you're saying makes perfect sense. The only problem is my agency quoted $30,000 to $35,000 more for a second child. I can't imagine how the extra plane ticket, food, passport and other documents could cost $30K.

Whoa! That sounds way too high! Look at what they want to charge for a second child as far as their agency fee and the international fee, and then figure out the costs for additional document prep for a second child. Also look at the costs for the post adoption reports for two children. All the other costs are obvious (tickets, food, passports, etc.) Have the agency break down the costs so you can see the detail. For siblings an agency should not be doubling all the fees.

I will definetely ask for a fees break down per a second child. Thank you for the suggestion! Right away I thought that the quote I was given was way too high.

Do the agencies NOT give the break-down in their original packet of info, before you even sign a contract with them. I remember that all being printed-out in black and white as part of the contract. Otherwise we would not have known that we could move forward or not. I recall the agency giving a broad range that the airline tickets could cost, even though that was nothing they could control.

They did. I have a fee schedule that specifically states what the costs are. However, when I asked how much would it cost to adopt two children at the same time, they said it would be about $30K more. While on the phone, I shared that with my husband and we said no way. Now, out of curiosity and because we would love to adopt two children, I want to know how this works. I will ask my agency for a fee breakdown.Anyway one looks at it, the fee of $30K is just way too high.

I'm not adopting from your country, however the fees for an additional child in my case are only $4,400 plus travel/lodging/meals in pick up trip. However when looking at different countries at my agency I think the most I ever saw for an additional child was $8,000-$9,000 in any of the countries in which this was an option. As has been said before, look into it a bit further; or if you have your heart set on adopting more than 1 child perhaps look into other agencies?

I would ask why is the price so steep when adopting siblings. When we signed with our agency, they had a price breakdown and sibling adopting was not that drastic change of price. Obviously though your going have to pay for two plane tickets, etc. so there will be some extra charges. Adoption is just so expensive these days, like everything else is.