Experiences of adopting

I'm new to this, My husband & I were foster parents, with the intention of adopting the child, if available. now we are wanting to strictly adopt. For people who have adopted through foster care I'm wondering about your experience of adopting. Did you go through a foster/adoption agency like kinship? were you foster parents who were able to adopt your foster child? Or Were you looking to strictly adopt through family & children's services? How long did it take until you were matched/placed with a child? We met yesterday with a woman who handles adoptions through the county. But being limited to your specific county is hard. So I emailed Kinship & a woman called me back. They only charge $150 to finalize the adoption. You pay for fingerprinting. So it's very little cost. Vs. the county I'm not sure how much their fees are. With kinship they work to match you with other counties throughout california. So... I'm going to have to adoption paper work through the county & in addition go through kinship. Anybody who wants to share any information would be wonderful. Thanks, Bonnie