A Year later we get the call. HELP?!

We went with a small agency because we wanted personalized attention and are primarily interested in adopting AA or biracial but have been utterly disappointed with our agency - little to no contact for almost a year. They don't return phone calls or emails promptly, had misspellings on our home study and other paperwork. We received more communications for us to attend their fundraisers than anything. It is definitely a Mom and Pop shop. THEN out of the blue after we were exploring other agencies and started to forget about them they call us and pretended like we had just spoken yesterday haha. They have good news - they have a birthmother that has chosen us #1. YAY! They gave us information about her situation, medical/family history, finances and we were excited. THEN they asked us for a $7k referral fee and birthmother costs (she is behind on rent, utilities, etc.) overnighted to them before we even meet or speak to the birthmother. We thought the next step was to have a communication with the birthmother before we start paying her expenses so we'd have some level of comfort. Is this normal? Birthmother has 6 other small children and is primary caregiver and has been through some really tough times with guys and financially. She was in a shelter for a period of time. Also - she is only halfway through 2nd trimester. Does any of this make her less likely she will follow through with the placement? If we do pay the $7k referral fee and pursue this referral, we are thinking of proceeding with a larger national agency at the same time because if this one falls through who knows how long between now and the next phone call from Mom and Pop agency. Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated!