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I was looking into this as well were you trying to adopt through Fost-Adopt, an Agency, etc. I know the pricing for newborn adoption for African Americans can vary mostly in the 18k range some agencies seeking colored families or those willing to adopt babies of color may provide an oppportunity for a grant or scholarship to have your cost based on a sliding scale fee the sliding scale could be based on the infant being a "special needs" or another word for a child of color, or your income. I know high preference is for a husband and wife of color over a single parent of color with some agencies. You have a higher chance of recieving adoption grants, espicially if you come in wanting to adopt an African Amnerican infan and being the same race or having a spouse of African American decent. As they do have a shortage of families of color wanting to adopt a child of color and some agencies do have shorter wait periods for adopting an african american child because of a birth mothers request to have her child placed with a family of color or a bi-racial family in which one parent would be of color. They do have some opportunities through Fost-Adopt which are rare to get safe harbor babies which mothers left at the hospital and reqlinquished rights too, preference is normally given to the family in which the child is of the same race, but you have to go in stating this intention and be aware you won't be made aware of the child's medical history or even actual race and would be willing to adopt with that knowledge. Fost Adopt only really does not guarantee an infant adoption usually unless its with a sibling set, and if you foster an infant you may have an opportunity to adopt them if they are not reunified with their birth family or someone from the birth family.
I been researching it a lot, myself but it just makes no sense if they have a high demand for colored families and the cost associated with adopting a colored child. If colored children are the main children available for adoption then why are fees for marketing your profile accessed? If birth mothers are going to agencies thinking a family is available to adopt their child of color and they know that is not true it would seem that fee would be waived when a family of color chooses to adopt, as really no marketing efforts are really put in for a need or rather demand is being filled. With such high cost I think many people are considering Fost-Adopt High Risk infant adoption because even with the scholarships and grants it seems to much to go through the efforts to adopt an infant for some.
I have seen some families go and create their own web pages for pregnant teens or moms who do internet searches to find their profile before they find an adoption agencies so that way the fees are lower and the cost are only legal for the adoption. These families have a profile set up about them and also let birth mothers know a home study was done (HOPEFULLY THE BIRTHMOTHER KNOWS the importance of asking for a homestudy). I am assuming they may either go to a document preperation service to have all the adoption paperwork prepparedfor them which is less than $1k and possibly through a prepaid legal service they can have a lawyer review it to make sure everything is preparred correctly for the courts, so that the family can go to the courts and submit a request for an adoption hearing themselves and cut even more costs out, to make the adoption more affordable. People are trying to find creative ways to adopt an infant, in the hopes the birth mother is sincere about wanting to place her child up for adoption, and espicially if she does in high hopes she proceeds with her adoption with them even in an open adoption situation unless the birthmother wanted a closed or semi closed adoption. If this is a route you take making sure the mother is on Medicad/Medi-Cal/Medicare to cover hospital costs of her pregnancy and delivery helps because you would otherwise be stuck with the bill. I think the issue is finding the birth mother through your own efforts and not the adoption agencies if pricing and finances are an issue to cut the cost down, check your states laws and the birth mothers state laws I do believe extra paperwork is required if you and the birthmother do not reside in the same state. Make sure to create a realistic adoption plan together and hiring a lawyer or prepaid lawyer to oversee the legal work to make sure everything is signed and covered in the paperwork as being your major real expense. Adoption agencies vs independent seeking of a birth mother is that adoption agencies have more options if your adoption does not fall through, vs your own efforts.
Your post was a bit vague so I just was hitting different things I read and researched. I am pretty sure with everyone having different experiences then others, the right opportunity will come if you keep faith and do everything your suppose to do to prepare yourself for this chapter in your life. Keep us updated and I wish you the greatest success in adoptiong a child of color. I hope this was helpful. If you learn something more please share as I am looking into fost-adopt in my state, but keeping an open mind to an infant adoption if an opportunity does present itself.
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