Adoption 101

Do you remember your first adoption?? I do! I loved my Cabbage Patch Kids, but adoption these days is a bit more complex than the steps listed on these "Official Adoption Papers." I wonder what our agency would have said if I talked about my Cabbage Patch kids under the question "When did you first consider adoption?" hehe


I know that one of the things that prevented us from jumping right into a real, live human adoption earlier than we did was the fear of the unknown. I found this info and it answered a lot of questions we had, so I thought I'd share in case you or someone you know is considering adoption. These stats are on newborn adoptions in the US. Older children or even older babies in the US are usually adopted through CPS.

Domestic Adoption by the Numbers
(from www.adoptivefamilies.com)

In 2007:
U.S. newborn adoptions (est)................. 25,000
International adoptions to U.S............... 21,600

Cost & Timing Data from Adoptive Families’ 2007 Reader Survey

Average time from preparation of portfolio to match with birthmother (excluding time in failed adoption):
6 months or less............ 56% (We hope to be here!)
12 months or less...........78%
More than 12 months....22%

Time from birthmother match to birth of child:
More than 3 months 10%
Less than 3 months 75% (Our agency usually matches couples here.)
Matched after birth 15% (This would be the crazy whirlwind of getting a phone call and immediately running to the hospital!!)

Families that worked with more than one birthmother before successfully adopting .............. 31%

Ethnicity of baby adopted:
Caucasian............................ 48%
African-American................. 16%
Asian/Bi/Multiracial/Other.. 28%
Latino.................................... 8%
We always thought that there were more minority babies available, but there are actually more caucasian babies. There are just more caucasian couples adopting, so the demand is greater for caucasian babies.

Total adoption cost (before tax credit or employee benefits):
Less than $20K............. 48%
Between $20 and $25K ...... 19%
Between $25 and $30K ...... 10%
More than $30K............. 20%
One adoption consultant told us "...adoption costs as much as a car." I didn't like her generalization, but she was right! The price for an adoption is all over the place! In Texas (and many other states) you can pay for the birthmother's expenses (rent, maternity clothes, medical, etc. after you are matched), so that can vary wildly. If you are matched when she is 6 weeks pregnant, and she lives in an expensive place, you could pay A LOT just for her living expenses. Many times she is on Medicaid, but if not, her medical expenses are 100% out of pocket for the adoptive family. Thankfully, the baby's medical expenses will be covered under our insurance, because it will be our baby! There are also legal fees and sometimes advertising fees. You can also adopt through the foster to adopt program through CPS for a few thousand or even free; you just might have to wait months or years before your little one is available to adopt.
Our eyes were opened to a whole new world when we started looking into adoption. We attended our all day training with our adoption agency on Friday and LOVED it. We got to talk with 3 other couples who are waiting to adopt, a mom who has adopted twice with our agency, and two birthmothers who have placed a baby with our agency. My favorite part was hearing from the birthmothers! Our eyes were opened to their perspective. Their great love for their babies means that the moment they place their baby in our arms is devastating for them but beyond joyful for us. We are already in love with the amazing woman who is willing to give us such a great gift!
We also were able to schedule our home study for this weekend!! EEK! Painters are here right now repairing some water leaks, and I'm off to clean and clean some more!