Most people asking about the cost of adoption are likely to expect something explained short and sweet. And they would tend to wish that the answer is something they can afford. However, answering this kind of question is not effective without taking into consideration the fact about there are several types of adoption process out there. In the US, $30,000 would be the average cost of adoption. But the actual total cost varies greatly depending on a lot of factors so much so that that estimate could shift. In the case of private domestic infant adoption, 60% of adoption processes range from $10,000 to $30,000 at a general range of from $5,000 to $40,000.
An independent adoption through an adoption lawyer costs only slightly less than through an agency. This may be attributed to the fact that some of the cases involve adoptive and birth parents have already met and they only require a lawyer to finalize everything legally. If domestic adoption has cost that much already, you might be wondering about how much it would take for international adoption. This is a case that needs to be observed using the child’s country of origin as a perspective.
You can go to the Adoption Country Charts to find out the cost for each country. The top three sending countries are China ($20,000-$40,000), Ethiopia ($20,000-$40,000), and South Korea ($20,000-$40,000). In contrast, foster care adoption can be said to be virtually free. Only a handful of families have to pay more than two thousand dollars with many other don’t even pay a dime. Foster care adoption comes with a monthly subsidy to the foster care to help reimburse the expenses spent to raise the adopted kids. The tax credit for adoption is no longer refundable and has been made permanent in 2013.