Adoption Fees

How Much Does an International Adoption Cost?

Fees will vary from country program to country program. Basically you’ll have three main areas, our agency fee, the country program fee, and expenses. Contact us at or by calling 949.858.7621 to request a complete list of all fees and expenses for all programs and services. God’s Families agency fee is constant at $4,500 regardless of your choice of country program or the number of children you adopt at one time. Expenses will vary depending upon the country program, how many people travel, level of accommodations, etc.

For ideas and suggestions on how to finance your adoption, see the Financial Resources within this site.

What do Adoption Fees and Expenses Cover?

There are many people and services required to successfully complete your international adoption including government agencies, authentication fees for your documents going abroad, travel to and from your child's country, accommodations in-country, courier services and couriers, long distance communications, foreign representatives and agencies, social workers and humanitarian aid donations and projects provided to source country orphanages in addition to the God's Families staff.

You will always get detailed information from God's Families on what is and what is not covered. We work very hard at being responsible stewards while providing quality adoption services concerning your adoption. It is important that you understand all costs involved, not just those payable to our agency. We also appreciate that ALL families are on a budget and work very hard at providing the best services for the lowest amount possible.

Do We Have to Pay the Whole Amount at One Time?

No. God's Families will phase your fees over the period of your adoption. You will receive a billing statement when we have completed a particular portion of your adoption and that fee will then become due for payment.

How Much Money Do We Have to Make to Qualify?

The Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Department of Justice use federal poverty guidelines to qualify minimum income requirements for families adopting internationally.

Where Does Your Money Go?

by Deborah McCurdy, Adoptive Families

Adoption agency fees are often a source of hidden tension between clients and their adoption agencies, particularly when social workers do not explain them and adoptive parents are (understandably) afraid to ask for an explanation. Clients may feel that the agency is adding insult to injury by asking them to pay a substantial amount to prove themselves as parents, when most people can have babies for free - if they're insured - without anyone's permission, This is, admittedly, one of the sad injustices of life. However, agencies and orphanages all over the world are mandated to ensure that every adoptable child finds a secure home, and none of us would have it any other way.

I can remember being resentful of the high per-hour charge for our own home study interviews, which took place many years ago. It wasn't until my husband and I started our own local service agency that we fully appreciated "the hidden costs of doing business" - which translates to in-person interviews with adoptive parents, many, many hours of agency paper work assistance with documents, phone calls, bookkeeping, supervision, and travel on the clients' behalf. We had to base our fees not only on such direct services behind the scenes to each family, but also on the shared expenses of keeping the agency alive and functioning well. These shared expenses include the costs of insurance, salaries, accountants, attorneys, licensing studies, office equipment, advertising, other recruitment efforts, supplies, rent, utilities, continuing education and the mandated donations to other nonprofit organizations.

Agencies that have their own placement programs overseas have even greater costs - and therefore higher fees - than local service agencies like ours, which provide home studies and post-placement services to some of their clients. This is because placing agency staff need to travel abroad frequently to develop and maintain programs, to keep up with other countries' ever changing regulations, to aid orphanages, to arrange each child's placement, to assist parents with their Dossiers and travel, to coordinate with bureaucracies and orphanages in several countries, and to absorb the major losses that occur when a placement disrupts or a country suddenly declares a moratorium on adoptions. (I have the greatest admiration for the courageous and dedicated agency personnel that take on the incredibly complex, often overwhelming responsibility of locating and placing children from other countries.)

It may be a comfort to adoptive parents to realize that most of the people employed by adoption agencies are sharing in their financial sacrifice. A social worker specializing in inter-country adoption typically earns far less than he or she would in private practice or another agency setting, and his or her hours tend to be longer. Most adoption agencies make good use of volunteers, and many agency directors and staff members are essentially volunteers for a good part of their workweek, if not all.

Try to think of your agency's staff as your partners and willing helpers, who need to deal with the realities of running a business at the same time they see work as a service - to you and to the many children who need the loving homes you provide.