Intercountry Expenses
In addition to the costs common to every adoption, adoptive parents generally incur costs specific to their type of adoption. The costs for intercountry adoptions are described here. These expenses are in addition to the universal expenses described previously in most cases.
Intercountry adoption costs: $7,000 to $30,000. Agencies that provide intercountry adoption services charge fees that range from $7,000 to $30,000. These fees generally include dossier and immigration processing and court costs. In some cases, they may include a required donation to the foreign orphanage or agency. Overall costs may be affected by the type of entity in the foreign country that is responsible for placing the child (e.g., government agency, government orphanage, charitable foundation, attorney, facilitator, or some combination thereof). Many intercountry adoption agencies offer a sliding fee scale.
Depending on the country, there may be additional fees, such as:
- Child foster care (usually in South and Central American adoptions)
- Parents’ travel and in-country stay(s) to process the adoption abroad
- Escorting fees, charged when parents do not travel but instead hire escorts to accompany the child on the flight
- Child’s medical care and treatment (occasionally in South and Central America)
- Translation fees
- Foreign attorney fees
- Foreign agency fees
- Passport fees
- Visa processing fees and costs of visa medical examination
