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Adoption Myths
May 02, 2005
Contact: Desiree Koudele
Myth: It takes years to complete a domestic adoption – families can wait five years or more for a baby.
Reality: Currently, approximately 90 percent of American Adoptions’ families wait an average of 1-18 months. According to Adoptive Families magazine, the average wait in a domestic adoption is less than two years. In contrast, many families are lead to believe that they will have a shorter wait if they choose international adoption – another common myth. In reality, international adoptions are often plagued by unreliable and inconsistent adoption processes and extensive adoptive family waiting lists. Foreign governments also have been known to periodically shut down their adoption programs, often without notice or explanation.
Myth: Domestic adoption is far more expensive than international adoption.
Reality: According to the National Council for Adoption, adoptions typically range from $8,000-$40,000, more commonly falling between $15,000-$25,0000. While there are many factors that determine the final cost of the adoption (such as medical and legal fees) American Adoptions allows each family to set a cap on their adoption costs, ensuring they are only shown to expectant mothers whose needs fall within their budget. Not only do families adopting internationally have similar fees, but oftentimes they must travel to the child’s home country for adoption proceedings, which can last weeks or months. These extended stays and additional fees can cause the cost of an international adoption to soar – often resulting in a higher cost than that of a domestic adoption. According Adoptive Families magazine, the estimated cost for a China adoption is $20,000-$25,000; the estimated cost for a Guatemala adoption is $25,000-$30,000 and the estimated cost for Russia adoption is $30,000-$40,000.
Myth: The babies that are available for domestic adoption all either have special needs or have been exposed to drugs or alcohol.
Reality: Expectant mothers most often choose to place their baby for adoption due to a lack of resources, not because the child has special needs or due to a substance abuse problem. American Adoptions works with all kinds of expectant mothers, from all walks of life. We have worked with married couples, single mothers who already have children in the home, college students, young professionals and teenagers. To ensure that our waiting families are comfortable with their adoption situation, we also provide them with the social and medical history of the expectant mother and allow them to choose what situations they are comfortable with.
Families choosing to adopt internationally are not usually provided the social or medical history of the child or the birth parents, often leaving these families “in the dark” as to what, if any, medical issues their child may face. Sadly, the issue of drug and alcohol dependency is also not only unique to the United States – millions of children each year, from around the world, are exposed to drugs or alcohol in utero. Families who choose to adopt internationally also may be faced with the adoption of a child that has been exposed to these substances.
Myth: Birth parents can come back at anytime and take back the child.
Reality: Once an adoption is finalized, the adoptive family is recognized as the child’s family by law. Although adoption laws vary state to state, the laws remain very clear. Despite sensationalized media stories in a few high-profile cases, post-adoption revocations are extremely rare and are usually a result of illegal or unsound legal practices.
Many adoptive families fear that ongoing contact with the birth parents following the placement of the child may lead to the birth parents “taking the child back.” However, this is untrue. Birth parents choose adoption because they care for their child. It is a normal response for them to want to know how their child is doing to reassure them that they made the right decision in placing their child for adoption. Some adoptive families choose to adopt internationally because they feel that they will not have this issue, instead they prefer to not have any contact with the birth parents. However, international adoption agencies have reported that birth parents in foreign countries also inquire about the children they placed for adoption.
Myth: There are very few babies being placed for adoption in the United States.
Reality: According to the National Council for Adoption, 25,000 or more U.S.-born infants are placed for adoption each year. As of the 2000 Census, there were 1.5 million children under the age of 18 – 2 percent of all children in the U.S. – who joined their family through adoption.
In comparison, the number of children placed for adoption domestically each year is on par with those adopted internationally. According to the U.S. Department of State, there were 20,679 immigrant visas issued to orphans entering the U.S. in 2006.
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