Bloomfield Adoptions, an adoption agency in Connecticut, recently announced that it was accepting applications from prospective adoptive parents who would be willing to pay for an adoption.
The agency’s new policy is part of a nationwide trend to expand the options available to families who want to adopt. In the past, adoption agencies have typically been completely free. But many agencies are now charging fees to cover costs and increase revenues.
“The idea behind it is to make adoption more affordable,” said Joyce Mancino, the chief executive of Bloomfield Adoptions. “We think it’s an important thing to do. We’ve had a lot of interest.”
For a few years, the agency has been working with local governments to help low-income families who wish to adopt find homes for children who need them.
Adopting a child from foster care is one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences a parent can have, but many parents who have done so say that it was also the most expensive.
“When I first adopted, I had a child from a previous relationship, and I thought we could afford it,” said Karen, a Bloomfield Adoptions client. “But I was wrong.”
In Bloomfield, the average monthly income for a family of four is $44,100, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And the average price of an infant adoption is about $30,000, according to the National Council for Adoption.
Adoption has long been a controversial topic. Critics argue that the government should provide affordable housing, health care, and education for all Americans. They argue that families who adopt children take children away from them.
Those who support adoption argue that children who are adopted are happier and more likely to stay out of trouble. They also argue that it’s unfair to force children who need homes to remain in the foster care system.
“It’s a pretty emotional issue,” Mancino said. “People on both sides get passionate about it.”
The Bloomfield Adoptions program offers services such as home visits, counseling, and financial assistance to clients who qualify.
Adoption has become a major business for many adoption agencies. About 1 million children are adopted each year. Most of them are placed with couples, but the number of children adopted by single parents has increased over the past decade.
About 10 percent of the parents who adopt are able to adopt internationally. According to the U.S. State Department, about 7,000 children were adopted from the United States in 2016.
The U.S. adoption rate has been falling, but it’s still higher than the European Union rate. The EU rate has been declining steadily since 2013.
Mancino said that there were about 100 children waiting to be adopted in the Bloomfield area, but that fewer than 10 percent of the parents who applied were approved.
The U.S. government has been funding programs to try to decrease the adoption rate. Some states are working on creating a federal tax credit to encourage adoption. The Trump administration has also proposed a tax credit.
Adoptions are often complicated. Many children are adopted from overseas, and the process takes more time.
Some children are adopted for medical reasons, and parents must wait until they are 18 years old before adopting again.
The Bloomfield Adoptions program offers a free adoption evaluation, and the agency will even help families pay for medical exams, legal fees, and other costs.
Mancino said that the agency was offering the new fee-based adoption program because it didn’t receive enough funding to meet the demand. She said that the program had been running at a deficit of more than $20,000.
Mancino said that the agency had already received some calls from people interested in adopting, but that the new policy made it easier to match them with children.
“People want to adopt, but they may not have access to a program like this,” she said. “We’ve seen that happen before.”
Mancino said that the adoption agency could only accept applications from people who were willing to pay. The program would only cover the adoption fee and not any costs that a family incurred.
Mancino said that the new program was designed to give prospective parents more choice.
“This is a great option for parents who want to adopt,” she said.
“I’m hopeful that it will help more families to find the home they want.”