Regulation of Private Domestic Adoption Expenses

Nearly all States, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories have enacted statutes that provide some regulation of the fees and expenses that adoptive parents are expected to pay when arranging an adoptive placement. Some of the fees and expenses that are typically addressed in the statutes are placement costs, such as agency fees; legal and attorney expenses for adoptive and birth parents; and some of the expenses of the birth mother during pregnancy. This briefing provides general information on birth parent expenses, agency fees and costs, use of an intermediary, and reporting adoption-related expenses to the court.