Domestic Adoptions Costs are Entirely to Expensive Essay

The costs of domestic adoption are entirely to expensive. Every year in the U. S. alone there are over a hundred thousand children waiting and available for adoption; but because of the high cost, they may never be adopted. In most cases domestic adoption is way too expensive, ranging from $2,500 up to $40,000 depending on the child and his individual circumstances (â€Å"Costs of Adopting,† par. 2). The longer a child has to wait to be adopted, they are more likely to develop psychological problems due to trauma cause by their own birth family, multiple moves while in foster care and all types of abuse. There are so many great families and couples out there longing to adopt a child who cannot afford the price tag that is put on children that are placed for adoption. I believe the cost of domestic adoptions should be minimized to make it affordable for all families and couples, to ensure that every child gets the chance to have a family of his own and a healthy childhood instead of waiting in foster care or orphanages too long. Adopting a healthy infant in the U. S. typically costs $5,000 to $25,000 and can go up from there depending on the circumstances of the infant and birth mother or birth parents (â€Å"The Changing.. ,† par. 1). Still this is a hefty price to pay and if the infant is not adopted it may end up in the foster care system for years. In 1998 only 36,000 children from foster care were adopted, which was an increase of 5,000 since 1997, when only 31,000 were adopted. These numbers of adoption may seem high, but at least 100,000 of the children available for adoption were not adopted, leaving them without a family. The average age of the children adopted was 7 years (â€Å"Adoption Fact Sheet†), but still why should any child have to wait this long? In 2005 the number of children available for adoption, waiting in public foster care totaled 115,407 (â€Å"Children in Public†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). There are so many children now who are waiting to be adopted. Here in the U. S. 20% of the 650,000 children in an out of home placement are available for adoption. Many of these children have special needs, which could possibly lower their adoption cost (â€Å"What You Should†¦,† par. 3). While waiting for a family and home to call their own these children usually experience some kind of trauma caused by their birth family or moving from home to home while in foster care simply because something just didn’t work out right. In this process some of the children may have been physically , emotionally or sexually abused (What You Should†¦,† par. 4). All of these situations can cause harm to the child and permanently scar him for emotionally. Most of these children cannot form any secure attachments because of the trauma they have experienced. The attachment process is very important and has a lifelong impact on all children. Therefore it is so important for all children to be in a good healthy environment where they will be able to develop healthy and secure attachments. I believe this is why it is so important for a child to be adopted quickly and not have to wait for years where so much important and precious time is lost. There are so many couples and families who want to adopt but adoption is not within their reach because of the high costs. If the costs were lowered many more children would be adopted into great homes. You do not need to be loaded with money to be a great parent and to provide a loving and nourishing home for a child to grow up in. There are some ways to help couples and families pay for adoption such as employer benefits, tax credits, or adoptions loans and grants; but the problems with these options is that not all couples or families meet the qualifications to receive any help (â€Å"Adoption Cost). With loans you must meet specific qualifications and then pay back money loaned. When it comes to grants there is also a list of qualifications that weed out a lot of prospective parents. As for the employer benefits, only a third of U. S. employers offer this (â€Å"The Changing†¦,† par. 4). The federal government offers tax credits only to families who privately adopt infants, but does not offer the same support to families who adopt children in foster care (Wright, par. 3). Money drives almost everything in adoption. A fact which causes the line between baby selling and adoption services to become blurred is that many attorney’s fees are very high and unreasonable (Wright, par. 11). There are many reasons one may say that adoption costs of up to $40,000 is reasonable. Usually the agency a prospective parent must go through to adopt, has typical adoption services they provide: including professional services for both the adoptive and birth parents, birth parent expenses, new born care and services, legal and investigative expenses, salaries and employee benefits and general insurance (â€Å"Why Does Adoption†¦,†). These costly services do add up; but I do believe a few things should be done differently that would lower the costs of these services. If the birth mother does not have insurance, she can be on Medicaid to cover prenatal and postnatal healthcare. We pay in taxes to cover such things every day. I also believe that if the adoptive parent has a contract to adopt a child, then that child should be placed on the adoptive parent’s insurance for his medical needs. Doing these things could cut down on the costs greatly. Plus if more children could be adopted from foster care sooner, that alone would save the government a lot of money that is paid to keep the children up. I do not understand how anyone can put such a price on a child’s life and well being. What is more important, the child having a great fulfilling life or sitting in an orphanage or foster home for years and possibly experiencing some awful things, because people who would love to have them and take care of them cannot afford to adopt them? It all seems to me like the whole adoption process is nothing but selling babies and children. Why should you have to pay so much for a child when you are making a commitment to provide and care for and cherish them for the rest of your life? You will be responsible for all their need in the following years and that should be quite enough payment to put forth. You must have a home study completed before you can begin the adoption process. This ensures that you are able to provide a good sufficient home for a child; so why not lower the costs of adoption? It’s not like unfit couples or families would be able to adopt just because they may be able to afford it. I don’t see how any child deserves to be without the love of a family. You should not have to be rich to be able to afford adoption costs, a families status should have nothing to do with wither they can give a child a loving, nourishing and stable home. I truly believe if adoption costs were lowered more children would have loving homes and couples who cannot have a child of their own or those who have a child or children already would be able to complete their lives by adopting. This would benefit everyone involved: every child without a family, every hopeful future parent and family who yearns for another child to make their lives complete. Works Cited â€Å"Adoption Cost†. A Child to Love. 3 Sept. 2009. http://www. achildtolove. com/cost/. â€Å"Adoption Fact Sheet†. Child Welfare League of America. March 1999. < http://www. cwla. org/p rintable/printpage. asp>. â€Å"Children in Public Foster Care Waiting to be Adopted: FY 1999 thru FY 2005†. Administration for Children and Families. 1Sept. 2009. . â€Å"Costs of Adopting†. Child Welfare Information Gateway. 2004. 25 Aug. 2009. . â€Å"The Changing Face of Adoption†. Parents. com. September 2001. 30 Aug. 2009. . â€Å"What You Should Know Before You Adopt A Child†. Institute for Attachment and Child Development. 4 April 1997. 28 Aug. 2009. . â€Å"Why Does Adoption Cost So Much? †. American Adoptions. 29 Aug. 2009. . Wright, Graham. â€Å"Money, Power and Accountability: The â€Å"Business† Of Adoption†. The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institution. November 1999. 27 Aug. 2009. .