The Reason Why Adoption is ALWAYS Necessarily Expensive

“Why isn't adoption free? It seems like adoption is so expensive, almost like buying a baby.” Adoptions are always necessarily expensive. Private and international adoption are the two most expensive types of adoptions. However, spending more money on adoption can help to qualify the parents for adoption and prepare the family for an adopted child. If all types of adoption are free, It will decrease the children’s life equality, make them mentally feel worthless, and increase the possibility of child abuse. 

Firstly, spending more money on a private adoption can help to qualify the parents for adoption. In order to adopt a child, the parents need many certifications and qualifications to have parental rights for a child. Sometimes, adoption agencies are necessary for the legal aspect of adoption. They often have many experienced counselors, adoption professionals, and access to more resources, which allow them to provide a wide variety of services to adoptive families. The duties of adoption agencies include: provide families with training; conduct your home study, including several interviews, then produce a written report and have it reviewed by the agency director; counsel you through the adoption process; facilitate the adoption at the hospital; do follow-up visits; write reports and file paperwork for finalization; provide the birth parents with counseling and support pre-and post-adoption. On average, the total adoption cost is higher. Costs range from about $5,000 to $20,000, averaging about $12,000. A service included in adoption agencies is an adoption attorney, who is in charge of the legal rights of the adoptive parents and the birth mother. They are also responsible for ensuring that each adoption is completed according to state and federal laws. While they help the adoptive parents complete a successful adoption, they make sure that every step in the adoption process meets all legal requirements.

Secondly, the necessary cost of adoption helps prepare the parents for the arriving baby.  Adoptive parents can take a new parent and/or CPR class. The more information the parents have about the practical aspects of baby care, the more confident they will feel ready. Families can attend some parental classes, some of them might be offered by the agencies. Travel fees are also required for adoption, especially international adoption. If the adoptive families choose to adopt a baby from the international adoption. It is required that the couples travel at least once to the birthplace of the child. Sometimes families have to stay more than a month. In these cases, travel becomes an additional large cost. Moreover, just like any other parents, before the baby arrives, they would buy baby merchandise, for example, diapers, clothes, beds, blankets, and the list goes on and on. 

Understandably, some people might argue that some children need a family, and some families need children, then why does adoption cost money? Adoptions are very affordable in the first place. Public adoption in Canada, that is, adopting a child from foster care, is not expensive at all. It costs about $0 to $300 to adopt a child. The money is not for “buying” a child. The money is usually used with criminal records checks and medical assessments. These are usually under $300. When people say things like “adoptions should be free”, have they ever thought that if a family wants to take care of a child and welcome it as a member of the family forever, how can they don’t have $300 for regular adoption protocols? In Canada, raising a child will cost $10,000 to $15,000 per year until the age of 18. After high school, some people will choose to go to university or college, and the tuition will be about $25,000. These are $250,000 in total. If a family doesn’t have enough money to pay for regular adoption protocols, then they will never be able to provide the children with decent education and shelters.  When families have financial issues, indeed, they might not have a successful private or international adoption, but the ones who have adopted a baby successfully must love the baby very much that they are willing to pay for the expensive legal fees. Do you think people who desperately want a child would just randomly have that much money?

    If the adoption is completely free, everyone can afford it, so the treatment of the adopted children will be much worse. Who doesn’t want some free child labor? People might argue that adoption being free does not mean that adoptive families don't go through several paperwork and classes to make sure that the child will be loved and cared for. If the families adopt children from adoption agencies, follow-up visits are a part of the legal process. This means professionals will go to the homes of the adoptive parents and run some tests. In this case, child abuse might be prevented. Furthermore, People say that adoption costs too much makes the children think they are objects being traded. But the truth is, love for a child is what adoptive parents are supposed to do. They are not paying for the children. They are paying the professionals who can assure that the children will live a joyful life with the family. Instead of thinking they are objects being traded, they would feel like they are wanted and appreciated.

    In conclusion, the reason why adoption always necessarily costs money and some of them always will be expensive is because it helps the children to live a happy life, physically and mentally. It also helps the parents to be successful throughout the adoption process. Moreover, free adoption will not do any good either. What do you think?