
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 10, 1995                   TAG: 9501100075
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ADOPTION COSTLY BUT REWARDING

Q: Why is it so expensive to adopt a child, if adoption is being pushed as an alternative to abortion? It can cost more to adopt than it does to have a baby. Don't high fees and costs discriminate against working-class people who are really good parents?

K.T.R., Roanoke

A: Parents who adopt can expect to pay several thousand dollars in fees, unless they do it through a government social-services agency.

Private, nonprofit adoption agencies barely manage to keep their doors open. The fees, although high, are necessary.

It's not as though the parents are buying a baby; they're paying for services. These include medical care for the baby and birth mother, staff work to match babies with suitable families and legal fees.

At the Adoption Option, a branch of Catholic Family Services, the fee is 10 percent of a year's income for the adopting family. That's usually $5,000 to $6,000. The birth mother pays nothing.

The two most expensive items covered by the fee are medical expenses ($3,000) and a home study of the adopting family ($1,000).

Backgrounds are screened to make sure a family is compatible with the child. If the birth mother is artistic or musically talented, for example, her baby most likely would go to a family that could nurture those qualities.

Money is not the determining factor in choosing a family. A lower-income couple could be chosen if they match the birth parent's background, even though another family might be able to pay a higher fee.

These circumstances generally apply to healthy white infants, and not many are available for adoption. Teen mothers frequently choose to raise their babies. A prospective adopting family usually waits three to seven years.

Many minority children need families. If they're adopted through social-service agencies that receive government support, there's no charge by the agency. Sometimes, even the legal fees are picked up.

Interracial adoptions, though, are rare. The National Association of Black Social Workers has lobbied hard against placing black children with white families.

In Roanoke last year, 18 children were placed in adoptive homes by the Department of Social Services, said Director Corinne Gott. Their average age was 5.

In some cases, these children had been removed from homes because of abuse or neglect. It can take two years or more to decide there is no hope of returning them to their birth homes.

Adoptive parents are special people who are flexible and understand that conventional discipline may not work.

If a family chooses to adopt children from other countries, the cost can range from $10,000 to $15,000 because fees are charged by both the foreign country and the U.S. agency.

Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.

by CNB