Domestic Private Agency Adoption
Private agency adoption involves an agency that has been authorized by the state to act as an intermediary between adoptive parents seeking a child and birth parents who are considering adoption as a plan for their child. New York adoptive parents are only permitted to accept a placement from an adoption agency licensed by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. By contrast, New Jersey adoptive parents can work with any licensed not-for-profit adoption agency, regardless of whether they have been “approved” by the state of New Jersey. However, New Jersey adoptive families must have their home study performed by a New Jersey approved agency.
Private agencies engage in outreach and education programs to assist both adoptive and birth parents. Typically, an agency has waiting adoptive parents who have been screened and approved by the agency that can be matched with birth parents seeking adoptive parents for their child. As with private placement adoption, identifying information can be shared or kept confidential as desired by the parties. Private agency adoption is attractive because the agency does the “work” of matching adoptive and birth parents and because the agency provides a built-in support system for all of the parties. The cost of a typical private agency adoption can vary dramatically but fees typically range from $30,000 to $50,000.