The Money Trail AKA why adoption costs so much!

I thought that you may want to see the breakdown of expenses for our adoption. I will also explain what each is for.

Application fee and first agency fee: 3,550 (this covers homestudy, initial background check, and the behind the scenes work they do for us- like check the waiting kids list!) This has been paid!! (this is where we are on the check writing- lol)

USCIS Filing and fingerprinting- 890. This is basically our daughter's immigration application. This allows us to bring her into the country as a US citizen. They do a background check and who knows what else!!?? The department of homeland security is who we send this check to.

Dossier Preparation- about 450. This is the fee paid to the chinese consulate- they check our documents and sign off on it.

Second program fee- 2,300- This is paid to our agency for their part of the dossier (translation, and they send it to China and have it hand-delivered to the CCWA (China's version of DFCS)

CCWA fee- 775-1,150 (depends on when we get matched). This is paid to CCWA to process our application on the China side!!

Third program fee- 2,600- Last payment to our agency. Covers child matching expenses, their services in China during travel, and the post-adoption home visits required by China.

Visa to enter China- 140 per person- this is paid the the chinese consulate

Airfare to china!!!! (can't wait to get to this step)- we need 2 round-trip tickets, and 1- one way for our daughter!! 1,000-2,000 per ticket.

In-China travel and hotel and such- 3,000 for 2.

Adoption registration and notarization- 400-800. This is fees paid to the local chinese government for paperwork.

Child's passport- 100-150- paid in China.

Orphanage fee- about 5,500. This goes to the orphanage where our daughter is.

Child physical- 80. They require a doctor's visit before leaving China, and it isn't free!

Child US Entry Visa- 404- so she can enter the US!!!


The fees that are not listed are gathering the certified documents, getting our passports renewed, and my maternity leave from work!

So there you go. The money trail.