How Do Medical and Legal fees Effect Overall Placement Fees?

Medical and legal fees can add substantially to the overall cost of a domestic newborn adoption. Placement fees for an average adoption in the U.S. are somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000.

Medicare coverage for a birth mother cannot transfer from state to state.  Therefore any placement done inside of the state where you service provider is licensed can cost between $5000 and $12,000 extra depending on the type of birth and the length of your birth mothers hospital stay.  In most cases the legal fee is minimal.

On the flip side of that are placements done outside of the state where your service provider is licensed.  In these cases medicare coverage is intact and will most likely cover the bulk of your birth mothers and babies hospital stay barring any major complications.

However, since it is done outside of the state where your service provider is licensed an attorney in that state is hired to handle the documentation of the adoption.  Their fee can range from $4000 to $8000 depending on the state and the attorney.

In both cases these fees are added to the placement fee along with any confinement or post placement fee the birth mother is given by her agency.  In most cases this runs $1500 to $2500.  This fee helps a birth mother to get back on her feet after the birth.

The total average placement fee including medical or legal and post placement with our agency for an African American baby are approx. $24,000 and for a biracial placement approx. $30,000.

When talking with service providers find out what the total fee required is including those extras.  it can make a difference when selecting a service provider to work with.