Cost Of
Adoption

International and
private domestic
adoptions can be
costly.

T

Forever Families From page 8

were interested in international adoption
because of the huge number of children
waiting for families.
When they applied to adopt a child
from China, they were told it would take
nine months; they waited two and half
years. They met their daughter, Frankie,
now 7, when she was 11 months old.
Now it takes even longer to adopt from
China, as long as six years, said Robyn
Coden. Russia, Guatemala, Romania and
some other countries are no longer per-
mitting international adoption.
When the Codens, who own and oper-
ate Camp Tanuga in Kalkaska, decided
they wanted another child, the adoption
process was so daunting that Robyn
decided pregnancy would be easier; their
biological daughter, Jaye, is now 5.
Marla Golnick and her husband, Jason,
of West Bloomfield, chose international
adoption because they distrusted the
uncertainty of so many domestic adop-
tions. It's not uncommon for birth moth-
ers to change their minds after the baby
has been placed in an adoptive home but
before the adoption is final.
It took about 10 months and two trips
to Russia from the time they applied until
they brought their 2-year-old daughter
home. Ariel is now 14. The Golnicks also
have a younger birth daughter, Rayna, 11.
"I loved the experience of seeing the
country:' said Marla Golnick, who worked
with an out-of-state adoption agency. "It
was the best experience of our lives. It
made us into a family. I wouldn't trade it
for the world!"

Private Domestic Adoption

Erika Jones was 35 and her husband,

10 November 13 • 2014

Rick, was 39 when they decided to adopt.
It would be two years before they became
parents.
They learned very quickly that in the
world of private domestic infant adoptions
— also called direct placement adoption
— it's the birth mothers (and sometimes
the fathers, too) who make the decisions.
They are the ones who choose the parents
who will raise the child they birth.
Rick Jones, a firefighter, conducted a
social media campaign to promote them-
selves as prospective adoptive parents.
They got a lot of media attention, includ-
ing some hate mail saying if they couldn't
conceive, it was all part of God's plan and
they should accept it.
Two women were interested in the
Joneses. One decided to keep her baby.
The other was in a Florida jail on fraud
charges. "It just didn't feel right:' said
Erika Jones of Berkley, who works as a
development officer at the Judson Center
in Southfield.
At the same time, they were looking for
the right adoption agency since all pri-
vate adoptions need to be processed by a
licensed agency or an attorney.
"Some agencies wouldn't work with us
because we were Jewish:' said Jones, who
was married at Congregation Shir Tikvah
in Troy. "One had a questionnaire that
asked a lot of questions about God. They
rejected us and wouldn't say why:'
A Christian-sponsored agency asked
applicants for a letter of recommendation
from their pastor. When the Joneses asked
them if a letter from a rabbi would do, the
agency said no.
They settled on Morning Star Adoption
Center in Southfield, which matched
them with their daughter's birth parents,
a young couple living in the Michigan

Thumb.
"They have other children, and this
pregnancy was not planned:' Erika Jones
said. "They were very poor."
The Joneses and their daughter's birth
parents first met "at a restaurant in the
middle of nowhere" when the birth mom
was three months pregnant, Jones said.
The two couples connected immediately.
"It was a match made in heaven:'
The Joneses went to every doctor's
appointment with the birth mom, and
they were present when Samantha was
born on Dec. 26, 2012. Rick cut the umbil-
ical cord.
Like many private adoptions, theirs is
an open adoption, where the birth family
continues to be involved with the child.
"They are good people who found
themselves in horrid circumstances:' Jones
said. "We text and talk frequently, and
we see them twice a year. Our daughter
knows who they are, and she's happy to
see them:'
The Joneses want another child.
Samantha's birth mother wanted to bear it
for them, but her health will not permit it.
They considered adopting from foster
care, especially since Erika Jones now
works for a child welfare agency and can
see the tremendous need. But she wanted
Samantha to be the big sister. It's not that
easy to adopt a healthy infant from foster
care, and she didn't want anyone to think
her position at the Judson Center gave
her any advantage over other prospective
adoptive mothers.
So the Joneses are back on the private
adoption list, hoping another birth mother
will choose them.

Forever Families on page 12

o adopt from another
country, you must sign
on with an agency that
handles international adoption and
pay their fees. If that agency is not
in Michigan, you need to work with
a local agency to do a home study.
The child's country of origin charges
fees for handling the adoption, which
vary widely. And international travel
and the cost of staying in another
country for at least several weeks can
be expensive. The total cost can easily
be more than $25,000.
The big expenses in private
domestic adoptions are the agency
and home study fees and the birth
mother's expenses. The adopting par-
ents pay the birth mother's medical
expenses and related costs. For birth
mothers with few resources, the bud-
get might also include rent, utilities
and food.
It's possible to adopt a child from
another state, but such adoptions
usually involve working with attor-
neys, and the total cost can be twice
as much as an in-state adoption, said
Cathy Eisenberg of Child & Parent
Services in Bingham Farms.
Eisenberg said in-state adoptions
through her agency cost an average
of $16,000 to $20,000, while out-of-
state adoptions can cost as much as
$40,000.
Adopting a child from foster care
is the least costly option because
the state covers almost all the costs,
including agency and home study
fees. In many cases, the state will
cover the cost of medical care and
therapy for children with special
needs.
There is a one-time federal tax
credit for adopting. For 2014, the
credit is $13,190 per child. Whether
a family can claim a full or partial
credit depends on their income and
their tax liability.

❑

– Barbara Lewis

