How to Start an Adoption Process: Paths, Home Study, and Costs

To start the adoption process, choose one of three paths — domestic infant, foster care, or international adoption — then gather your personal documents and complete a home study with a licensed social worker. From first inquiry to a judge signing the final decree, most families spend one to three years working through the stages below. Every adoption, regardless of path, ends with a court order, because only a judge can legally transfer parental rights.

Pick the Path That Fits Your Family

The path you choose shapes everything that follows: the wait, the cost, the age of the child, and which laws apply. Decide early.

Domestic Infant Adoption

This path places a newborn or very young child with you through a licensed private agency or an independent arrangement handled by an attorney. The birth parent voluntarily consents, and a court terminates their parental rights. Expect the longest wait for a match and the highest out-of-pocket costs: private agency adoptions commonly run $30,000 to $60,000, while independent attorney-facilitated adoptions range from $25,000 to $45,000.¹

Foster Care Adoption

Foster care adoption involves a child already in state custody whose biological parents have had their rights terminated, usually because of abuse or neglect. Adopting through the public child welfare system is virtually free, and children may qualify for ongoing state or federal adoption assistance payments.² Children available this way tend to be older, and sibling groups and children with medical or developmental needs are common. For families open to those placements, the path moves faster and costs far less than the private route.

International Adoption

International adoption requires compliance with U.S. federal law and the laws of the child’s country of origin. For countries that have ratified it, the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption sets the safeguards.³ The Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 implements the Convention in the United States and requires families to work with an accredited adoption service provider.⁴

Children adopted abroad typically enter the country on an IH-3 or IR-3 immigrant visa, depending on whether the child’s country participates in the Hague Convention. A child admitted on either visa who resides in a U.S. citizen parent’s legal and physical custody generally becomes a citizen automatically under the Child Citizenship Act.⁵ Many families also complete a “re-adoption” in their home state’s court to secure a state-issued birth certificate and firmly establish the parent-child relationship under domestic law. International adoption costs typically run $20,000 to $50,000.

Gather Your Documents Early

Before any agency or attorney can move forward with you, you need a documentation package that proves identity, financial stability, health, and living situation. Pulling these together before you start saves weeks of delay later.

Certified copies of birth certificates for all applicants, plus marriage licenses or divorce decrees to establish current marital status.
Recent federal tax returns and W-2s, a financial statement listing assets like real estate, savings, and retirement accounts, and a breakdown of monthly expenses and debts. The point is to show you can support a child, not that you’re wealthy.
A physical examination completed within the past 12 months for every adult in the household, plus tuberculosis tests for all household members. Forms typically cover immunizations, mental health history, and chronic conditions.⁶
Three or four personal references who are not related to you and can speak to your character, emotional maturity, and experience with children.⁶
A detailed work history, including employer names, addresses, and dates.
A deed or signed lease plus homeowner’s or renter’s insurance. If your home has a private well or septic system, you may need recent inspection reports.

Complete the Home Study

The home study is the part that makes people nervous, but it is less of a white-glove inspection and more of an extended conversation. A licensed social worker evaluates your home, your background, and your readiness to parent. The full process typically takes three to six months.⁶ Private agencies generally charge $1,500 to $4,500 for the home study portion; state foster care home studies are typically free.

Background Checks

Every prospective adoptive parent undergoes criminal background checks, including fingerprint-based checks of national crime information databases. Federal law requires these before any parent can be approved for placement, regardless of whether the family will receive adoption assistance payments. A felony conviction for child abuse, any crime against children, sexual assault, or homicide permanently disqualifies a prospective parent. A felony conviction for physical assault, battery, or a drug-related offense within the past five years also bars approval.⁷

States must also check their child abuse and neglect registries for every prospective parent and every other adult living in the home, and must request registry checks from any state where those adults have lived during the preceding five years.⁷ If you have moved often, expect this step to take extra time.

Home Safety Inspection

The social worker walks through your home to confirm it meets basic safety standards. Requirements vary by state, but the common checklist includes working smoke detectors on every level and near sleeping areas, carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers with current expiration dates, and firearms stored locked with ammunition stored separately. Medications, cleaning supplies, and other hazards need to be kept where children cannot reach them. Pools generally require a four-foot fence with a self-closing, self-latching gate. Heating and cooling systems must be functional, and the child needs a separate bed and storage space.

Interviews and Autobiography

You will sit through both joint and individual interviews with the social worker, covering your upbringing, relationship history, how you handle conflict, your parenting philosophy, and your support network. A spouse or partner will be interviewed separately as well as together.⁶ Most agencies also ask each applicant to write an autobiographical statement covering your childhood, the parenting styles you grew up with, your education and career, and the values you plan to bring to raising a child. Be honest about past challenges. Social workers are looking for self-awareness and emotional readiness, not a perfect life story.

Complete Required Training

Most states require prospective adoptive parents to complete a training program before approval. Programs go by different names (MAPP, PRIDE, and state-specific variants are the most common), but they share a core curriculum: how abuse and neglect affect children, recognizing grief and attachment issues, trauma-aware behavior management, and evaluating whether adoption is the right fit for your family. Training typically runs 20 to 30 hours across several sessions, and some states require additional hours specifically for adoptive (as opposed to foster) parents. Missing sessions usually means starting over, so commit the time upfront.

Plan for the Costs

Adoption costs vary enormously by path. Foster care is essentially free; private domestic agency adoptions commonly cost $30,000 to $60,000; independent attorney adoptions run $25,000 to $45,000; and international adoptions average $20,000 to $50,000.¹ Those figures cover agency fees, attorney fees, court costs, travel, and birth-parent expenses where applicable.

Two federal programs help offset the bill. The federal adoption tax credit lets you claim qualifying adoption expenses up to a per-child cap that adjusts annually for inflation; for the 2025 tax year, the cap is $17,280 per eligible child. Qualifying expenses include adoption fees, attorney fees, court costs, and travel including meals and lodging. Beginning with tax year 2025, up to $5,000 of the credit is refundable. If your employer offers a written adoption assistance program, you can exclude up to $17,280 in employer-paid adoption benefits from your income on top of the credit itself.⁸ Costs to adopt a spouse’s child, surrogacy expenses, and anything reimbursed by an employer or government program do not qualify.

Families who adopt children with special needs from foster care may also qualify for ongoing monthly adoption assistance under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. The monthly amount is negotiated individually but cannot exceed what the state would have paid for the child in foster care, and Title IV-E also covers nonrecurring adoption expenses such as attorney fees and court costs tied to the legal adoption.⁹

Know the Rules That Can Reshape Your Case

Three sets of rules can change your timeline or your eligibility before you ever reach a match. Flag any of them with your attorney or agency at the start.

Birth Parent Consent

No voluntary adoption can proceed without the legal consent of the birth parents, and state law controls how and when it is obtained. Most states require written consent signed before a judge or notary public. About 15 states allow a birth parent to consent immediately after the child’s birth; the rest impose a waiting period, usually from 12 hours to 15 days, with three days the most common. Once given, consent is generally irrevocable, though some states permit revocation within a narrow window or on grounds like fraud or coercion. A flawed consent is the single fastest way for a finalized adoption to unravel, so an attorney should walk you through your state’s rules in detail.

About 33 states maintain a putative father registry, which lets a man who believes he may be a child’s biological father register and receive notice of any adoption proceeding. If he does not register within the required timeframe (often 30 days after birth), he may lose the right to contest the adoption.

The Indian Child Welfare Act

If the child being adopted is or may be a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe, the Indian Child Welfare Act imposes strict additional requirements that override standard state procedures. The party seeking the adoption must notify the child’s tribe by registered mail with return receipt requested. No proceedings can be held until at least ten days after the tribe receives notice, and the tribe can request up to 20 additional days to prepare.

ICWA also establishes placement preferences. In any adoptive placement of an Indian child, the court must give preference first to a member of the child’s extended family, then to other members of the child’s tribe, and then to other Indian families, unless good cause exists to deviate. A tribe can establish a different order by resolution, and the court must follow it.¹⁰ Failing to follow ICWA can result in the adoption being vacated, even years later. If there is any possibility that a child has tribal heritage, raise it with your agency or attorney immediately.

Adopting Across State Lines

When a child and prospective parents live in different states, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children applies. The ICPC is a statutory agreement among all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands that governs out-of-state placements.¹¹ A caseworker in the sending state prepares a packet with the child’s social, medical, and educational history. The packet travels through both states’ central ICPC offices, and the receiving state conducts its own home study and background screening. Federal law requires the receiving state to complete the home study and return a written report within 60 calendar days. No child can legally cross state lines for adoption until both states sign off.

Wait for a Match

Once your home study is approved and your documentation is complete, you enter the active waiting phase. Approved families go into a centralized matching system that caseworkers use to find compatible homes. In domestic infant adoption, the birth mother often selects the adoptive family from a pool of profiles; in foster care, the caseworker identifies the best available match based on the child’s needs and the family’s strengths.

During the wait, keep every document current. Home studies have expiration dates. For international adoptions processed through USCIS, the home study cannot be more than six months old at the time of submission.¹² Domestic home studies may remain valid for one to three years depending on state rules. If yours expires before a match, you will need to pay for an update. Background clearances also expire. Your agency should give you a renewal checklist, but track the dates yourself; agencies handle hundreds of families and things slip through.

Post-Placement Visits and Finalization

A match does not end the process. After the child moves into your home, a social worker conducts post-placement visits to observe how the family is adjusting. Most states require about three visits, typically monthly, over roughly six months before finalization. Younger children or older children with complex needs may require more frequent contact. The social worker’s progress reports go directly to the court.

The finalization hearing generally takes place three to nine months after placement. The judge reviews the post-placement reports, confirms that all legal requirements have been met, and asks whether you are prepared to love and provide for the child. The hearing is usually short. Some judges issue the decree without requiring an appearance; others hold a courtroom celebration with family, friends, and cameras.¹³ The judge signs the final decree, and the child is legally yours.

After the Decree

The court sends the adoption decree to the vital records office in the state where the child was born, which issues an amended birth certificate listing the adoptive parents’ names in place of the biological parents’ names. The child’s name changes on the certificate if you requested it. For international adoptions, many states issue a certificate of identification for a foreign-born child rather than a standard birth certificate.

You will also apply for a new Social Security number or card. The Social Security Administration accepts a final adoption decree as proof of both age and identity. Submit Form SS-5 with the original decree, not a photocopy, and your own identification. If the child is 12 or older and has never had a Social Security number, you must apply in person.¹⁴

Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, eligible employees can take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for the placement of a child for adoption. The leave must be taken within one year of placement.¹⁵ To qualify, you must have worked for a covered employer for at least 12 months, logged at least 1,250 hours during the preceding year, and work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.¹⁶ Your employer must maintain your group health benefits during the leave on the same terms as if you were still working. Some employers offer additional paid adoption leave or reimbursement, so check your benefits handbook before you start the process; those benefits sometimes need to be pre-approved.

1
GovInfo. Planning for Adoption: Knowing the Costs and Resources
2
AdoptUSKids. What Does It Cost?
3
Hague Conference on Private International Law. Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 14901 – Findings and Purposes
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Your New Child’s Immigrant Visa
6
AdoptUSKids. Completing a Home Study
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 671 – State Plan for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance
8
Internal Revenue Service. Adoption Credit
9
Social Security Administration. Social Security Act Section 473
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 25 USC 1915 – Placement of Indian Children
11
Office of Justice Programs. Guide to the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 4 – Home Studies
13
AdoptUSKids. Finalizing an Adoption
14
Social Security Administration. Application for a Social Security Card
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 US Code 2612 – Leave Requirement
16
U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act