The following questions will help you evaluate the services offered by potential adoption facilitators, adoption agencies or adoption lawyers.

GENERAL QUESTIONS TO GET YOU STARTED

Check to see that the adoption agency is registered with the Department of Social Services in your state.

Check with the Department of Social Services to see if there are any formal complaints on record against the agency.

Does the agency perform open adoptions? (Where the birth parents and adoptive parents might have limited contact and information.)

What are the itemized fees for services for the adoptive parents? What type of fee scale is used? Are there set fees with a contract?

What are the itemized birth parent fees (where applicable) that are the responsibility of the adoptive parents? Does the agency request additional moneys for "donations," legal costs or additional medical tests for the child?

What is an estimated cost for the entire adoption domestic or international including all fees, additional medical costs, lawyers, etc.

What are the agency's experience and statistics concerning adoption disruptions?

How much money is refundable if the adoption process is disrupted?

What services does the agency offer to prospective adoptive parents? Do the services offered differ with the type of adoption chosen (open, closed, domestic, and international)? Does the agency have pre-adoption and post-adoption support groups or post-adoption play groups or contacts for support?

What are the waiting periods for the initial interview, home study with a social worker, placement of a child, and finalizing the adoption process?

Does the agency provide the social worker and home study? If not, do they recommend services?

Are healthy children available right now? What are the ages of the children who are available? May you request a particular gender for adoption?

What other states and agencies will the chosen adoption agency work with if any?

What restrictions are placed on potential adoptive parents? (Age, education, religion, race, physical challenges, chronic illness, etc.

Will the agency work with families who already have a biological, adopted or stepchild or children at home?

What is the agency's philosophy on working parents? Smokers? Pets? Single parent families?

ADOPTION AGENCY QUESTIONS

What is the itemized cost of services? Is there a payment plan? If there is a disruption of the adoption process, what portion of the fee is if any?

How long has the identified/private adoption program been active? How many placements has the agency made in the last 12 months? Who locates and finds the birth parents? How long does it usually take?

What adoption agencies and what states do they use to find birth parents? Are search expenses billed to the client or shared by all agency clients attempting to do an identified adoption?

Is counseling required for birth parents? Who is the provider? Who pays for that service?

How often is the office/agency in contact with the birth parent? How are birth parents located?

What methods are used to locate the birth father? What are the legal requirements for conducting a birth parent search in the state where the birth father is believed to reside?

Is drug screening required for the birth mother/father?

Where is the birth mother sent for obstetrical care? Who monitors the birth mother's obstetrical care? Does the agency help the birth mother apply for Medicaid if she has no insurance? Who is responsible for additional medical costs if any are incurred?

Are legal contracts used for the birth mother, birth father, and prospective adoptive couples? (The agency should provide samples of all legal contracts for your review.)

If the adoption occurs in another state, what are the state adoption laws and interstate compact requirements concerning residency, and time periods for signing and revoking consents and terminating parental rights?

What amount of contact is required between the birth parents and the prospective adoptive parents? Can the adoptive parents decide about the amount of contact?

INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION

What is the current availability of children? What countries does the agency work with? How many children has the agency placed in the last year?

How are biological parental rights severed?

What is the average age of the child at placement and arrival?

What medical information is available on the child, and where is that information from? If additional medical tests are required, who is financially responsible for the tests?

At what point does the adoptive parent's financial responsibility begin?

Does the agency offer escort service to the US? If travel to a country is necessary, does the agency have representatives in that country to assist with the paperwork, courts, housing, etc.?

What is the average length of stay in the country? What is the average cost to stay in the country? Who provides travel arrangements, hotel rooms, transportation to court, etc.

QUESTIONS TO ASK AN ADOPTION LAWYER

Verify that the lawyer is licensed with the Department of Social Services or the Lawyer Regulation Unit in your state.

Ask the Department of Social Services and the Lawyer Regulation Unit if there are any pending or previous lawsuits against the attorney.

How long has the lawyer been working in the field of adoption and providing adoption services?

How many adoption cases has the lawyer processed within the last twelve months?

Does the lawyer have legal contacts in other states?

Are there clients who have used their legal services who are willing to speak with prospective adoptive parents?