Questions to ask a prospective adoption agency for domestic adoption:

• How long have you been in business?
• Are you a licensed agency?
• If no, what type of organization are you?
• Have you had any formal complaints against you with licensing, BBB or any other accredited agency?
• Do you complete just domestic adoption or international adoption as well?
• Can I see a copy of your contract?
• How many children did you place last year?
• Do you work with other agencies or facilitators to match your adoptive parents?  If so which ones?
• What is your estimated wait time for match and placement?
• (If single) Do you work with single parents?  If so, is the wait time longer?
• (If same-sex couple) Do you work with same-sex couples?  If so, is the wait time longer?
• How long does it take to complete the home study from start to finish?
• What are some things that would keep me from getting home study approval?
• What is the average cost of adoption through your agency?  What’s the range from lowest possible to highest possible?
• What is NOT included in the average cost estimated?
• What adoptive parents support services do you offer before and after placement?
• What support services for birth mothers do you offer before and after placement?
• Do you pay biological parent expenses?  If so, how much do they usually average and what’s the range?
• What is lost in the event of a failed adoption?
• How does your matching process work?  Are we on a “list” and shown by your discretion?  Or do we get to choose when our profile is submitted?
• What information do you require on a birthmother before matching her with a family?  (ie. Proof of pregnancy, meeting with an adoption professional, etc)
• What information is provided to me about the biological parent?
• What sort of “openness” do you encourage between adoptive parents and biological parents?
• Is counseling offered to biological parents?
• Do you help with financial assistance in raising the money for the cost of the adoption?
• What support services do I receive during the adoption?  How about the biological parent?
• Do you have clients I can speak with who have worked with your agency?