Domestic and international adoptions require time, money, patience

CEDAR RAPIDS - Just stepping inside the LaGrange home in Cedar Rapids tells a person that little kids are not far off.

“It can be crazy,” admits Erin LaGrange as she sits on a couch with Emily, 5, perched nearby.

Erin and her husband, Aaron, have been through the domestic adoption process three times. They brought home Emily in late 2004, when she was 2 days old. Since then, they've added two boys - Augustine, now 3, and Isaac, now 1.

Aaron LaGrange said when he and his wife decided the time was right to add to their family, they sought information on the Internet.

“Looking this up made us more comfortable with the process,” he said.

He said one particular site, American Adoptions, was extremely useful.

Sarah Hofland of the New Horizons Adoption Agency in Cedar Rapids said people interested in adopting a child should gather as much information as they can. Prospective parents have many decisions to make, such as the age and ethnicity of the child they'd like to adopt.

“Sometimes you find the perfect family that fits perfectly,” Hofland said.

Adoptive parents also must choose between domestic and international adoption. The 60 to 80 adoptions Horizons facilitates each year are split about evenly between children born in the United States and those born elsewhere.

“It depends on the person and what they want to go through,” Hofland said.

International adoptions are usually more expensive. Some countries require prospective parents to make several trips there. In some cases, such as after the earthquake in Haiti, the process can be speeded up.

But whether parents are looking within the U.S. or abroad, it costs money to adopt a child.

Placement fees for domestic adoptions range from $15,000 to $20,000, Hofland said. Costs can be cut if people first become foster parents.

It takes a year and a half to two years to complete most domestic adoptions, Hofland said, but prospective parents open to adopting minority children, siblings, older children or children with special needs can obtain placements more quickly.

Domestically, adoptive parents can bring a child home several days after birth. Internationally, it is rare to adopt an infant.

A single parent or one older than 40 or 50 can have more difficulty adopting, Hofland said.

Another factor in deciding whether to adopt domestically or internationally is the amount of contact the parents want with the child's birthparents.

With domestic adoptions, a birth mother can change her mind and choose to keep her child. In most international adoptions, children are already in orphanages - making it difficult, if not impossible, to track birthparents.

Aaron LaGrange recommends people see the adoption process as a triangle, with the child, the biological parents and the adopting parents each playing their role.

For example, he understands the need to complete extensive paperwork and background checks.

“By going through all of that, you know that you are making the birthparents comfortable that you are placing them in a stable environment,” he said. “The birthparents are looking for the best place for the child. You are actually working together as a team.”

-By Chris Earl, KCRG-TV9

Angela Holmes of The Gazette contributed to this story