April 13, 2011

Fees that can really cost

There is troubling news out of Canada. Owners of Imagine Adoption have been charged with fraud. It is reported that 170 families gave this agency up to $20,000. As if $20,000 isn’t enough, when the agency needed a “bail-out” many of their adoptive families put up an additional $4000. Hoping, I am sure, to keep their adoption dreams alive. It is unbelievable that families paid up to $24,000 in some cases to be on a list. Yes, a list. Not after being matched with a birth mother or receiving a referral from a foreign country, the money was paid to put their name on a list. There are agencies out there that require a “down payment” or “partial payment.” There are also agencies, Abby’s One True Gift Adoptions to name one, that don’t require any fees to be on the “list.” In fact, we don’t even refer to it as a list. Technically it is a list of names, but the similarity ends there. Adoption is a challenging journey when it works let alone if the placement fails. To hear stories like this one are so maddening because it puts a black cloud over our industry. It makes us want to shout from the roof tops “YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY FEES UP FRONT!” Of course, you should know your agency, trust your agency and be comfortable with your agency, but if they are asking for thousands of dollars with the mere promise of a match or referral, pick up the phone and call someone else.