Best Adoption Agencies of 2023

Dr. Judith Eckerle, a pediatrician and director of the Adoption Medicine Clinic at the University of Minnesota Medical School, says one of her top picks is the CHLSS for being "reputable and transparent."

The domestic infant program at CHLSS serves people living in Minnesota, Maryland, and Virginia, while its foster care adoption program only serves individuals living in Minnesota. Its international programs are open to U.S. citizens living across the country and abroad.

CHLSS works with the countries of Jamaica, St. Vincent, the Grenadines, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador, India, China, and South Korea. If you do not live in one of the states served, the agency can still assist you with placement from one of its international agencies while you work with a group licensed in your state.

When completing an international adoption, it’s not uncommon to use two agencies. Although its domestic program is limited to a handful of states, its overall approach to the adoption process and support for families is outstanding, which is why CHLSS is the best overall adoption agency.

For domestic infant adoption, costs can range from around $15,000 to $22,000, depending on the services you need. International adoption costs can range from about $7,000 to $26,000, depending on the country's program.

As one of the pioneers in adoption, Holt International is another one of Eckerle's favorites.

The agency is Hague-accredited and has child sponsorships in 11 countries: Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Haiti, Hong Kong, Korea, Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Holt also has multiple programs in place to support families abroad, with local services to assist with family preservation. Its website features a detailed parent eligibility page that lays out all the requirements for each country.

If you’re interested in adopting within the U.S., the domestic option has a unique foster-to-adopt program in the state of Oregon. If you live there, Holt will guide you through the home study and child-matching process for adoption from the foster care system. For families living in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, Holt offers direct infant domestic adoption services. Holt also works with families in other states by using a partner agency to provide your home study.

Costs for adoption range from around $17,000 to $37,000, depending on the country's program.

While a national agency may feel too big for some families, there are benefits to going this route. Lower wait times, more accurate estimates, 24/7 availability, better social work support, and more stability are just some of the benefits of choosing a national agency like American Adoptions.

In fact, it’s the lower wait times that make American Adoptions so popular. They advertise a nine- to 12-month wait for families from when they join the agency to when they hold their baby.

They also offer adoption disruption insurance, which refunds any lost fees directly back to you (i.e. if the matched birth mother decides to end her adoption plan with an adoptive family). In other words, they have the most secure refund policy.

Costs for adoption range from approximately $50,000 to $60,000.

Alliance for Children, based in Massachusetts, provides home study and post-placement services to families living in the states they are licensed, which include Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and Texas.

However, they can provide birth parents and adoption placement services to clients in all 50 states. Their domestic program does not discriminate on the basis of age (you must be at least 21), race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. And, they work with both single and married applicants.

Alliance for Children also has Hague-accredited international programs in Bulgaria, Columbia, Hungary, Romania, and Vietnam. Depending on the country you’re adopting from, the wait time can be anywhere between less than one year and up to five years, with Romania having the shortest wait time of three to six months.

Non-married women (of a certain age) are eligible to apply for adoption from Romania, Bulgaria, and Vietnam. Single applicants (no gender specified) can apply to the Colombia adoption program.

Alliance for Children's one downfall is the fees for domestic adoptions, costing thousands more than other affordable agencies. To get an approximate cost for domestic and international adoption, contact the agency.

Adoptions Together do require married couples to be married for one year or have been partnered and living together for two years. The minimum age to adopt is 25; if you are single and adopting an infant that is younger than six months of age, you must be 50 years old or younger, or as a couple, your combined age cannot exceed 100.

In addition to its platform of serving all families, Adoptions Together also offers a sliding scale for fees (in addition to the home study and training) that is based on your gross annual income. At this time, they are only able to work with families residing in the Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia region.

At Adoptions Together, costs are determined based on the aforementioned sliding scale and are based on your total gross income. In general, fees can range from about $17,000 to $35,000.

Gladney is a licensed home study provider to families living in Arkansas, Florida, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas. However, they are able to work with families residing in all states. If you do not reside in one of their home study states, you will be referred to a licensed home study provider in your state of residence.

One important thing to consider with Gladney’s domestic program is its all-inclusive fee, which is different from other agencies. It requires a payment of $55,000, payable in four installments, which covers everything during the adoption process.

Gladney’s International adoption program is Hague-accredited and works with China, Colombia, and Taiwan. Their third program, New Beginnings, connects families with children in the foster care system that are immediately available for adoption in the state of Texas.

Domestic adoptions are roughly $55,000, while international adoptions can range from about $27,000 to $32,000, depending on the country's program.

All of the infants and children that are part of this program are born in New York or New Jersey, and many have significant medical needs, including ones that require therapeutic or medical interventions. In general, Spence-Chapin is looking for loving families who are prepared and excited to adopt a child with special needs.

This program is open to families living in any state. That said, you do need a current home study written by a social worker at an accredited agency in your home state. Additionally, they facilitate international adoptions for families across the country and have placement programs in South Africa, Colombia, and Bulgaria.

Spence-Chapin also provides international home study services for families adopting from other countries such as China, Taiwan, Haiti, South Korea, and Jamaica. However, their full-service domestic infant adoption program is limited to families in New York and New Jersey. Spence-Chapin also received the “All Children—All Families” Innovator in LGBTQ+ Inclusion seal of approval for 2021, for being committed to equality in adoption.

Domestic infant adoption fees are roughly $51,000, while you'll need to contact the agency for more information on international adoption costs. All professional fees are waived for special needs adoptions, but you'll need to speak with the agency about any additional expenses related to home study, travel, post-placement reports, and adoption finalization.