Amounts can vary from agency to agency, program to program and country to country.
Here's a rundown of what the Trottiers paid for adopting their two children:
Agency fee: $4,000
Child referral fee: $7,000
(paid before first trip to Russia)
Country adoption fee: $6,000
(paid before second trip to Russia)
Additional child fee: $12,000
(if you adopt a second child on the same trip)
Additional sibling fee: $3,500 (if you adopt a second sibling on the same trip)
Minimum adoption agency fees to adopt one child: $17,000
Other fees
BCIS processing fee: $455
Apostilling documents: $200-$400
(this takes dozens of hours) [The Trottiers had to pay $1,200 due to the amount of documents they had to apostille]
Visas for traveling to Russia twice: $1,240
Child's U.S. visas: $325
Child's medical in Moscow: $70 (required by BCIS)
Roundtrip airfare per person: $900-$2,500
(it can go higher, even $7,000, because the agency gives individuals little time to plan for the trip)
Hotel in Moscow: $70-$200
(does not include taxes)
Hotel or hostel in city of adoption: $40-$120
Food: $30-$70 a day
Interpreter, translator (of documents) and driver: $10 an hour each ($500-$800 a week)
Gifts to orphanage, officials, etc: $300
Total: $27,600
According to Dave Trottier, Russia is working on a law that will allow individuals to adopt in one trip. However, the individual may have to spend more than three weeks in Russia.
The referral comes in the form of a photo, brief video and a brief medical report sent to adoptive families. Russia is looking to change that and go to a blind adoption system — adoptive families won't see any children until they get to Russia.