It is hard to make hard and fast distinctions between adopting through an adoption agency and adopting through an adoption attorney because there is a great deal of variation amongst adoption agencies and amongst adoption lawyers. Some agencies provide few of the resources expected of adoption agencies, while some attorneys provide more. There are some general distinctions and what follows applies to the typical, not the exceptions.

1. 1. In a typical independent adoption, the prospective parents take an active role in finding a birthmother, usually by networking, advertising, or by using the Internet. While adoptive parents may choose to do this in an adoption agency adoption, they may have the option of letting the adoption agency do this for them.
   2. In some states (in some circumstances) infants adopted through an adoption agency must first go to a foster home before being placed with their adoptive parents.
   3. Adoption agencies can handle infant domestic adoption, international adoptions, and foster care adoptions, and sometimes all three at the same agency. Adoption attorneys usually only handle independent domestic infant adoptions through birth parent relinquishment.
   4. Not all states allow adoption lawyers to help adoptive parents locate and screen expectant women who are considering placing their child for adoption.
   5. Usually, the expectant woman or birthmother selects the adoptive family in both adoption agency adoptions and independent adoption attorney adoptions, but sometimes in an agency adoption, the agency will choose if the birth mother does not want to. This seldom happens with adoptions through adoption lawyers.
   6. As a general rule, adoption lawyers have fewer restrictions for adoptive parents (age, marital status, sexual orientation, number of divorces, religion), although it restrictions depend upon the agency and not all agencies have them.
   7. Adoption lawyers often do not have and do not require the same level of pre-adoption education as most adoption agencies. (I believe all adoptive parents should be well educated on the adoption and adoptive parenting before the adoption.)
   8. Most adoption agencies provide counseling to the expectant woman and the father and even her extended family throughout the pregnancy and after the adoption. Few adoption lawyers provide counseling as part of their service, although they should be able to refer the expectant woman to a counselor and bill the adoptive parents.
   9. Most adoption attorneys do not provide ongoing support for adoptive families after the adoption has been finalized, although some are able to refer families to a therapist specializing in adoption issues or other resources. Not all adoption agencies have post-adoption support, but many do and adoptive parents can choose to select one that provides this service.
   10. It is possible to find an adoption agency that charges on a sliding fee scale or does not charge birth mother medical expenses directly to the adoptive family, thus saving the adoptive family money. These payment options are seldom available with independent adoptions via an adoption attorney. The average cost for adoptions, however, is about the same regardless of whether you adopt through an adoption agency or lawyer, especially if you pay extra for some of the services we think are essential when adopting through an attorney.