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Mustard Seed Adoption Consultants, LLC is a consultant company who's sole ministry and mission is to advocate for Hopeful Adoptive Families as they answer the Lord's call to adoption! We feel that it is our purpose to help Christian families through the process of adoption by helping pair them with ethically vetted agencies, attorneys, and social workers who will connect them with expectant families and Home Study providers. We have lists of contacts ready to prepare for your family a home study, match you with an agency within your family's budget, help you with the expected financial costs through fundraising, financing options, grants, etc and help you meet with an agency who's ethics compliment our beliefs. We cannot wait to assist you as the Lord prepares your home for one of His precious children!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do we have to hire a consultant? Absolutely not. There is no law stating you have to hire an adoption consultant to successfully adopt. However many post-adoptive couples (like ourselves) wish they would have hired a consultant simply because it would have been so much easier, less time consuming, less stressful, cost less money overall, and because we can help you find joy in the journey. By hiring MSAC, your family's adoption profile has the ability to reach several adoption agencies, as opposed to one, using our "multiple-agency tactic." Without using a consultant, an adoptive family typically applies with one agency. That one agency uses its own attorney's and their own social workers to provide the home study. While this process works for thousands of adoptive families every year, it can be more costly and take longer to get a placement. In presenting your family profile to many different agencies, we lead with our best foot forward from day one, giving you and your finances the best possible outcome, in as little time as possible. We also consult with our agency and attorney partners to provide your family with as safe of a placement as possible. We also want to stand in the space of honoring these expectant women and their choice, while honoring your hearts along the way. We can also help you learn the risk factors in each adoption situation, so that these risks can be discussed with you properly, prior to presenting your family's profile to the agency, so your family can make a knowledge-based decision on what is best. We will always be your advocate. Often, adoptive couples who are adopting through agencies find themselves working with social workers and attorney's who haven't ever adopted themselves. As consultants like ourselves, who are also adoptive parents, we can help guide through experience and trial/error, as opposed to only knowing the legalities. Again, we will always be YOUR advocate.
How much does an adoption typically cost? With most situations costing around $53,000, an adoption typically ranges anywhere between $45,000-$65,000. Your total costs will depend directly on the expectant parent expenses, attorney expenses, legal fees, and finalization costs. For example, if an expectant mother decides early on in her pregnancy to place her child for adoption, the agency may help her with everyday living expenses, car expenses/travel expenses, rent/mortgage, groceries and utilities, etc. By the time she delivers, the agency may have spent an exceptional amount on her. These expenses are considered a gift to her, but the adoptive family inherits those costs. Should an expectant mother not need financial assistance in the above mentioned forms, or decide later on in her pregnancy that she cannot parent the child she is carrying, the agency may only accrue a few expenses. This would thankfully leave the adoptive family with a much less expensive adoption.
What are legal fees? Legal fees include, but are not limited to, the costs of applying within the agency (usually once you are matched with an expectant mother and are awaiting placement), the hourly rates expended by the attorney, costs to advertise for an expectant parent (typically an alleged father) in the newspaper or use or services to locate said expectant parent, counseling services for the biological parents both before and post-placement, the serving of paperwork such as a Termination of Parental Rights, which the expectant mother usually signs within 24-48 hours post-delivery, but before hospital discharge. (This depends on the hospital's policies) The Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC) fees and Finalization fees are often included in legal fees/attorney fees but simply asking the specific agency you're working with is the best way to solidify this concern.
What is ICPC? ICPC stands for the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children. This is a mandatory requirement in all 50 states (including the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia) that makes sure the placement of the adopted child is stable and safe to legally cross state lines. When a child is born in one state, but placed with a family who resides in a different state, ICPC must be granted for the family to return home. This process typically takes about 10-14 days after the baby has been discharged from the hospital. Situationally, some time frames may vary. (i.e. NICU births)
What types of expenses should we expect once we are en route to our baby? While the typical adoptive family returns home with their new baby 10-14 days upon hospital discharge, many expenses may accrue before you arrive back home. Depending on the exact situation, flights may be purchased ahead of time. For example, if a birth mother had a scheduled cesarean (c-section), the adoptive family generally purchases a flight as far out in advance as possible in order to keep costs at bay. Should an adoptive family be waiting for the expectant mother to go into active labor, the adoptive family may need to purchase last-minute flights to their destination. If within driving distance, adoptive families may choose this option to certainly help keep costs at a minimum (also factoring in gas, mileage, etc.). Depending on the hospital procedures, some adoptive families are allowed to stay on site with their new baby until discharge, but this depends on their policy. Also, a hotel or the like may be necessary while awaiting ICPC approval.
Do you help families in all states?
We currently do not serve adoptive families in New York or New Jersey.
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