How to Adopt a Child in Washington State: Home Study and Costs

To adopt a child in Washington State, you must be at least 18 and legally competent, complete a court-approved home study, obtain the birth parents’ consent or a court order terminating their parental rights, and then file a petition in superior court where a judge will finalize the adoption. The process runs anywhere from a few months to well over a year, and costs range from nearly nothing through foster care to $75,000 or more through a private agency. The path you choose shapes almost everything that follows.

Who Can Adopt

Washington’s rule is short: any legally competent adult who is at least 18 may adopt.¹ The statute does not restrict adoption based on marital status, gender, or sexual orientation, so single people, unmarried couples, and LGBTQ+ individuals are all eligible.²

If you are married, your spouse must join the petition.³ The practical exception is stepparent adoption, where one spouse is already the child’s biological parent.

Pick the Type of Adoption

How you adopt affects your cost, your timeline, and which agencies or professionals you’ll deal with.

Foster care adoption. Children whose birth families cannot take them back become available for adoption through the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). This is the least expensive route; DCYF covers most costs and may pay ongoing support after finalization.
Private agency adoption. Licensed agencies place children, most often infants, matched with prospective parents. Combined fees typically run $30,000 to $75,000 once you add agency fees, legal costs, and allowable birth parent expenses.
Independent adoption. Birth parents and adoptive parents connect directly. You still need a court-approved home study and full legal finalization, but you avoid agency placement fees.
Stepparent or relative adoption. A streamlined version of the standard process when the adopting adult is already close to the child.
International adoption. You must satisfy U.S. immigration law and the laws of the child’s home country. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approves the prospective parents and determines the child’s eligibility to immigrate.⁴

Complete a Home Study

Every Washington adoption requires a preplacement report, usually called a home study, and no petition can move forward without one.⁵ A licensed agency, DCYF, or a court-approved individual can prepare it.

The report evaluates your home, family life, health, finances, and readiness to parent. The evaluator must meet with you in person at least three times: an individual interview with each member of the household, including any children; a joint interview if there are two parents; and an on-site visit to your home.⁶

The evaluator is also required to talk with you about the lifelong nature of adoption, how adopted children may experience loss or identity questions, the importance of telling the child they are adopted, how to handle questions about birth parents, and the child’s racial, ethnic, and cultural heritage.⁵

Background Checks

Background checks are built in. Washington requires a fingerprint-based check of state and national criminal databases through the Washington State Patrol, plus a review of child abuse and neglect registries in every state where any adult in your household has lived in the past five years.⁵ These apply to every adult in the home, not just the petitioning parents.

What the Home Study Costs

DCYF conducts the home study at no cost for foster care adoptions. For private or independent adoptions, a licensed agency or approved individual will charge roughly $1,000 to $5,000 depending on the provider.

Consent or Termination of Parental Rights

Before any adoption can proceed, the birth parents must either consent in writing or have their parental rights terminated by a court. This is where adoptions most often stall.

Voluntary consent is filed with the adoption petition.³ Consent stays revocable up until the moment a judge approves it at a hearing.⁷ A birth parent can change their mind during that entire window, which matters especially in private and independent adoptions where you’re in direct contact with the birth family.

If a birth parent does not consent, the court can terminate parental rights involuntarily. A termination hearing cannot happen sooner than 48 hours after the child’s birth. If the Indian Child Welfare Act applies, the earliest a termination hearing can be held is 10 days after birth, with a possible 20-day extension.⁸ A nonconsenting parent who fails to respond to the termination petition within 20 days of being served (30 if served outside Washington) can have their rights terminated by default.

If the Child Is a Member of a Tribe

If the child is a member of, or eligible for membership in, a federally recognized tribe, the Indian Child Welfare Act applies. The adoption petition must say so.³ Federal law then sets a placement preference: first extended family, then other members of the child’s tribe, then other Indian families. A tribe can adopt a different order by resolution, and courts must follow it.⁹ ICWA cases also involve longer timelines and additional notice to the tribe.

Placement and Post-Placement Supervision

Once your home study is approved and a match has been identified, the child is placed in your home. A social worker then visits during a post-placement supervision period to observe how the child is adjusting and confirm the placement is working. These visits continue until the court is satisfied the adoption should be finalized.

File the Petition and Finalize in Court

Finalization is the court proceeding that legally makes you the child’s parent. File a Petition for Adoption in the superior court of the county where you or the child lives. The petition must include identifying information about you and the child, written consent from the birth parents or proof that their rights were terminated, and the completed preplacement report if it hasn’t already been filed.³

A judge reviews the preplacement and post-placement reports, confirms every legal requirement has been met, and decides whether the adoption is in the child’s best interests. Expect questions about your understanding of what adoption means. If everything is in order, the judge issues a final Order of Adoption. The child then has the same legal status as a biological child, and the birth parents’ legal relationship to the child ends entirely.

Getting a New Birth Certificate

You can get a new birth certificate showing the child’s new name and your names as parents, but it does not issue automatically. Submit an application to the state registrar with a certified copy of the adoption decree and the applicable fees.¹⁰ For a child born outside the United States and adopted in a Washington court, the registrar can create a Washington birth registration using the decree and documentation of the child’s birthdate and birthplace.

What It Costs, and What Help Is Available

Costs depend almost entirely on the type of adoption. Foster care adoptions are designed to be affordable: DCYF handles most of the process at no charge, and families adopting a child with special needs from foster care can be reimbursed up to $1,500 per child for out-of-pocket costs like attorney fees and medical co-pays.¹¹ Private domestic adoptions run roughly $30,000 to $75,000 once agency fees, legal costs, and birth parent expenses are combined. International adoptions land in a similar range or higher after travel, immigration processing, and foreign legal fees.

Ongoing Adoption Support

If you adopt a child with special needs through foster care, you may qualify for monthly cash assistance through DCYF’s Adoption Support Program. The amount is negotiated with DCYF based on the child’s needs and is capped at a percentage of the foster care maintenance payment: 80% for children adopted at ages 0 to 4, 90% for ages 5 to 9, and 95% for youth ages 10 to 18.¹² Payments can continue until the child turns 18.

Federal Adoption Tax Credit

Federal tax law provides a credit for qualified adoption expenses, including agency fees, attorney fees, court costs, and travel. The base credit is $10,000 per child, adjusted for inflation, which has brought the maximum to roughly $17,280 to $17,670 in recent tax years.¹³ The credit phases out at higher incomes, starting at a modified adjusted gross income of about $265,000 and disappearing around $305,000. Families adopting a child with special needs can claim the full credit amount regardless of actual expenses.

Starting with the 2026 tax year, up to $5,000 of the credit becomes refundable.¹³ Before that change, the credit could only zero out your tax bill; it could not generate a refund. Families with lower tax liability will be able to receive up to $5,000 back even if they owe less than the full credit amount.

Open Adoption Agreements

Washington law lets birth parents and adoptive parents agree in advance to ongoing communication or contact between the child and the birth family after finalization. These agreements are enforceable only if their terms are written into a court order, and the court will approve one only if the contact is in the child’s best interests.¹⁴

Once entered, either party can return to court to enforce the order, with attorney fees available to the prevailing party. A court can hold an adoptive parent in contempt for refusing to comply. But a violation of an open adoption agreement can never undo the adoption itself.¹⁴ The adoption remains permanent. The court can modify or end the agreement if circumstances change.

Adding Your Child to Health Insurance

An adoption triggers a Special Enrollment Period, so you can add the child to your plan outside open enrollment. You have 60 days from the date of the adoption, and coverage can start retroactive to the day the adoption became final.¹⁵ Miss the 60-day window and you may have to wait until the next open enrollment. Employer-sponsored plans follow similar federal rules, so notify your benefits department right after finalization.

1
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Laws and Requirements
2
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 26.33.140 – Who May Adopt or Be Adopted
3
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 26.33.150 – Petition for Adoption Filing Contents Preplacement Report Required
4
Department of Homeland Security. Adopt a Child Internationally
5
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 26.33.190 – Preplacement Report Requirements Fees
6
Legal Information Institute. Washington Code WAC 388-147-1695 – What Must I Include in an Adoption Home Study
7
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 26.33.160 – Consent to Adoption When Revocable Procedure
8
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 26.33.110 – Petition for Termination Time and Place of Hearing
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 25 USC 1915 – Placement of Indian Children
10
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 70.58A.400 – Adoption Amendment of Birth Record
11
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Cost
12
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Benefits of the Adoption Support Program
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 23 – Adoption Expenses
14
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 26.33.295 – Open Adoption Agreements
15
HealthCare.gov. Getting Health Coverage Outside Open Enrollment