and moratoriums happening with little or no notice, be very clear with the agency on alternatives and refund policies should this occur. 

13c. If the agency is essentially a one-man operation, you should also be clear on what plans are in place should the primary contact have a personal, family or medical situation arise where he or she can no longer perform his or her functions.  Find out what contingency plans exist and who will take over should this occur.  There have been cases where a one-man agency or its programs deteriorate rapidly because such events occurred and there was no back-up plan in place.

13d. Ask to see a copy of the agency's audited financial statement.  This is so you can see if the agency is in good financial standings and is financially stable.  You don't want an agency that goes out of business while you are in the middle of an adoption with them. 

14. Try to work with people who are paid fees for services rather than on a contingency basis. Adoption workers paid on contingency have the income incentive for volume and quick adoption completions, similar to a commission for completed, delivered deals. Service may suffer under this kind of plan.

15. Try to get an itemized breakdown of where the foreign fees go and try to confirm that in the foreign country. What you are trying to learn is if the agency is marking-up and keeping the difference between actual foreign fees and what they charge you, or enagaging in unethical practices, without disclosing this to you.  Another consideration here is that you want to know where every penny of your adoption money goes so that you can be assured that things like corruption, baby-buying and profiteering were not part of your adoption process.  This is what is mean when your hear terminology that references a "transparent" process. 

16. In cases and countries where the biological mother is identified, ask the agency what kind of counseling and support their program offers to biological mothers. The answer may help reveal the agency's commitment to fair and ethical practices. Additionally, the level of service provided a biological mother, along with the level of service provided a child in an orphanage or foster care, should be a reflection of the level of service provided an adoptive family.

17. The greatest number of complaints against adoption agencies concerns the placement of children with undisclosed special medical and psychological issues. Placing a child with these kinds of issues in a family that is unequipped emotionally, physically and financially to handle them, along with being uneducated and untrained about these issues, will often tear apart the family and further damage the child.