When adopting through a private agency, you are working with a birth family who has actively chosen to place their child for adoption, not a family who’s child/family is being monitored by a public welfare agency. A private agency may provide a bit more of a service and comfort level for families as they have an equal duty to both birth and adopting families. Often a public agency spends the first portion of its time with the foster family still attempting to reunify the child with his or her birth mother. There could be a chance in both cases that the adoption does not proceed- in a private adoption, the birth mother could change her mind; in a public adoption the child could be reunified with his or her parent. Cost can also be a factor as private agencies often cost more than adopting through the foster care system