I adopted my son in '74 and my daughter in '78. The cost to me, for lawyer's fees, was $250 and $500, respectively. Even then adoptive children were "scarce". It seems to have gotten exponentially more difficult to adopt. I think the "white" baby adoptive cost may be skewed because many of these are now international adoptions from Eastern Europe (my perception from knowing what a couple of young women who worked for me had to go through).
“It seems to have gotten exponentially more difficult to adopt.”
Not really. Adopting can be a quick process that doesn’t cost anything past court fees. If you want a black American baby, you can get one today and legally complete the adoption process within 90 days.
If you want a white American baby, it can take years to find one and many months of negotiation, I mean regulatory compliance, to legally complete the adoption.