I say this as someone who is just overall uncomfortable and frankly disapproving of the "spend fifty grand to create genetic offspring because if we adopt it won't be Our Real Child" norm that this is a part of
This is a myth, and has been for a long time now. Adoption is a great deal more expensive and arduous than fertility treatments in most places, and it's orders of magnitude more expensive than simple sperm donation/artificial insemination. In many countries with universal health care coverage, more expensive procedures like IVF and ICSI are covered (and thus free) and in some states coverage is mandated for private insurers, whereas adoption can run $10-15K in fees for a public adoption and $30-50K for a private adoption. Not to mention the fact that the waiting lists for adoption in many places are enormous (where I live four-five years is normal) during which time parents may age out of eligibility, or may be ineligible to adopt in the first place because they have a criminal record, etc. Compared to the less than $1K it costs for artificial insemination (For example - http://www.victoriafertility.com/fees/ - IUI - $450 + $300 handling and storage fee + $150-450 sperm) and the lack of eligibility requirements, assuming one can "just adopt" as a viable alternative comes from a place of enormous privilege.
no subject
This is a myth, and has been for a long time now. Adoption is a great deal more expensive and arduous than fertility treatments in most places, and it's orders of magnitude more expensive than simple sperm donation/artificial insemination. In many countries with universal health care coverage, more expensive procedures like IVF and ICSI are covered (and thus free) and in some states coverage is mandated for private insurers, whereas adoption can run $10-15K in fees for a public adoption and $30-50K for a private adoption. Not to mention the fact that the waiting lists for adoption in many places are enormous (where I live four-five years is normal) during which time parents may age out of eligibility, or may be ineligible to adopt in the first place because they have a criminal record, etc. Compared to the less than $1K it costs for artificial insemination (For example - http://www.victoriafertility.com/fees/ - IUI - $450 + $300 handling and storage fee + $150-450 sperm) and the lack of eligibility requirements, assuming one can "just adopt" as a viable alternative comes from a place of enormous privilege.