10 U.S.C. § 1052 — Adoption expenses: reimbursement

(a) The Secretary of Defense must run a program that may reimburse an armed-forces member for qualifying expenses incurred adopting a child under 18.
(b) Covered adoptions include adoption by one person, infant adoption, intercountry adoption, and adoption of a child with special needs. This section does not define “special needs”; it refers to 42 U.S.C. 673(c).
(c) Payment may occur only after the adoption is final.
(d) No payment may cover an expense paid under another Federal, State, or local adoption-benefits program.
(e)(1) No more than $2,000 may be paid for one child’s adoption to one member or to two spouses who are members. (2) No more than $5,000 may be paid in one calendar year for adoptions by that member or those spouses.
(f) The Secretary must issue regulations.
(g)(1) “Qualifying adoption expenses” means reasonable and necessary expenses directly related to legally adopting a child under 18, if a qualified adoption agency or other source authorized by State or local law arranged the adoption. It excludes the adopting parent’s travel expenses and expenses connected with an adoption violating Federal, State, or local law.
(2) “Reasonable and necessary expenses” includes public or private agency fees (including foreign-agency fees), placement and adoptive-parent counseling fees, legal fees and court costs for services unavailable under 10 U.S.C. 1044 or 1044a, and medical expenses including hospital expenses of the biological mother and newborn infant.
(3) “Qualified adoption agency” means (A) a State or local agency responsible under its law for adoption placement; (B) a nonprofit voluntary agency authorized by State or local law; (C) another State-authorized placement source when a court supervises the adoption; or (D) a foreign government or its authorized agency when (i) the child automatically qualifies for citizenship under 8 U.S.C. 1431 or (ii) the child has a citizenship certificate under 8 U.S.C. 1433.