Can someone tell me the process of adoption?

[mommiepoppins]

My dh and I would like to adopt a boy from anothor country . Can you tell me how to and the cost. How long dose it take? Thanks so much

 

[revrob]

It varies greatly depending upon the country. My DH and I just brought our daughter home from China. She was a waiting child so we did not have the long wait of referral (right now about 18-24 months). It still took us almost exactly a year to complete everything and get her home. Our total expense was right around $20,000 (including travel).

I would also like to recommend a message board that may be able to give you some help -

www.soulofadoption.com/forum

There are lots of different boards for different countries there. I'm sure they all could help you find the answers you're looking for. I'm also happy to answer any questions you may have about China, just PM me any time!

 

[TheRatPack]

Yea the cost varies greatly depending on country and what type of child you're adopting. Infants and preschool age children from any country usually take longer to adopt, and their cost are a bit higher in some countries. Adopting older children, or children who are waiting, or children with some special needs (can be something mild) sometimes have grants to help with adoption cost and you're usually matched sooner if you are accepting of these conditions/types of children.

The cheapest I've seen for International adoption is around 18,000 and it can really get expensive (some I've seen around 35,000). Some countries require you to stay in their country while they process paperwork for a month, while others can bring your child to the US for you as part of the cost (or in addition to).

Your first step would probably be to visit a local agency and see if they have a presentation you could attend to learn more about the countries available, the risk associated with each country and the cost/time needed. Then you'd move in to the homestudy phase, where you collect tons of paperwork and have meetings with a social worker to approve you as an adoptive parent (includes police clearances....etc). Then your homestudy has to be approved by the placement agency if different than your homestudy agency (the agency that will send all your information to the country you choose). Then approval by that country, international clearances and tons of little things here and there to attain approval and a match.

We started out with International adoption but have moved to Domestic and are giving it a year before we move back to our initial country of interest.

Good luck!

 

[02bBarbie]

http://www.rainbowkids.com/Countries/

 

[rebecca314]

Our niece Katie has been with us for a year now! The link to her web page is http://www.ourjourneytokatie.blogspot.com . I believe if you look back over old posts you can read about the process and the daily reports that my SIL posted while in China to get Katie. I think it was expensive, but worth it. My kids love baby Katie and now we're waiting to get the referral for her baby sister!

 

[Tink561]

Our niece Katie has been with us for a year now! The link to her web page is http://www.ourjourneytokatie.blogspot.com . I believe if you look back over old posts you can read about the process and the daily reports that my SIL posted while in China to get Katie. I think it was expensive, but worth it. My kids love baby Katie and now we're waiting to get the referral for her baby sister!

I just checked out Katie's blog and guess what?! Our daughter, Gracie, is from the same orphanage! We adopted Gracie on 10/29/06. She would have just come into the orphanage almost 1 month before Katie was adopted. We have pictures of our Gracie with the same caregivers. It was very cool to see.

Our blog is http://www.emmasfamily.blogspot.com and our family site, where you can read our travel journal is http://www.myadoptionwebsite.com/fiveplusone/

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

Have you thought about adopting a precious little boy from America? Call Dept. of Children and Families and they can get you started. There are so many children waiting for homes here in America. The cost to you is nothing, and you can get help with medical insurance (probably no cost to you). We have 3 adopted children, all beautiful little girls, and they did not cost us a penny to adopt them. They are Americans, and we did not have to travel great distances to adopt them. The furthest we had to go was 100 miles from our home, and our youngest we took home from the hospital here where we live. By the way, little boys are easier to adopt - there are more of them available for adoption.

 

[Tink561]

deleted

 

[SandrainNC]

Hi! Our newest addition to the family (another son!) just arrived from South Korea last month. We looked into foster to adopt here and then domestic and finally international. For us, international was the right thing for our family. The Korea program just changed at the beginning of this year. They are trying to increase domestic adoptions in Korea so the children are not released for international adoption until they are 5 or 6 months old (I can't remember which). So the children will be a little older now when the parents receive a referral and when the child finally travels. We did not have to travel. He was escorted here (one of the few countries that will allow the child to be escorted). Our total cost was around $25,000. Most of which goes to pay for the foster care of the children (they are not in orphanages but are in foster homes in Korea). Definitely check out different sites and find out about the different countries and what would be best for your family. Good luck!!!

Sandra

 

[SalandJeff]

We brought our dd home from Russia in Aug.2005. She turned 3 in October and is doing wonderfully.

I would also recommend that you contact a local agency or watch the paper for seminars on International adoption. Catholic Family Services and Jewish Family Services in our area have these programs every couple of months. You will learn about adoption from a few different countries, they will give you an idea of the costs for each and the requirements, and you will usually meet a few families that have adopted. I would also suggest you go to the Yahoo groups discussion boards. There are groups for all types of adoption (domestic, international, single parent,etc.) as well as for every country you can think of.

If I can answer any questions or help, please feel free to send me a pm.

 

[crisi]

Cost will vary a lot depending on the program. So will the wait time. And the limitations placed on you. Age of child. Ability to select for special needs.

Children's Homes Society and Family Services of Minnesota is the agency we went through years ago....they have a pretty good website that covers the countries that they work with....it would be a start. They used to have a matrix that compared countries. They still do, here it is:

http://www.childrenshomeadopt.org/sites/17a3c32c-1a73-4262-9340-5a597bd43340/uploads/USA_Chart.pdf

Note that this isn't exhaustive, its just the countries CHSFS is working with and the cost/timeline/restrictions for THEIR programs. There are other programs through these same countries.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I don't know too much but a very good friend of mine adopted and she had a pretty quick time of it. She did not use an agency. She hired a lawyer and placed ads. I would say if you are going that route to place your ads in Oklahoma. She has gotten all her results from there. She is already in the process of adopting another baby and her daughter is only a year and a half old. I believe it cost around $15,000 total. Good luck!

 

[ALittleDisneyFan]

Hi!

My husband and I are adopting from Guatemala. Our baby is 6 mos, tomorrow.. I would not suggest adopting from Guatemala at this time due to the US implementing the Hague this year...

However, you might want to look into China, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Krygzstan (sp??)

I wouldn't be surprised if we were at $35,000+ for our daughters adoption.

 

[rebecca314]

I just checked out Katie's blog and guess what?! Our daughter, Gracie, is from the same orphanage! We adopted Gracie on 10/29/06. She would have just come into the orphanage almost 1 month before Katie was adopted. We have pictures of our Gracie with the same caregivers. It was very cool to see.

Our blog is http://www.emmasfamily.blogspot.com and our family site, where you can read our travel journal is http://www.myadoptionwebsite.com/fiveplusone/

OMG!!!! What a small world.

 

[livndisney]

My dh and I would like to adopt a boy from anothor country . Can you tell me how to and the cost. How long dose it take? Thanks so much

International adoption is a wonderful way to grow your family. Vietnam is a program with many boys available and can be quite quick. Agency fees vary, it helps to do alot of research. If you would like help getting started please pm me and I will send you some links.

Proud adoptive parent of a wonderful Asian princess