• Home
  • New? Start Here
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Real Mom Life

  • Purpose and Passion
    • Planners
    • Purpose and passion
    • Reinvention
    • Retirement
    • Starting a business
    • Volunteering
    • Working
    • Trying new things
    • Ageism
    • Giving back
    • Confidence
    • Encore careers
    • Encouragement
    • Gratitude
    • Happiness
    • Inspiration
    • Lifelong Learning
  • Adventure
    • Travel
    • Technology
    • Trying new things
    • Books and movies
    • Embracing change
    • Fun
    • Holidays
    • Pets
  • Relationships
    • Marriage
    • Friendships
    • Parenting
    • Painful parenting
    • Mothering
    • Grandparenting
    • Aging parents
    • Empty nest
    • Cancer caregiving
    • Child adoption
    • Homeschooling
    • Special needs kids
    • Life skills for kids
    • Activities for kids
  • Health and Beauty
    • Alternative health practices
    • Fashion
    • Hair care
    • Health insurance
    • Healthy aging
    • Healthy brain
    • Makeup
    • Medical issues
    • Mental health
    • Sexuality
    • Skin care
    • Sleep
    • Stress
    • Nutrition
    • Physical fitness
    • Self-care
  • Creativity and Spirituality
    • Faith
    • Crafts
    • Hobbies
    • Art journaling
    • Blogging
    • Journaling
    • Jewelry making
    • Writing
  • Home and Finances
    • Cleaning
    • Cooking and food
    • Declutter
    • Decor
    • DIY Home
    • Downsize
    • Gardening
    • Holidays
    • Organizing
    • Saving money
    • Simplify
  • Coffee Love
  • Rants, Raves and Reviews
  • Bucket List
  • Shop

International Child Adoption

June 1, 2015 By Christine Field

This post may contain affiliate links.

Spread the love

 

Some parents are drawn to adopt internationally.

 

Perhaps they have experience in a foreign country and feel comfortable adopting from that culture.  In my own experience, we adopted our first child here through a private adoption.  Then we had a surprise biological child and went on to adopt two more from South Korea, where my husband had visited while serving in the military.

 

International child adoption has other aspects to recommend it:

 

  • The waiting time for placement of a child is often shorter, sometimes within one year;

 

  • There is little to no chance that birthparents will change their minds about the placement

 

international child adoption

However, international child adoption poses its own challenges and concerns to an adoptive parent.

 

  • In an international child adoption the birthparents do not make the decision on which family should adopt their child, like they might in a domestic adoption. Instead, it is the prerogative of the government where the child was born to make all decisions regarding international adoption of children from their country. This means that you have to determine which countries offer programs that you qualify for, and then which of those programs allow the adoption of the age/health status of children that meet your preferences.

 

  • In a number of countries, there are limits on who qualifies as adoptive parents such as:

 

  • Minimum age of applicant

 

  • Maximum age of applicant

 

  • Minimum and maximum difference in ages between parents and child

 

  • Marriage status and history

 

  • Number of other children in the home

 

  • Income level, ability to provide for child

 

  • Medical and psychiatric history and current evaluation

 

Requirements for adoptive parents will change as programs grow or if problems arise in a country with international adoptions.   That is why it is important to check the status of your prospective country.

 

 

The State Department is working to provide information on adoptive parent requirements for each country on their website at http://adoption.state.gov/countryinformation.html.

 

Once you have chosen a country, it is imperative that you work with an agency authorized to do international child adoption.  If you choose a Hague Convention country, you must work with an agency that has been accredited by the State Department – the list is available on the State Department website at http://adoption.state.gov/.   If you choose a non-convention country, you will need to ask a potential agency for proof of their accreditation in that specific country.

 

It is not recommended by the State Department that you attempt an independent international child adoption without an agency or without counsel.  Many parents have traveled to, for instance, Guatemala or the Ukraine to try to negotiate an adoption privately.  The results can be disastrous. There are simply too many requirements that could cause a hiccup for the adoption process for someone who doesn’t already have the established contacts or knowledge of how the country’s adoption process works.

 

 

For fiscal year 2014, there were 6,441 international adoptions completed. (See http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/aa/pdfs/fy2014_annual_report.pdf)  Countries with the greatest numbers of children adopted were:

 

Bulgaria           183

China             2040

Columbia         172

Ethiopia           716

Ghana              124

Haiti                464

India                136

Nigeria            130

Philippines       172

Korea                370

Uganda           201

Ukraine           521

 

SOMEONE is adopting these children.  Why not you?

You can read more about my own journey in international child adoption in my book, Should You Adopt.

 

Filed Under: Child adoption, Relationships Tagged With: Adoption, child adoption, international adoption agencies, international adoption statistics, international child adoption

Previous Post: « Keeping kids busy with summer activities
Next Post: Child Adoption Resource Guide »

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

FacebookInstagrammailPinterestYouTubeTwitter

Hi, I’m Christine

Have you been a wholehearted mother, but time, toddlers and teenagers have moved on? If you are wondering what comes next for you, you’ll feel right at home here.

Or, are you a mom for whom family life has been non-Pinworthy and parenting has been downright painful? I hear ya. There are many of us around.

Are you looking for a life full of exploration and adventure after the nest empties, but maybe you have no idea how to go about doing that? Stick around! We’ll explore adventures together to help you gain more clarity for your own path.

After a couple decades of writing books and articles about parenting, homeschooling and adoption, speaking to homeschoolers and other parent groups, and reaching out to the mom in the trenches who was trying to make the best of it - my kids grew up. Some grew up and grew away. I was determined to find a way out of the pain, emptiness and lack of direction.

For many of us, the journey starts with something we moms are not accustomed to. After years of caring for and serving others, sometimes we forget the beauty and wonder of US. We need to spend some time getting to know the parts of ourselves that have lain dormant, and take the time to explore interests and passions that we set aside.

I’d like to invite you to get the “What’s Next for Mom” workbook and jump into this growing tribe of Moms who are emptying the nest and filling the life! Let’s reignite your Mojo after Mothering!
Read More…

Search the Blog

Want to Search For Something?

Disclosure

Real Mom Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Footer

About Christine

FacebookInstagrammailPinterestYouTubeTwitter

At Real Mom Life, my passion is to provide resources and reassurances for moms facing the surprising challenges of family life. In my writing and speaking, I explore solutions to unexpected issues in adoption, homeschooling, special needs, and more while encouraging moms to extract the maximum joy out of each day. Read More…

Real Mom Life

Real Mom Life

107 N. Pierce Ave.

Wheaton, IL 60187

Copyright © 2021 Real Mom Life on the Foodie Pro Theme