New Adoption Programs with Shorter Wait Times

by Pam Connell | More from this Blogger

29 Jan 2009 02:26 PM

My last blog referred to a site listing adoption requirements by country, including several countries with small and fairly new adoption programs. Many of these programs have shorter timeframes than countries whose adoption programs are more well-known.

A word of caution is in order here: timeframes can be unpredictable when a country is new. Perhaps their court system or passport and visa offices don't work as quickly as their adoption approval process. Perhaps the system will be vulnerable to major changes when a new administration and/or legislative body takes office. While these programs are understandably attractive to those who want to become parents as soon as possible, sometimes adoption agencies recommend that adoptions from new programs be undertaken by experienced adoptive families who are experienced at weathering the adoption process.

My thoughts here: I believe that the adoption wait was easier for us because we already had one child to focus our attention on. However, having a child who was eagerly looking forward to his sister's arrival would have made it tremendously more difficult if something had happened to disrupt the adoption. Hopefully your adoption agency will have a sense of whether adoptions have been succeeding, perhaps with minor glitches like long waits for travel papers, or whether some adoptions have been arbitrarily disapproved.

Two Asian countries' adoption programs are virtually unknown to the majority of Americans.

Azerbaijan has an approximate timeline of 1-6 months after the complete dossier (all adoption documents, homestudy, etc.) have been submitted to the Azerbaijan adoption authorities to receive a referral, then two-three months until a short trip of two full days in country is made to meet the child and attend a court hearing. Both spouses must make this trip. The second trip occurs about 30 days after the court hearing. Only one parent must make this trip, which will take at least four days in country at the end of which you will bring your child home.

Hong Kong has a small but stable program for the adoption of children with moderate to severe special needs. The children reside in well-run care facilities and extensive medical information is available to the parents to ensure a good fit between the family and a child's needs. Once the dossier is approved, parents may access information about any of the waiting children. Once a match is agreed upon, time until travel is about 6-8 months, sometimes shorter.

Tomorrow's blog will have information on Latin American and Eastern European countries which have lesser-known adoption programs with shorter timelines.

Please see this related blog:

Adjusting to the Silent Wait

Learn more about Pam Connell

Pam Connell is a mother of three by both birth and adoption. She has worked in education, child care, social services, ministry and journalism.

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