BellaOnline Forums Family Adoption Where would you adopt from?

If you had enough money/time/resources to adopt from anywhere right now where would it be and what kind of child?

am completely curious about what everyones "ideals" for adoption are!

You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine - hehe

Since I live in America and know that we have children that need to be adopted, I would adopt from here.

I would like to try to keep a family together, or at least adopt two or three older children that really don't have much hope of being adopted.

very true - countless older children in need of homes right here under our noses.

They certainly go overlooked.

siblings are a huge problem also they actually end up being open to splitting up siblings past a certain age (heart breaking) so these kids lose yet another important person in their lives .

There are sibling groups I've seen as large as 9! I would love to know who could possible take that on! ack.

I am a birth mother (son, 11/22/78) thru Catholic Charities in Newark, NJ. I watch the adoption segments on my fox news Wed nights and have seen special needs kids that were siblings and older. I often wonder if something happened to me would that be my kids on there.

Anyway I have searched sites looking at ages from 6 and older to see if there were any autistic kids in need of a family. I dont fit the demographics and rules for most, but if I did I would go for an older boy or younger one. Mine are 13 and turning 11 at end of June. I thought maybe an older boy so my older son would have a friend and someone to learn from, but being a single parent to two already is a full time job and I homeschool the 13 year old. We only have two bedrooms so not enough room in our home to do it at this point in time.

My Dad was adopted from an orphanage in TN at the age of 9.

Upon reading the question here a second time I really did not like the words utilized and felt it was very cold to refer to a child as it and kind. Seems very similar to ordering pizza, what kind of topping you want?

I don't understand the mentality that adoption takes place elsewhere. What is wrong with this country and our own states? Why do people have to travel to adopt?

I know of a family in Orange County, CA that has adopted numerous special needs kids and they have a website and have been on tv and in the media. I forget the name. But I think the ack! reference to adopting a family of nine is a bit insensitive.

i would adopt the unadoptable in the US... those who are 10 years and older.

I would also adopt glbt kids so they could have a loving home that is safe for them and welcomeing

I am a bit taken aback to say the least about your comments Bonnie.

I will clarify.

By kind - I do NOT mean "blonde hair blue eyes" or even boy or girl. I meant are you open to an older child? a special needs child? perhaps a kid with RAD?

By anywhere - I literally meant anywhere this includes the United States because clearly we are part of a larger whole (though we seem to try seperate ourselves). You will notice most of the responses were in fact for Domestic adoption which is an amazing option. There are thousands of kids who need homes and it is crucial that we work to find them homes. That being said not everyone has this particular calling. Some families feel a calling to Hati, some to China, some to Ukraine - it is a very personal and intense thing to try to decide.


and Jase what an amazing idea I've never even thought about the GLBT youth - I can only imagine those kids have the whole world working against them finding a family. *ponders* I wonder if they even aknowledge these children as GLBT or simply tell the potential family they are "confused". That's certainly not validating for the teens.

I am also slightly relectuant to share what type of adoption touches my heart the most. *sigh*

There are some agencies out there who identify the youth. There are some that do not. Personally I would seek out the option.

That is such a noble cause - I can only imagine how scary it could be being GLBT and trying to find a home. Its scary enough being GLBT trying to associate with most of the world with all the judgements/homophobia out there.

amen to that one Mindy

Well now I want to know where your finding this info Jase! I have yet to see anything about GLBT adoption (Except about the GLBT parents adopting)

Hello!

First of all, a warm welcome Mindy! I love talking about adoption!

We will be adopting in the future. We are so excited, and have learned a lot about different countries, requirements, and the like.

I think every child deserves a loving home, no matter where he or she was born.

It can be more difficult to adopt in the USA than people think.

Medical conditions and age can play a huge part in our country (and others as well). Even when medical conditions that will not interfere with your ability to be a loving, caring parent, some countries (USA included, at least with some agencies we've spoken with thus far) will not even look twice at you--from what we have been through thus far.

We have learned to embrace the countries that embrace us as future parents to be, despite medical conditions and age. And, as a result, we couldn�t be happier!

I would advise anyone looking into adoption to look at all options, such as those already mentioned on this board, and then research each country carefully, USA and beyond. I didn't realize how much information was out there that I simply had no idea about before I started really researching. We are still early in the process, and have a lot more to learn.

I look forward to sharing anything I find out with others, and hope to learn from people posting here as well. It's so nice to get everyone's point of view, and learn more about adoption!

We are not 100 percent sure what country our future child will be from, but we are excited about the journey, and becoming Mommy and Daddy.

Very true the US has perhaps the most "redtape" as far as adoption. It is by far cheaper (that is only true if your are adopting an older or special needs child)

And yes there is tons of info out there but it is ever changing! Like up until two days ago single women could adopt in Ukraine - but a new law forbids that meaning tons of women who have already started the process are left hanging.

What countries have you looked at? I can tell you that right now the ones that seem most stable to me (and aren't as widely advertised as china/russia/ukraine) are serbia and estonia.

There are children all over the world waiting for families. Some of us either attempted or intended to adopt in the U.S. and were unable to cut through the red tap and/or led to other children in other countries.

My family adopted a child in Haiti and we're completing the adoptions of two children still waiting in Haiti. We began by researching our options within our own country and system, but during our journey, we were led elsewhere. We have not closed our hearts to adopting in the U.S.; we were simply led in another direction.

I know many who tried valiantly to adopt here in the U.S. but it is not a perfect system by any means and it's not as easy as many seem to believe.

I am 100% supportive of adoption in the US but I think some are unaware of the process. This is how it typically works. You create a homestudy and then you express interest in a child your wanting to adopt (usually via photolistings) IF the social working looking at that case thinks your a good choice you are then put on to a panel of three families. Then they go to comittee where you are either chosen or not chosen. In rare times only one family will go to comitee even then it is NOT a sure thing. Once you have this child or children you have up to a year trial period. In this year you do not have full guardianship. What this means is you have to get approval for any and all medical/mental health treatment you seek. So if you have a child you believe has FAS/RAD/ODD/other scary labels, you will be denied. They do not want this label on the child (even if its true and will better equip a parent to raise the child) because it will make the child harder to adopt if you choose not to complete the adoption.

I know not ALL US adoptions are conducted this way - but from my research - the vast majority do go this way. Also there are age restrictions that are tighter than other countries.