BellaOnline Forums Family Adoption Where would you adopt from?

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.