Adoption??

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

I dont know what the details are for the US because im from Australia. But my husband and I have spent some time in 3 countries of africa, and there are millions of children desperately in need of loving Christian homes... it breaks our hearts... however please be sure to learn some of their culture (of the country you are adopting from) and pray and be certain this is what God wants, its certainly not something to do on a whim (not saying you are).

Depending on the country that you want to adopt from (in Africa) they all have very different requirements e.g. Uganda you have to have lived there and fostered the child for 3 yrs, you have to have been married for a min of 2yrs and have all the other checks done. For Mozambique you have to have been married for a min of 10yrs before you are considered.

So you need to specifically look at the country and their requirements. It can be expensive to adopt because you need to pay your agency, and the costs of court, health expenses and investigation expenses in the country you are adopting from (from Africa’s side it is not as expensive, its your country that generally charges through the roof).

Be sure and investigate it well, in our country the government deals with all adoptions but yours i believe you can go through so many different agencies, so i would go through one that has been highly recommended. It can be a long process, if you, your husband are God are sure its for you then go for it, as i said the need is huge.

Bless you, if you want to talk further im happy too, as i said my husband and i have been spent some time in Africa and are heading back over this year... adopting is in our prayers at the moment too.

Thanks. We were thinking Uganda because my husband grew up there... so it's near and dear to our hearts.

 

[ChristianMama84]

I think anyone who is open to adoption is an angel. My parents were unable to have children and I thank God for them every day.

 

[Emma!]

Thanks. We were thinking Uganda because my husband grew up there... so it's near and dear to our hearts.

oh really! where did he live? We love Uganda! That will be great that he will know the culture then, i think thats really important.

Check this link out: http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/country/country_3012.html

Blessings

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

oh really! where did he live? We love Uganda! That will be great that he will know the culture then, i think thats really important.

Check this link out: http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/country/country_3012.html

Blessings

Between Kampala and Entebbe

 

[Emma!]

Between Kampala and Entebbe

Oh nice, we were based in Kampala (flew into Entebbe) and Gulu

 

[Flipper]

Hi SOTFB! I don't know if you remember me, but I was posting a while back in the TTC forum. We are also getting ready to take the plunge into foreign adoption. We're going to go through Children's Hope International (http://www.childrenshopeint.org/). We've gone to an informational meeting and was very impressed with how much information they were able to give us. Their website also has a wealth of information.

They don't go to Uganda, but they do go to Ethiopia, which is one of the countries we are considering.

Prayers that you are successful in whatever you and your husband decide to do.

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

Hey! Of course I remember you!!

Unfortunately that link does not work. Is there another way I can see the website?

 

[Flipper]

maybe without the "http"? www.childrenshopeint.org

I'm using Firefox, if that helps any.

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

Yay that one works!!! Thanks

 

[Flipper]

Hope you find it as informative as I did.

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

They are having a information session the middle of Jan literally a few blocks away from our house I can't believe it.

Are you looking to adopt an older child, or an infant?

 

[Flipper]

Oh my goodness - that's awesome!! Are you going to check it out?

To answer your question, we're not sure. We are actually thinking about adopting siblings, so obviously at least one won't be an infant. My husband thinks that if we adopt 2 at once, then we're finished. Typical male logic, don't you think, LOL! What I'm thinking is that at our age, we should be open to the idea of adopting an older child. I'm just concerned about the language barrier, and whether or not we are equipped to handle children with emotional problems due to their circumstances before we adopted them. We need to do a lot of praying about it, and have a good talk with the caseworker at CHI.

 

[Flipper]

Hey, SOTFB, did you go to the information meeting?

We turned in our application Sunday. We picked Ethiopia. Will know in a week if it's been accepted and then the real fun begins.

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

No we decided not to.

We actually just got into a fertility doctor so we are going to continue to pursue that avenue before we invest a lot of time (and money) into adoption.

Congrats on your application though!! PLEASE let me know how it goes. I will definitely send up a prayer for you.

 

[Flipper]

Thank you, and I'll say a prayer the medical route works for you. Also keep me posted.

 

[Singin4Him]

I've thought about adoption a lot, on and off, what puts me off is the cost. Different countries have different requirements and ages at which they typically allow you to meet and take the babies home. International adoption is the most expensive. I have never heard or looked into adopting from Europe though but I haev read some about adopting from India and China and that area of the world.

this is a site I have heard a lot about: http://members.shaohannahshope.org/site/PageServer

Unfortuanly while shaohannah's hope is an awesome organization chinese adoption in general is in the midst of huge changes and adoption is taking literally several years and Shaohannah's hope may not be taking anymore people at this time. My Aunt and Uncle are going through Shaohannah's hope currently and have been waiting over 3 years to adopt and every year they get told it will be one more year. They're currently scheduled to get their baby girl January '09 but they expect that date to change once again as well. With that there is so much that they've had to renew over and over as things like their fingerprints and some paper work expire. Also you cannot be over a certain age and if you get pregnant during the adoption process you cannot adopt until that baby is a certain age.

We want to adopt at least one Chinese girl once I'm 30 years old, so adoption is very close to my heart! I think you can also PM seamonster (formerly bluenovember) for more details, I know she wants to adopt from China too and she is American.

May the Lord lead you!

You might want to check into adoption with China now if you plan to adopt by the time you are 30, it may just take you that long. There has also been talk about closing China closing adoption for a while and allowing chinese to adopt within only. I'm not sure if or when that will happen but you might check into that. I just know my Aunt and Uncle have been waiting so long and continue to get new dates every year.

 

[Meshavrischika]

So I was going to post this in the adoption forum, but I noticed that no one has posted there since October... soooooo I thought maybe this was the best place

DH and I have started throwing around the "A" word... however I'm just not totally sure where to start. I know it's a long process but I'd at least like to know how one goes about this type of thing... can ya tell I'm completely ignorant on the subject

The twist is... (despite this being the "hot" celebrity trend right now) we think we want to adopt from Africa

Anyway we're just starting to talk and I need to start researching... it just seems like a really BIG task, even just research wise. We want to continue TTC but at the same time when do you start considering other options? I mean IVF is approx 10,000 per try with a 1 in 3 chance. At 10k a pop 1 in 3 is even too big of a risk. I'd rather put that 10k toward adoption costs.

Thougts?

I have a girlfriend who adopted internationally. I can ask her anything you'd like (she's coming over tomorrow). Her girls are from China. I think her oldest was 6 months old, and the youngest was 3. Her baby unfortunately has some developmental delays because of her treatment in the orphanage (she couldn't walk or talk when they got her because those poor babies are TIED DOWN all day). You might think about possible emotional/developmental issues before you make a commitment (Emily is a lovely child though - she is not lacking in affection at all). I think it's quite admirable to want to adopt. May I ask why you want an international adoption vs. an "in country" adoption? Just curious.

 

[TCat]

Have you considered multi-ethnic adoption locally? I ask because 2 families we are close to have both recently successfully adopted children within a fairly short time frame.
The first family adopted "J" 4 years ago, they were on a list for only a few months. His mother was caucasion but dad was an illegal mexican national which is part of why he was available before birth.
The just recieved "R" a few months ago, he is black and white, and so cute! So far all is well with both boys and parents are thrilled!

Second family got their son 1 year ago after waiting for about 1 year from a caucasion mom and native American dad. "G" is like the whole churches kid, everyone knows and loves him. We pass him around like a loaf of bread during church and all enjoy his cuddles!

Good luck, I hope you are soon blessed with your special little one.

 

[jessesgirl]

Homie, I'm sorry you and your wife had such big problems with adopting, I see what you are saying about the paperwork. You see it all the time, it is just that- paperwork. Just because a parent signs a piece of paper giving up their paternal rights doesn't mean that if they decide to come back 5-10 years down the road and try to get their child back, it won't cause major chaos in the child's and your lives...my parents lived it, so I know it can definitely happen.


That said, Jess and I will definitely adopt. How exciting that you are considering it, SOTFB! We will probably not adopt foreign, though, just too much work IMO. We will adopt locally through the county or something, maybe a private agency, but those tend to be more expensive, by thousands of dollars even! We want to adopt a child that is 2-5 years old, not newborn, not older. That is the age where they typically get lost in the system around that age because they aren't the brand new teeniny babies. I have a really, really great book on adoption that I can send you if you want. It is a big read, but it has been really helpful

 

[TexasSky]

http://adopt.org/servlet/page?_pageid=67&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30