Best country for international Adoption

That is a difficult question to answer with information you provided. Some things to ask yourself: 1. how long do you want to wait? 2. how old of a child do you want? 3. do you want siblings? 4. can you travel on short notice or for extended time periods? 5. how old are you? 6. Are you interested in a particular race/culture? 7. Can you deal with in-country instability? 8. Will adopting an Asian, dark-skinned, or Hispanic baby be a problem in your community? I can't tell from your post how much research you have done, but your choices will be either limited or expanded by the above factors. For example, if you are under 30, China is not an option. If you can deal with a long wait after you have accepted a referral, Guatemala might be of interest. If you want to travel within weeks of a referral, then avoid Guatemala (from what I've heard, the wait is anywhere from 3mo to over a year). Vietnam and Romania, among others are closed and no one knows when they will open again. Korea is pretty stable, but Kim Jong Il could easily do something rash at any time and the country could close. Some of the countries require two or extended trips - Kazakstan requires about 5 weeks, for example. On the other hand, you don't have to travel to India, but you would probably wait a while and your referral might be 3 or 4 years old. You ask what the best country is, but there are no real answers because the best country for me isn't necessarily the best country for you. We narrowed our choices down to Korea, China, the Philippines and Vietnam. We aren't old enough for China. Vietnam is closed. My dh isn't comfortable with the level of corruption in the Philippines (his family is Chinese Filipino). So we chose Korea. Best wishes! Jennifer

... that is the best for everyone. Each person will have different priorities, different qualifications, different concerns. Korea is an excellent choice for young married couples, but does not accept people over about 42-45 or singles of either gender. Korea has been placing children with American families for over 50 years, and the program is exceptionally stable, ethical and organized. On the other hand, it is also the most strict in terms of qualifications. As an example, it really wants healthy parents and at least one of the four welfare institutions that works with American agencies won't place children with very overweight people. Adoption agencies working in Korea tend to be long-established and sound, because Korea has strict requirements for agencies. While that's a plus, you need to know that Korea allows you to work only with an agency in your jurisdiction that has a contract with that country. No other country limits you in this way; with most countries, you can choose an agency anywhere in the U.S. You may have only one agency with a Korea contract working in your area, so you may have no choice if you choose this country. In short, Guatemala and Korea both have "pluses" and "minuses" -- and so do all the other countries open to adoption. Perhaps if you talk about the things that are important to you, people reading this bulletin board can be more helpful in giving you information that will help you make a decision about a country. Sharon Korean children tend to come home young and healthy. The country is prosperous and has, probably, the best medical care system in Asia. You get detailed, accurate medical records on your child, and often some information about the birth family. On the other hand, there are relatively few children available, so you do face a wait. The wait may be longer for a girl, since there are more boys than girls available, while adoptive families tend to prefer girls. Korean kids will have great role models, since there are many respectable Koreans, including adult adoptees, living in the U.S. But Korean adoption won't work for you if you don't feel that you can handle being a transracially adoptive family, dealing with issues such as "conspicuousness" and the racism in society. Korea allows -- and even encourages -- escort for families who can't travel. On the other hand, travel really helps people to understand and appreciate their children's birth culture. Children who are not raised to value their heritage often have significant issues down the road. Guatemala has been a favorite country for adoption over the past few years because it has been open to a wide variety of parent types, including singles and older people. However, its popularity is declining a bit because of significant instability in the country's adoption system. Recent months have been particularly worrisome, as the country first decided to become a party to the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption, and then declared the decision unconstitutional. There are also strong anti-adoption forces, and many people feel that it could close. Some agencies have closed their programs or advised their clients that choosing Guatemala is a high-risk decision. Guatemala's children tend to come home young and healthy. Many are relinquished to decent, private foster homes as soon as they are born. On the other hand, many people don't realize that these are not usually babies of European appearance. They generally come from the indigenous population, and have an appearance similar to that of American Indians, with deeply tanned skin and straight black hair. They WILL stand out in the typical Caucasian family. There is also a good deal of prejudice against Hispanics in American society, and a family will have to work hard to build self-esteem in an adopted child. When you adopt from Guatemala, you may use an agency located anywhere in the U.S. You also may adopt through a facilitator (an unlicensed adoption provider) or independently. This gives a family a lot of choice. However, because the Guatemalan government does not do much regulation of agencies wishing to work there, some people have wound up choosing unethical or otherwise disreputable providers and had very negative experiences. Recently, one agency was closed because of unethical practices, stranding some families and creating bad publicity for Guatemalan adoption. Guatemala is very popular with European adoptive families, not just Americans. Unfortunately, the popularity of Guatemalan adoption has caused attorneys in Guatemala, who usually help agencies identify children and complete the adoption process, to recognize that they can get away with charging high fees. The fees for a Guatemalan adoption are generally among the highest you will find. Traveling to Guatemala is very easy, as the country is close to the U.S. Some families are permitted by their agencies to visit their child before the adoption is completed; of course, this can cause heartbreak if anything comes up subsequently and the referral has to be withdrawn because the birthmother asks for the return of the child or some other problem arises. Guatemalan adoption requires only a brief stay in-country, and children may also be escorted. As mentioned above, of course, travel usually does help families develop an appreciation of their child's birth heritage. Unfortunately, because there has been political unrest in the country, families who travel are often advised to be very careful when touring, and many stay close to their hotel as a result.

A few other things to consider: Do you have a preference of whether the child has been in foster care or an orphanage? I think a few countries also transition a child from an orphanage into foster care after the referral acceptance through the time that you travel to pick the child up.You mentioned Guatemala which I believe has all their kids in foster care and Korea, which I believe all the kids are in orphanages. Also, some countries require you to use accredited agencies-these countries tend to have centralized committees that deal with intercountry adoptions and others allow you to use lawyers, facilitators or agencies or do an independent adoption.

Another consideration is price. I know this should not be an issue when brining a child into your home, but with budgets and the like it is an issue. Many countries require more than one trip or an extended stay. And in many countries you will be "donating" money for the care of orphans. Taking these things into consideration and not waiting to take out a loan, we chose China. -Cathy

My husband and I adopted from Russia in 1998 and were there for 9 days total. We had our paperwork submitted to the agency just a few weeks when we got a referral of an 11-week-old baby boy. He was 5.5 months by the time we were able to travel and that's only because it crossed with an informational visit to the states by some of the Russian Dept. of Education folks in Saratov where our son lived. Two trips are required now. First is about 4-5 days. The 2nd could be up to 10 days - sometimes that's waived. Everything depends on timing, agency, parental preferences, Regardless, you'll find the child meant to be with you. Best of luck and God's blessings.

I have to respectfully disagree with Sienna3. The babies in Korea are in foster care from day one. Also, another poster said that Korea has weight limits for adoptive families. Some agencies in Korea have this requirement, but not all of them. Holt/Korea which works with a few agencies here (Holt International and Bethany to name a few) do not have weight regulations for adoptive parents. There are many people out there who feel very strongly about whatever country they adopted from and have very personal reasons for choosing a particular country. There are many reasons that we decided to adopt from Korea. Our son came home at the beginning of November, a day before his fifth month birthday. Here are our reasons for going with the Korea program (We used Holt International Children's Services): 1. The children are in foster care from day one. Our son came home with a bag full of gifts for him and us from his foster family. The most precious gifts of all were a photo album of his time there and a letter translated into English telling us how much they love our son; 2. The children generally come home at a younger age than other countries (usually 4-6 months on average if not in the waiting child program); 3. The medical care that the children receive is top-notch. We recieved detailed medical records as well as monthly well baby reports until our son came home. Korea is the only country where the U.S. does not recommend re-vaccination once entering the United States; 4. You have the option of either traveling to Korea to pick up your child or having your child escorted to the United States. If you travel, you only have to make one trip of about three business days. 5. The time it takes to adopt is shorter than many other international programs. Our adoption took exactly one year, but I hear that it is now taking 13-14 months on the average now. Our son has adjusted beautifully, and is a very happy and healthy baby. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at cthy757@yahoo.com. If you want to check out my sweet son's web page, go to [url]http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/jamesrandall/[/url] We hope to adopt again, and wouldn't hesitate to go through Holt's Korea program again. Good luck as you search for information. Cathy

I have to agree with cthy757 in her response about children from Korea. We adopted 2 children from Korea and it was the easiest process ! The kids were well cared for and did live with foster families. We live in NJ and used Holt-very reputable and they've been placing kids from Korea for over 50 years. They do have age restrictions on the parents- we were "too old" when it was time for our third child, so we had to go to Mongolia! Good luck!