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Hello,
This is my first time posting. My husband and I recently decided to start the adoption process. We have an 11 year old daughter and we are interested in adopting a 3-6 year old girl. We went to an adoption seminar hosted by Building Blocks Adoption Agency and they told us that there was no way that we could adopt from Bulgaria because we already have one child. Another agency that we found on the web, called Children's House International, has completely different information posted on their website. Additionally, their Bulgaria rep, who adopted a 5 year old from Bulgaria 3 years ago, responded to my e-mail stating that indeed we could adopt. Getting different information from agencies is starting to really scare us. We haven't signed up with an agency (we are currently doing a homestudy with a case worker in our county) and we aren't even sure if we could adopt from Bulgaria without an agency (I know you can do it yourself with some areas of South America).
Any answers to our questions and concerns will be appreciated!
Marisol
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I have been researching several different countries and every agency seems to have a different take on each country.
Part of the confusion in Bulgaria may be because the rules have recently changed.
I'm planning on adopting a second child as a single parent and, so far, no one has had an issue with my already having a child. I believe the rule used to be only one child so I suspect Building Blocks in not up to date.
I have heard really good things about CHI, so you might want to talk to them further.
I would also suggest talking to AIAA . They have a fairly long standing program in Bulgaria. I had a couple of really good recommendations for them and I found that they were really open about discussing current issues/requirements. Even is you don't go with them, it might be worth a phone call.
If I do adopt from Bulgaria, it will likely be with them.
Good luck.
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My son is from Bulgaria. He's been in his forever home since July, 2003. I belong to a group at Yahoo on Bulgarina adoption. You are all welcome to join and ask questions.
But, as far as having only one child, that may be an agency requirement. There are several people that belong to the yahoo group who have adopted more than 1 child from Bulgarian, and who have adopted Bulgarian children with others at home.
There seems to be a little delay with the new laws. Agencies need to be approved, but it is moving along, just a little slowly.
From what I have read from the group, Tree of Life and Holt Interanational are both very good. Along with Childrens House. Is that where Fred is?
Feel free to contact me privately, either pm or email with questions, if I can help, I will.
We brought our son home from Bulgaria in 1999 using AIAA. I would highly recommend them even though we had awful problems with our adoption. PM me for more info on that if you are interested.
We are currently waiting for a daughter from Guatemala. This one makes the Bulgarian adoption look like a picnic. We did not use AIAA for this one, but should have.
When we were looking to get our second child, we were told by Terri Bell at AIAA that we couldn't go there because we had 1 child already. Once we started the Guatemalan process, she called us back and told us the rules had changed. This was at about this time last year.
I think that some agencies who have multiple programs are not too current on all the rules and get confused. That is not what you want in an agency.
Tom Sawyer
THANK YOU!
I appreciate the responses. It's great to get some encouraging news! I will research all of the adoption agencies that the three of you have mentioned. Would it also make sense to compare prices or is it wiser to go with the agency you like best? Also, has anyone attempted to adopt from Bulgaria without an agency? I'm just trying to figure out what all the options so we can make the best choice financially. We have friends who adopted from Ukraine without an agency but I don't know enough about the country of Bulgaria to know if it's possible.
To respond to the question about Children's House - yes, the man's name is Fred De Chenes (or something like that).
Thanks again everyone! :) ;) :p
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Please respond with your comments regarding agencies via Private Message. The Forum Administrator is implementing a new rule about the discussion of agencies on this and all other boards.
Feel free to continue to request information, however all opinions and experiences must be shared in Private Message, rather than openly on the forums.
Thanks!
There is no such restrictions about the number of children that you already have.
I did some research and found a website called adoptbulgaria.com, which gave me a good idea on the most recent changes in the Bulgrian adoption low. It also has direct links to the international adoptions page on the official Bulgarian government web site and to a good translation of the Bulgarian Family code.
Marisol.... there is so much conflicting information regarding Bulgarian adoption right now. In actuality it can be pretty nerve wracking at times. I have checked numerous times with my agency and they have check with the attorney in Sofia who has check with the Vice Minister of Justice who has authority over the adoptions. You are no longer restricted on the number of children. In fact the information that is coming out now is that the age minimum for the children has been lowered ever further. So there are many new changes with the new laws and the new Vice Minister seems to really be getting a handle on it all. I think Bulgaria is a great adoption option. I looked at about 11 countries prior to choosing Bulgaria and feel I made the right choice. Dana
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The name of the CD is Bulgarian Phrases for Children. Fred is the name of the man who produced it after adopting his daughter from Bulgaria. Their story and contact info is on the web - I just looked up Bulgarian Phrases for Children. I know that Fred is working with an agency now, but I don't remember which one.
The CD was fairly inexpensive and I don't think I could have gotten through the first days home without it.
Just thought I would update my original posting. Once we found an agency that we wanted to go through, we were told that if anytime during the process I should get pregnant, we would have to cancel the adoption and start fresh after the baby I would have turned a year (I think?) old. We have since decided that at this time, Bulgaria is not for us. Although I would have loved to adopt from there, I'm afraid that we have hit too many walls. I will continue to check for postings from others on their experiences and in the meantime, my husband and I are planning on being foster parents (and hopefully we'll adopt!) in the very near future. There are so many children right in our own state that need a home!
Thanks!
DC-Dad
Marisol.... there is so much conflicting information regarding Bulgarian adoption right now. In actuality it can be pretty nerve wracking at times. I have checked numerous times with my agency and they have check with the attorney in Sofia who has check with the Vice Minister of Justice who has authority over the adoptions. You are no longer restricted on the number of children. In fact the information that is coming out now is that the age minimum for the children has been lowered ever further. So there are many new changes with the new laws and the new Vice Minister seems to really be getting a handle on it all.
I think Bulgaria is a great adoption option. I looked at about 11 countries prior to choosing Bulgaria and feel I made the right choice.
Dana
I am just back from Bulgaria and I was just told that the minimum age to register a child is 12 months(and 3 bulgarian refusals) unless that child has a special need that would require medical treatment at a younger age. This is not just for international adoption but Bulgarians can not adopt a child until 1 year.
This has not changed as of Jan 21st. The problem is that the child must be registered and to get registered 18 documents must be filled out and there is not a great deal of incentive to do this in a timely manner so the registration of the kids is taking longer than it should. Also I was told that 750 of the register children had problems with their documents and they had to be redone recently(because the people filling them out didn't follow all the confusing rules). I do not believe that they are even registering the older kids(and I mean 4-5 year olds) yet.
Also there IS a size limit to the family but you can get around this by taking an older child or a child with special needs. We are a family with 4 biological kids and are adopting a 2 1/2 year old. You should not have a problem if you only have one or two kids now though either way.
Mary
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From everything that I'm hearing from the attorney here, who is very experienced in international adoption, and his counterpart in Bulgaria I don't think it should be a problem. Lots of thing have changed in Bulgaria and I think some of the agencies are working to update the info they have. Dana