Government Orphanages in the Philippines

I don't think one can adopt directly from any orphanages without being thoroughly matched by the Inter Country Adoption Board (ICAB).Pls, you cannot go directly to any orphanage yourself without first going to ICAB and consult for proper proceedings.

Hi, You actually can go in and visit any orphanage, donate to them, etc. BUT, if you have gone to an orphanage to pick out a child, and then specify that child, or their identifying info, ICAB WILL deny you an adoption. You absolutely have to follow their rules. As far as orphanages in the Philippines, they are primarily run by Nuns, and the children are well taken care of. They may not have much in the way of nutritional food, but they are well loved. When you adopt from the Philippines, you generally will get a pretty good medical, and life history on your child. The only thing wrong on ours was that she didn't really like barbie dolls at all, and that is what they said her favorite toy was! We got an extensive medical history on her, including any common colds she'd had in her 2 1/2 years there. Jen

Hi- please note that there are also many independant christian run child homes in the Philippines. Both of our children are from this type of home. As Orphanagemom said, you must apply through an ICAB approved agency, and wait to be matched. Trying to adopt a child you have seen will only lead to disappointment, as they do not allow this. Your only way is to follow their rules, and you will eventually be matched with a child. Good Luck

A message for anyone loging into this posting. Please kindly follow the advice of Orpahagemom and 2 pinokids. They have the posted the proper proceedings. Please do not go directly to any orpahnage and choose the child who fits your preference or accepting any child brought to you by any party for adoption. Every single adoption case has to go through ICAB FIRST . They will guide you for all the proper proceedings. They have a very comprehensive website with all their updated rules and regulations and links to Hague Conventions articles on protection of children. PLEASE DO NOT TAKE UP ANY ADOPTION BEFORE FIRST MEETING WITH ICAB OR ICAB APPROVED AGENCY. YOU DO NOT REQUIRE ANY LAWYER TO SEPERATELY HANDLE YOUR CASE AND I ADVISE YOU NOT TO INVOLVE INDEPENDENT LAWYER TO HANDLE YOUR PARTICULAR ADOPTION CASE FOR ICAB WILL REPEAT EXACTLY THE PROCESS YOUR LAWYER DID SINCE THEY HAVE THEIR OWN ADOPTION LAWYER (ICAB APPROVED) TO HANDLE INTER COUNTRY ADOPTION.

There seems to be some confusion to my posting. I have gone through an agency and ICAB and am only asking in response to my referral. Thank you. Angmk

On the child study report I received from ICAB via our local aganecy. It does not specifically mention if the child is under a government run orphanage or other institution. There is no specification on the form of orphanage where the child is coming from apart from the necessary details of the child. With all the bearaucrcy that exists in all level in the government I pray that the children under government run orphanage will receive the care they need.

ICAB child case study report do not disclose the operation of the orphanage and under whose authority. This information is not disclosed in our child study report. Some child study report brought to ICAB may disclose if the orphanage where the child is from is government run or by private organisation but most will not since the focus of the child study is on the child herself/himself. Very honestly ICAB representatives will not seperately supply the statistical information on any specific group of children and the form of institution they are from.Maybe it is something your agency can find out from ICAB but there is a great possibility that ICAB will not response to your agency in this respect since it is not specifically related to your application and on the criteria sheet, there is no areas on the type of orphanage and the condition of the child from the orphanage required to be ticked off by the applicant in ICAB child criteria sheet for matching.

Hi I find it interesting that there was not information in your proposal regarding the home the child was in. In the proposals we recieved for both our children it stated where they were being cared for, and we contacted the home ourselves to ask questions regarding our children. The homes were very open with us and appreciated our concerns. But , as I said before these were independant run Christian Care facilities. We also know of a family who adopted from a Government run orphanage, and were also not given alot of information regarding his care there. But he is a very darling child, who of course had to adjust to his new family, culture etc. It may not be easy at first, but the benefits certainly outweigh the negatives. The older the child is, the harder it may be for him/her to adjust. As long as you are aware of this, and are willing to put all your heart and love into making it work, the wrongs of the past can be made right. Remember every child is different, and each will react differently to the same situation, just as all of our bio kids are different. Pam

The government "orphanages" are called Reception and Study Center for Children, or "RSCC" for short. This acronym is usually preceded by the name of the town or area. Children are placed there by the DSWD (Dept of Social Welfare and Development). Some of the children have families, yet their family can not provide care due to financial, health, or other issues. These children are called "Dependents." Then there are children who have been abandoned or relinguished. Once DSWD has exhausted all avenues to adopt these children within that town, province, and the country, the child's file is handed to ICAB for international placement. So, orphanages aren't really orphanages in the true sense of the word. But that term does help in our communication. Your child's social history and medical background forms will be on letterhead papers for his/her particular "orphanage." Hope this helps :-)

In order to fully answer angmk question on the adjustment of the children and their ages from government orphanage, we need some research on the statistics compiled by authority in this area. Maybe some academic textbook on Applied Social Work will offer such data.