Thinking of adopting from Philippines

Hi. We have just completed our home study which took 3 months and are currently having our dossier sent. First warning: Be prepared to wait a long time to be referred a child. The head of our agency said it can take 2-6 months to get approved and 18-24 months to get a referral for a child. then up to 6 months to travel and pick up the child So we're talking 2-3 years. The Philippines only allowed 196 inter country adoptions last year so there is not a large flow of children coming out of there. If you feel a strong connection to the Philippines and are devoted to adopting from there it will be worth the wait. From what I understand, couples with no Philippine ancestry wait longer. However if you want a child sooner and are not limiting yourself to the Philippines, China has a quicker and easier program. Some agencies are giving referrals 5-7 months after you submit your dossier. They arrange trips with large numbers of adopting parents (30-50 couples). China allowed more than 8000 adoptions last year. 95% of the kids are girls. Not trying to discourage you from the Philippines but want you to realize you will have a long wait.

Yes, the wait to adopt from the Philippines is very long. The adoption process for my husband and I took 2 1/2 years, but part of that was because our adoption agency was slow. It took 11 months from the time the Philippines got our dossier until we were matched with a child, and then another 4 months until we traveled over there. We brought our son home in August of last year. I would have to say that the wait is the one and only downside, though. There are several reasons why the Philippines is a good choice for adoption. First, it is usually less expensive than other countries (the fee that the Philippines charges, the "country fee" is substantially less). Second, the Philippines only requires you to make one trip to the country and the stay is usually only 5-7 days. Also, unlike some other countries, the Philippines is very friendly to Americans. In fact, we were treated with nothing but warmth and graciousness on our trip to the Philippines. We also have the privilege of knowing several Philippino-Americans who live in our area and I can tell you that Philippino people are beautiful inside and out. We are very happy with our choice of the Philippines. If you are able to wait, the wait is definately worth it!

We are in the process of adopting a sibling group (ages 6-16) from the Philippines. Everything does move slowly, although I think our wait for a match would not have been long if we had chosen a family who was already cleared for international adoption. If you are willing to adopt older children (over the age of 3 or 4), and especially boys or children with special needs, then your wait will be shorter. I understand that ICAB (the Philippine government's Inter-Country Adoption Board) has posted a notice on their website to that effect. ICAB's website is [url="http://www.skynet.net/~icaba/"]www.skynet.net/~icaba/[/url]