researching Bulgarian adoption

October 20, 2005

Hi, I have been thinking about adopting an Eastern European child. I have been to Bulgaria before to visit a good friend of mine, so I thought Bulgaria would be an excellent place for me to consider. I have been reading so many different articles and gone to many websites and read different things. Would someone please tell me if Bulgaria is a good idea for right now? Ive heard both that it is not and it is. Any information would be great.

2Bulgarianbeauties

October 22, 2005

This is a hard question to answer. I have one daughter adopted from Bulgaria, and have been registered for 1 year for a second. I have given up and moved to Kazakhstan. There have been law changes related to adoption, which in my opinion were for the better. It has taken them a very long time to implement these new procedures. On top of that, they had a national election. Unlike the US where it is winner take all, in Bulgaria, each faction gets some percent of the government seats, and I could not dare to explain it.

The rumors are that in November they will start to make matches and proceed with adoptions. Given my history with Bulgaria, this means at best, you might see a match in February. Also, there was one US match made in July, but that family has yet to have travel plans made. This is another bad sign.

So, my take is, if you are not in a hurry, you could apply. I would advise against giving much money, because there is no guarantee the country will ever start to operate again. They are trying to get into the EU, and may follow in Romania's footsteps and stop all adoptions.

If you are serious about adoption, I would recommend countries with a more stable program such as Korea or China. Guatemala has a great program, but there is some risk that it may change. Kazakhstan is also pretty stable, but the travel requirement is quite burdensome.

Good luck in your decision.

Kay