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Hi, My husband and I would like to adopt a baby from Tunisia, but there is no agency in the U.S. that has a program for that country. Does anybody know someone who has adopted a baby from Tunisia? I would really appreciate any information on this subject. Thanks, Amal
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Please go to the website of the U.S. State Department, at [url]http://travel.state.gov[/url]. Click on "Children and Family" at the top of the page. Then click on "Country Specific Information" under "International Adoption." Then click on "Tunisia." This will give you information regarding adoption from Tunisia. One thing you will quickly see is that you have to be a Muslim to adopt from Tunisia. If you are Muslim, you can contact the Tunisian Embassy in the U.S. for more specific information on adopting a child. The State Department website gives the necessary contact information. An experienced American immigration/adoption lawyer, who is familiar with issues regarding adoption from Islamic countries, should probably be able to help you complete an adoption from Tunisia. However, it will not be an easy matter. In general, adoption from Islamic countries is often difficult, even for Muslims living in the U.S. The main reason is that Islam does not have the same view of adoption as Western society, and as American immigration law. Under American law, adoption means that a child is totally and permanently relinquished by his/her birthparents, and takes on all the legal rights and responsibilities of a child born to the adoptive family. Shaaria, or Islamic law, forbids such a relationship. Instead of adoption, Shaaria supports a concept that Westerners would call guardianship or foster care. In other words, Shaaria supports the notion that, even if birthparents cannot care for a child, they should remain his/her legal parents. The child should retain the birthparents' name and inheritance rights, and should receive guidance from his/her birthparents with regard to religious instruction and other matters. The child should also have the right to return to his/her birthparents, if circumstances change. The person who takes in a child, under Shaaria, is honored. However, he/she is not considered the true parent of the child, in the way that he/she would be in the West. He/she is simply a guardian or foster caregiver, providing a home and an education for a child, but not having full parental rights. As a result, some Muslim adoptions do not pass the tests required for a child to immigrate to the U.S. In general, the U.S. requires proof that the relationship with the birthparents has been severed and that the adoptive parents are, or will become, the full legal parents of the child. However, the USCIS and State Department HAVE worked with some of the more liberal Muslim countries on arrangements that would allow certain children to be released to an American family under a decree of guardianship, for adoption in the U.S. This is probably what has happened with Tunisia, but you will need to work closely with a lawyer who understands this delicate issue, to make such an adoption happen. In addition, some Muslim countries are not totally comfortable with the level of observance of people living abroad who purport to be Muslims. As an example, some of the countries that are governed strictly by Islamic law say that Muslim clerics in the U.S. are too liberal, and that it is too hard to raise a child as a true Muslim in this country. As a result, they will not allow Americans to adopt. At the very least, you should understand that a judge in a more moderate Islamic country could require you to have references from Muslim clerics, who can speak to your level of observance, and whose credentials will be acceptable to the country. As the State Department points out, not all children available for adoption in Tunisia -- or in any other country -- are eligible for immigration into the U.S. They must meet the requirements of U.S. law, in order to obtain an adoption visa. As a result, you should become familiar with U.S. requirements by reading information on the USCIS website. You will quickly learn that any child must be considered an "eligible orphan", which means that he/she cannot have been residing with or cared for by two parents who are either married or living in a common-law relationship recognized by the country. He/she may have been abandoned, totally relinquished to an orphanage, or in the care of a single parent who cannot provide for the child at a level considered normal in the country. Again, however, if you are working with an experienced immigration/adoption attorney, you should be able to ensure that any child who is identified for you will be able to meet U.S. immigration requirements. Sharon
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Dear Sharon: Thanks so much for taking the time to provide such a detailed reply (and congratulations on your successful adoption :-)). Actually, I am familiar with the Tunisian requirements for adoption. My husband and I are actually from Tunisia. He is a U.S. citizen (which a U.S. requirement for adopting). My aunt, who lives in Tunisia, has adopted two babies in Tunisia and it was a breeze. The major difference for us is that we would be trying to adopt from Tunisia and bring our baby to live with us here in the U.S. Since there is no agency in the U.S. that has a program for Tunisia, we are looking to doing an independent adoption. I actually have the list of requirements from the national orphanage in Tunisia, which I recently visited with my husband. We both think that we will meet these requirements. We have also educated ourselves on the U.S. requirements for international adoption. Needless to say, it feels like a daunting task, and that's why we are looking for people who adopted from Tunisia before us. We were told by the U.S. embassy in Tunisia that there have been recent cases of successful adoptions from Tunisia. We are looking for people who have gone through this, meaning who have adopted in Tunisia and brought the baby to the U.S. in the last few years. As a Muslim country, Tunisia only allows babies to be adopted by Muslim parentsHowever, to make this process friendly to adoptive parents, babies are relinquished to the national orphanage and from that moment on, they become eligible for adoption. Once the orphanage approves your adoption application, a court hearing takes place in Tunisia, and if you are deemed acceptable as adoptive parents, an adoption decree is issued by the court. Notice that among the documents required by the orphanage as part of your "dossier" is a home study from an approved social worker in your U.S. state of residence. Basically, the orphanage wants to make sure that U.S. authorities have already visited your home, conducted interviews with you, conducted a background search on you, and found you eligible for adopting a baby in your state. On the Tunisian side, you need other documents, including your birth certificate, marriage licence, tax returns, letters of employment, the equivalent of an FBI report, etc... to make sure you are eligible for adopting a baby FROM Tunisia. Basically, they ensure that you are screened by both the U.S. and the Tunisian systems, and found to be a good candidate for adoption... Once an adoption decree is issued by a Tunisian court, you will need to go to the U.S. embassy in Tunisia, provide all the required documents to process the baby's visa to come to the U.S. Because the adoption has been completed in Tunisia, through a court decree, the baby will need to come on an IR -3 visa. As someone who has successfully gone through international adoption, I am sure you know how important it is to identify someone who has gone through the process before you. I am hoping that someone sees this post and can think of someone else who has gone through this... Otherwise, getting support from people like yourself is also welcome :-). Thanks again for all the information. You made my day!
amal
Dear Sharon: Thanks so much for taking the time to provide such a detailed reply (and congratulations on your successful adoption :-)). Actually, I am familiar with the Tunisian requirements for adoption. My husband and I are actually from Tunisia. He is a U.S. citizen (which a U.S. requirement for adopting). My aunt, who lives in Tunisia, has adopted two babies in Tunisia and it was a breeze. The major difference for us is that we would be trying to adopt from Tunisia and bring our baby to live with us here in the U.S. Since there is no agency in the U.S. that has a program for Tunisia, we are looking to doing an independent adoption. I actually have the list of requirements from the national orphanage in Tunisia, which I recently visited with my husband. We both think that we will meet these requirements. We have also educated ourselves on the U.S. requirements for international adoption. Needless to say, it feels like a daunting task, and that's why we are looking for people who adopted from Tunisia before us. We were told by the U.S. embassy in Tunisia that there have been recent cases of successful adoptions from Tunisia. We are looking for people who have gone through this, meaning who have adopted in Tunisia and brought the baby to the U.S. in the last few years. As a Muslim country, Tunisia only allows babies to be adopted by Muslim parentsHowever, to make this process friendly to adoptive parents, babies are relinquished to the national orphanage and from that moment on, they become eligible for adoption. Once the orphanage approves your adoption application, a court hearing takes place in Tunisia, and if you are deemed acceptable as adoptive parents, an adoption decree is issued by the court. Notice that among the documents required by the orphanage as part of your "dossier" is a home study from an approved social worker in your U.S. state of residence. Basically, the orphanage wants to make sure that U.S. authorities have already visited your home, conducted interviews with you, conducted a background search on you, and found you eligible for adopting a baby in your state. On the Tunisian side, you need other documents, including your birth certificate, marriage licence, tax returns, letters of employment, the equivalent of an FBI report, etc... to make sure you are eligible for adopting a baby FROM Tunisia. Basically, they ensure that you are screened by both the U.S. and the Tunisian systems, and found to be a good candidate for adoption... Once an adoption decree is issued by a Tunisian court, you will need to go to the U.S. embassy in Tunisia, provide all the required documents to process the baby's visa to come to the U.S. Because the adoption has been completed in Tunisia, through a court decree, the baby will need to come on an IR -3 visa. As someone who has successfully gone through international adoption, I am sure you know how important it is to identify someone who has gone through the process before you. I am hoping that someone sees this post and can think of someone else who has gone through this... Otherwise, getting support from people like yourself is also welcome :-). Thanks again for all the information. You made my day!
Fewer than five U.S. famiilies a year adopt a baby from Tunisia, and they are generally in-family (relative) adoptions. Tunisia does not have a formal international adoption program or provide adoption information to the U.S. State Department. Tunisia is an Islamic country, and one reason for the lack of adoptions by Americans is the fact that Islam views adoption differently from the Western world. Even if a family finds a child to adopt in Tunisia, any Shaaria-based local laws on adoption might conflict with American processes for adopting and obtaining a visa for that child. As an example, under Western law and custom, adoption terminates the parental relationship and authority of the birth family. The child becomes a member of the adoptive family, and the adoptive parents take on all the legal and ethical rights and obligations that they would have if the child were born to them. Under Shaaria, in contrast, adoption is defined more like foster care or guardianship. The rights and obligations of the birthparents are maintained. As an example, the child keeps the birthparents' surname and the right to inherit from them. He/she may also return to the birthparents if their circumstances change and if it is determined to be in his/her best interests, at any time. Under Shaaria-based laws, the adoptive family is expected to consult with the birth family, to the extent possible, when planning for the upbringing of the child. As an example, it is hoped that the birth family will have a say in the religious education of the child. If the USCIS is to issue an immigrant visa to a child coming into the U.S. for adoption or as an adopted child, that child must have either: 1. A final decree of adoption that unequivocably gives the adoptive family the full rights of parenthood, issued in the foreign country, or: 2. A decree of guardianship that allows the adoptive family to bring the child to the United States, so that he/she can have a legal adoption in a court within the adoptive family's state of residence. In many cases, Muslim countries cannot provide documents that will meet these requirements. They will almost never finalize an adoption that transfers complete parental authority and responsibility to the adoptive family. And they will often not provide a decree of guardianship that satisfies the U.S. government with regard to the child's right to be adopted in the parents' state of residence. A lot depends on how strictly the foreign government interprets Islam. Overall, I would recommend pursuing adoption from another country. Occasionally, Americans have been able to adopt from a few of the more liberal Islamic countries, but it is fairly rare. Americans have also, on rare occasion, been able to adopt a non-Muslim child living in an Islamic country. This is most likely to occur in a liberal country where the prospective American parents share the religious beliefs of a Christian orphanage in the country, which houses Christian children. You might be better off looking at non-Islamic countries that are currently open to adoption. A good place to begin is the website of the U.S. State Department, at adoption.state.gov It has a drop-down box, where you can select a country and find out its adoption requirements and procedures. Sharon
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