Casas privadas (Private houses) vs. ICBF

Hi Arthmom, I don't know much about the ICBF houses, but I can give you a little of what I know. My husband and I began our adoption process in September of 2003. Our agency had a pre-waiting list at that time because of the slow wait for referrals. We were able to apply to an adoption house in January of 2005 and we asked to apply to whichever house (either private or ICBF) had the first opening. In February of 2005, Ayudame received our dossier and we received a referral 2 months later. We were told 9-15 months to wait for a referral after submitting our dossier, so we were pleasantly surprised! We travelled 3 weeks later and received our daughter who was then 4 1/2 months old. We stayed at Zuetana and our entire process took 5 weeks. My husband returned home after the first 2 weeks. I didn't enjoy navigating the airports and customs/immigration on the way home all by myself with a 5 1/2 month old, but we made it! We had a WONDERFUL experience and are eagerly beginning the process to adopt a second time from Colombia! Feel free to pm me if you have any questions specific to our adoption. By the way, Ayudame was a wonderful adoption house with great care-givers! I am very thankful for their great care of our daughter! Megan

One of the biggest differences between ICBF and private houses is expense. In the simplest sense, ICBF is child welfare, the government, and they are "not allowed" to charge adoption fees or take money. They are, however, likely to ask for donations in the form of gifts. Additionally with ICBF, the children are cared for in many different manners, whether it be foster care, government run orphanges, church run orphanges, etc. You may be less likely to receive "all" the information on the child as you would through an adoption house. I'm not sure there is much more to add to that, but feel free to ask more questions if you have them. I'm happy to answer whatever I can. This is a huge adventure with lots of unknown. Robin

Dear Bogota girl and Megannicolson, Thank you so much for responding...We are still trying to figure all of this out, and our choice of agencies very much depends on this. I think we may cast a wide net (and work with an agency that deals with both ICBF and private houses) in order to make the process go faster, and see which direction it's meant to go. If anyone else has any more info, it's greatly appreciated! All the best, arthmom

Hi, For what it's worth, my understanding is that the process may be quicker with ICBF....but honestly, if that were true and everything else being equal, wouldn't everyone be using ICBF? We are in our second adoption process with Colombia through XX. We have been waiting a LONG 18 months since our dossier was complete. Yes, we've had to renew paperwork and all..... We had such a great experience with our first child through XX that we didn't hesistate to work with them again. Best of luck to you. Mya

Hi, We are trying to choose between ICBF adoption vs. private casa to adopt a sibling group of 2-3 children under 7. Does anyone know what the current wait times are for sibling groups with the private orphanage? I know ICBF's waits but need to know this to pick my international agency. I cannot get anything concrete out of them.

Hello,Private Orphanages usually have more infants than older kids siblings groups. Our agency checked with the Casas and at this time there are no adoptable sibling group 0 - 8 years old so they recommended we remain with ICBF. We are currently on the wait list since end of october. It is my understanding that for a sibling group of 3 the wait may not be long. We are on the wait list for a sibling group of 2 where the average wait time is 8 months. Hope this helps.

Mya, Thanks so much for responding! You confirmed what my instincts were telling me. You have helped my husband and I to make a decision and we sent off our international adoption application today to our chosen agency. Best of luck with your wait! I hope it flys by for you: Many thanks, Colleen

So what agency did you choose and why?

We choose Journey's of the Heart after doing much research. I felt that the woman running the Colombia program had the most knowledge of Colombia adoptions even though it is a new program for the agency she has done Colombia adoptions for many years.