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Hi All, I am a single woman, thirty-ish, planning on adopting an older child. My original plan was to adopt from Bulgaria. I was planning on using an agency in my state (Washington) that had a solid Bulgaria program and go from there. However, in the process of reaching out to different agencies for info packets, I decided to browse the waiting children list at Rainbowkids. I came across a young girl with SB who just seemed to sort of reach out to me from the photo and grab my heart in a big hug, if that makes any sense. So, I reached out to the agency that represents her to see if I could learn more about her. It turns out she is in Armenia, which happily, as far as I can tell, is open to single women. The agency, however, does not do homestudies in my state. From what I understand of this process, if I want to proceed with adopting this little girl, I would have to primarily go through the agency that represents her, but do a homestudy through an agency here in WA, and have the agency that represents her review the homestudy to ensure it meets the necessary requirements for Armenia. Am I correct in my thinking on this or am I way off? Please let me know. Thanks!
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All of the countries open to international adoption, with the exception of South Korea, allow you to use a placement agency outside your state, as long as you have an approved homestudy conducted by a provider in your state. If you happen to have a great agency in your state, which can do both your homestudy and your placement, that is wonderful, especially in terms of post-adoption support. However, most people don't have that opportunity, especially if they are adopting from a country served by few American placement agencies, like Armenia; as I understand it, only two. Most people actually do wind up using a placement agency that is out-of-state and having a locally done homestudy. Nowadays, with the availability of email, Skype, fax, FedEx, etc., it is very easy for an agency to communicate with its clients, wherever they live. If you choose an agency that is well known for good service to clients, as well as great experience in adoption and the country that interests you, you should have no more difficulty completing an adoption that if you worked with an in-state placement agency. I was lucky. I live in an area with several long-established placement agencies working in my country of interest, which could handle both my homestudy and my placement. I liked the personal feel of being able to drive over to the agency and meet with staff, go to waiting parents' events, and get help with various post-placement matters, ranging from getting a citizenship certificate for my daughter to finding a family that could take care of her when I had an emergency hospital admission. I also liked the fact that most of its clients were from a three state area that made it possible for us to maintain ongoing contact with folks whose children were adopted at the same time. But, frankly, if I hadn't found an agency in my state that met my criteria, I would have been perfectly willing to work with an out-of-state one, as long as I had a thorough homestudy in my jurisdiction. Just as an aside, please read the notice on Armenian adoption that was recently posted on the U.S. State Department website. It could be important in your situation. Go to adoption.state.gov and look for the drop-down box by "Learn About a Country". Select Armenia, and when you are transferred to that page, click on "Armenia Adoption Notice", under Alerts and Notices at the top. Sharon
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