Adoptions from Moldova or Belarus?

Belarus has been closed to international adoptions for many years. Several US families were caught in the closure and their children never came home, leading to much heart ache. I wouldn't count on the program if I were you. As for Moldova - the country has closed in tthe past but has been open - and is under the Hague. Very few children were adopted to the US from there last year, however.

Thanks for your reply. Gosh, an agency is boasting Moldova adoptions in that you can bring the child home after a 3 day trip, but you still have to return several times for a few days. They also say they do Belarus. I'm waiting to hear from them. Thanks for the update!

You might take a look at the US State Dept. site to get a more information on the process for Moldova. [url=http://adoption.state.gov/countryinformation.html]Country Information[/url] Belarus doesn't appear on the State Dept. list and appears to have been closed since 2005. Good luck! :)

Personally, I would not trust any agency that is promoting Belarus as a new program; nor would I trust any agency that made it sound like Moldova is simple - if it were, why were only 5 kids adopted from Moldova to the US last year?

Yes, I told DH it seemed too good to be true. Belarus was on the list of developing programs, and as you said, closed right now. But they do have high ratings, and lower than average total cost, that caught my interest. I recently found the Moldova adoption board on Yahoo and it is quite active. Here is what the agencyadvertises, though no one has contacted me yet: Type of Children: Infants (after 6mo avail for international), toddlers, and children between 1 and 16 years of age. Sibling groups also available. Parent Qualifications: Parents must be 21 or more years of age, and at least 20 years older than the child. Married couples and single women are eligible. Referral Time: For boys — about 1 month after the dossier is in Moldova. For girls — 2-3 months. Timeframe based on prior USCIS approval. Processing Time: Travel Requirements: Adoptive parents have 2 travel options — 1) 2 short trips (3-4 days each), or 2) a single 21-day stay in Moldova. If the family chooses, the child may be escorted home after the first trip to Moldova. Once the adoption in Moldova is finalized, parents travel with their child to Bucharest, Romania for an immigration visa for their child. The family returns to the US from Bucharest.

I would cross check what the agency is saying against the information that appears on the State Dept. site. I would also confirm that they agency is Hague accredited and I believe they also have to have approval from the country of Moldova. I removed the agency name from one of the previous posts since it is violating our agency discussion guidelines, but I did look up the agency and I would do a lot of research. They are advertising a program in Guatemala which has not been open in two years. And the information they have for the program isn't even accurate to when it was open. That was just the first thing that caught my eye. I would be very, very careful based on my quick look at their site. Just out of curiosity, where are you finding high ratings for them? I would also make sure you get feedback not only on the agency, but the particular country program. An agency can have a great program in one country and an awful one in another because their in-country contacts/staff can make or break an adoption.

I also checked one of the other countries that an agency with that name you mentioned advertises as a quick trip (Ukraine) and they are advertising the "theoretical" rather than "actual" time rates and options, e.g. they state that you can adopt an infant and that the travel is fast, but that hasn't been true for years. Ukraine doesn't even accept dossiers from parents wanting a non special needs child younger than 6. I don't know if I found the actual agency you are looking at - there were two with virtually the same name, but if they are offering Ukraine as a place to adopt babies, they are totally trying to sell you the Brooklyn bridge.

Two years ago I traveled to Moldova for a week and enjoyed my time in the capital city. (We were "on hold" for a second trip to the SDA in Ukraine - which we never received). We had our 4 yo son with us and my husband was working for the week so the two of us just explored. The city definitely isn't a tourist draw, but it was very nice. We were amazed at how many people spoke english, were nice to us, and we even found an english bookstore. So different than Ukraine. We were very careful that we didn't travel in the transdineaster()sp?) area - but the countryside was very nice as well. I've never seen a program for Moldova, but if the program is being honest I think you would like the country. Of course that assumes you are not going to have to go into the contested area of the country. It is a question to ask - where are the orphanages the very few children that are adopted to the US come from? good luck

Although the friendliness of the capital city is something to take into account, I reiterate that the claims the agency makes about Belarus (and Guatemala), two countries that are closed, do not inspire confidence in the agency's veracity. Ask the agency's reps for the names and contact information of at least 5 families that have adopted through this agency in the last 1-2 years from the countries you are interested in, and then ask those people how their process went and if they were satisfied with the agency. In other words, check up on the agency's claims.MMps If you look around on this and other forums, you will find that people were waiting to adopt from Moldova for a long time last year due to several changes in government; as far as I have heard from agency postings, currently the government is still in the process of accrediting agencies, so the idea that this is a quick or stable program is just not accurate.