Independent Adoption? Help!

Your best bet is to find an American agency with a Taiwan program that is still taking new applicants. You don't have to go independent. The problem you will find is that Taiwan is a very small and relatively prosperous country, with relatively few adoptable children. In the past, there were few Americans and Western Europeans seeking to adopt there, so all of those people could be matched with children easily, in a reasonable time frame. Unfortunately, when China's wait times began to increase, and when China's requirements began to become more strict, a lot of American and European families began looking for other options. Taiwan was an obvious choice, because there were children of Chinese heritage in well-run programs, who were being adopted without undue delays. As a result, lots and lots of families began flocking to agencies with Taiwan programs or contacting Taiwanese social welfare organizations. Today, there are far more families seeking to adopt from Taiwan than there are children available for adoption. As a result, many agencies are closing their programs -- or at least their "healthy infant/toddler" programs to new applicants, to avoid the development of waiting lists as long as China's. You may have to look long and hard to find a Taiwan program with openings. Going the independent route won't make the situation any easier. Taiwan's system is not centralized, like China's. You will be contacting the same Taiwanese social welfare organizations that the agencies are using, and applying for a match from the same group of children. It will just take you longer, and you won't have the contacts that the agencies have. Each U.S. agency working in Taiwan has affiliations with one or more Taiwanese social welfare organizations. And some of the Taiwanese social welfare organizations have more than one adoption program. So it's hard to answer your questions about ages and gender; the programs vary, both with regard to the requirements for the adoptive families and with regard to the characteristics of the children available for adoption. At this time, you will be more successful in finding an American agency to work with you if you are willing to adopt a child who is older or who has special needs. Children are available up to at least age 12, and possibly older. In the past, it was relatively easy to get a referral for a healthy, very young infant and to bring him/her home by his/her first birthday; however, this is now much less likely, if you are not already in process. Do remember that the programs tend to have fairly strict requirements for parents. As an example, you will find, with some of the programs, that you must be married for at least five years, have no more than two or three other children, have a fairly high income, have no criminal or medical issues, etc. Also, do remember that at least some of the Taiwanese programs allow birthmothers to be involved in choosing the parents for their children and to maintain contact. These arrangements may not be comfortable for all families. Your best bet is to obtain a list of American agencies with Taiwan programs, and begin checking websites and writing for more information. There are some very reputable agencies working in Taiwan, which has a good reputation in terms of ethics and organization, but you should always check out any agency carefully before sending any money. Sharon