Bulgarian adoption - fact / fiction

Hi,My understanding from reports people and agencies are posting is that there has been a change of government and there is now more political will to pick up the pace/restart the Bulgarian international adoption process, which has been closed recently and very slow prior to that. Beware, there are a lot of families in the pipeline who are waiting since before the closures. Another thing you might want to consider is that all of these kids would be considered at least moderate special needs, as these kids are institutionalized. The care in orphanages varies a great deal - some kids get the special attention of a beloved caregivers, others don't. Finally, the children are considered caucasian by some broad understanding. But, most of the children available for adoption in Bulgaria are Romany - some Roma kids are very dark skinned, and looks wise, they bear a strong resemblance to the people of South Asia/India, from whom they are descended. You should be aware of this - I am sure their parents consider their looks very beautiful. But they are not blonde/blue eyed/fair skinned (except in very unusual circumstances when they are of mixed parentage). In Bulgaria (and also, Russia and Ukraine), Romany people are not considered "Bulgarian"/"Russian"/"Ukrainian" and they are not treated well, hence high levels of extreme poverty and hardship lead Roma children to be institutionalized and are rarely domestically adopted, while Bulgarian kids who are ethnically Bulgarian are less commonly institutionalized, and if they are placed in an orphanage as babies are likely to be adopted domestically.If it is important for you that your child resemble you, take a look at photos people have posted on the web of their Roma children, and keep in mind that you need to consider this, given your preference for a child of caucasian appearance. Here is a link for an adoption web group and another that will familiarize you with Romany traditions and history. Take a look at it and you will see that Romany have for centuries been subjected to a lot of discrimination from Eastern Europeans but also have made tons of interesting and valuable contributions particularly in the areas of music, and you may even become interested in adopting from the Roma population:[url=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karfin_lollipop/]KARFIN_Lollipop : Adopted Roma (Gypsies)[/url][url=http://www.balkanproject.org/roma/index.shtml]Who We Were, Who We Are: Kosovo Roma Oral History Project[/url]

HI Aiden We have one daughter whom we adopted from Russia back in '06. We didn't adopt again becuase my husband is older, also due to the hurdles and the costs of adoption. I expected to end up with a fair, blonde/blue child from Russia. My child that I ended up with supposedly is from a Roma background. Ironically she looks a lot like me and can pass for my biological child. I don't know her exact history but was told she was Roma( I dont know the percentage though). I am from Jewish extract and she resembles me a lot. We are very different in personality though. In the summer, however, she gets some real deep tan. It looks like she has spent a week in a tanning bed whereas I dont get too tan. Once the summer is over, her tan fades and we resemble each other a lot again. So if you are looking for a caucasian, or somewhat caucasian-looking child, you can still consider children from Romani background. All the best to you, Amy K, NJ

To give you a clearer idea, here is a recent photo of a Roma wedding in Eastern Europe:[url]http://www.balkanproject.org/roma/Photos/PHOTOS_Large/Salijevic_wedding_01_CUT.jpg[/url]

Thank you all for the wonderful feedback. It is greatly appreciated. As I sure many of the people in the forum can attest to, this is a very scary process. There is an unbelievable reward at the end, but the process is scary nonetheless. The pictures were beautiful. Im skeptical of Bulgaria at this point, IҒm going to call a few more agencies today and do a bit more research. Im hoping to decide on a country and get the adoption process started by end of week.

I will say we have had our paperwork there for almost two years with no news of health children being given the opportunities for a home. I see Special needs, older children and large sibbling groups but none that meet your criteria. Yes, there are kids there that need homes, but my expereince is that Bulgaria has a different set of priorites in placing their children.

I will say we have had our paperwork there for almost two years with no news of healthy children being given the opportunities for a home. I see Special needs, older children and large sibbling groups but none that meet your criteria. Yes, there are kids there that need homes, but my expereince is that Bulgaria has a different set of priorites in placing their children.

KaronD, Are you able to share more information about your wait time (age/gender of child requested, date of registration with MOJ)? We are requesting a child of either gender, under 2 years of age. Our paperwork has been approved since March of 2009. Our agency is still telling us 18 months for a referral, which means about 8 months more to go - but I am getting skeptical that that is still reality.

Any person adopting internationally should be aware that "healthy" is a term used rather loosely.In fact, most internationally adopted children will come home with some issues. Malnutrition is often a factor, and may cause correctable problems such as rickets. Intestinal parasites are very common, but very treatable. Various skin problems, such as scabies ( infestation with a mite) are also treatable, though some, such as eczema, may be chronic. Respiratory infections and asthma seem to be more prevalent than in the general population.Most children will have some degree of delay, caused by institutionalization. They may be behind schedule in gross and fine motor skills, language development, and so on. In most cases, the children will catch up, though therapy may be needed.Some children who are referred as healthy may have issues that are considered worrisome by Americans, but that are not recognized by the foreign medical establishment. As an example, many children come home with some degree of attachment disorder. Mild forms of attachment disorder will usually go away without treatment, once the child is in a family. Moderate forms will often benefit from therapy, though they may be disruptive to the family. And severe RAD, which is rare, could actually make a child unable to adjust to life with a family and cause him/her to harm himself/herself or others.Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) also are rarely mentioned by foreign countries, especially because they may not be recognizable in a baby or toddler. FASD, which are particularly common in Eastern European children but can be found in any adopted child, including domestically adopted children, results from a birthmother drinking while pregnant. FASD can also have mild, moderate, or severe symptoms, including learning disabilities or retardation, hyperactivity, impulse control problems, and so on.And, of course, many countries do not have a Western medical system, or have a Western system but few resources for doing sophisticated diagnostic testing and therapies. As a result, these countries may refer children as healthy even though they have medical issues, or may come with a range of diagnoses that do not reflect how Americans view disease.While some children referred as healthy come home with undiagnosed medical issues, other children may be referred with medical issues that are NOT considered significant in this country. As an example, some children have been referred as having special needs, in some countries, with conditions such as undescended testicle (a totally minor issue that either self-corrects or is easily correctable with outpatient surgery), a visible birthmark, or an extra toe that is not part of a larger syndrome. These conditions could cause a child to be stigmatized in his/her own country, but would have virtually no significance in this country.If you are open to special needs, you can usually let your agency know what types of needs you will consider. Children with limb differences, such as a missing limb or one limb shorter than the other are often accepted by families, because these children usually don't require surgical intervention, and may not even require prostheses; they may have learned to compensate for their disabilities and have normal ability to function. Children with heart defects, cleft palate, and so on, may require one or more surgeries, but may be able to function normally thereafter. Children with conditions such as blindness or deafness may require parents who can deal with their long term needs, such as special educational arrangements. And so on.In short, using terms like "healthy" and "special needs" is not particularly useful. What you really need to do is to consider what specific issues you can handle, and make your concerns known to your agency. And you also need to be somewhat ready to make a "leap of faith". Some children who seem healthy upon referral may turn out to have medical or psychological issues. And some children who are referred as special needs may have conditions that are easily managed in the U.S.Sharon

I would expect the cost to be between 30-35,000 dollars. Yes there are healthy children (institutionalized) but at the moment special needs, sibling groups and children over 6 are been given priority. So young children are taking longer to be reffered. Agencies are saying between 18-24 months to get a young referral. Best of luck with your decision.

Aiden, I don't know how much more research you have completed since this post... but let me fill in some gaps. My daughter is HOME!! She came home at the end of March, I was allowed to advocate for these Bulgarian Orphans when I was picking up my daughter. Due to the changing in the laws last fall... almost 4,000 children have the ability to be adopted internaitonally after a 6 month stint on the adoption registry. I think at first everyone thought (including me) that upon the parents of these children being notified that the children were going to be placed internationally... many were stuck in the system because one or both parents didn't sign, didn't visit, didn't pay their portion of child support for the child to live in the institution... SOOOOO Bulgaria gave them an opportunity to step up to the plate for their children... I want to say roughly 40 familys came for their children or agreed to the child support responsibility or whatever... the rest had to be added first to the domestic register and then after 6 months the international register. The timeline to show for your child was the first week of January 2010. The thought was the children were already being entered... not the case... when I was there in March I was told the MOJ was being very diligent to enter all the children and that it was taking time. From what I understand we should begin seeing more healthy referrals (yes there have been some already) in the fall due to the children's registration dates. So for those of you debating on whether to begin your dossier... and the stability of bulgarian adoption... my advice is that is slow and steady... it is not going to be a Guatemala or even a Russia... maybe once all the children are added the 18-24 months may decrease 12-18months but my personal opinion is that this will never be an urgently fast program. As for adoption expenses... mine for my SN daughter were roughly $25,000... that includes every stamp. So I would agree that it would be 30-35K for a healthy child. As for Rominy Heritage, the children are beautiful... most of the Rominy children I have seen have dark hair and dark eyes... and thier flesh color varies in its darkness. I went into this process thinking I would adopt a little boy with dark ringlets and liquid brown eyes... my daughter has medium brown hair and hazel eyes and is "Bulgarian". Yvonne