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Hello, I am new to this forum and the world of adoption. I am hoping to find some good advise and resources along with hearing about other's experiences with International adoption.
My husband and I have been married for 5 years and have two bio children together, a daughter (3 years) and a son (8 months). Both pregnancies were high risk and both of my children have some medical needs. My daughter spent 11 days in the NICU and my son is getting ready to have his second eye surgery. My husband and I always dreamt of a large family but because of our history with high risk pregnancies we have decided to adopt.
For many reason, including wait time, comfort in traveling to the country, and heritage we are looking at adopting from Poland.
Is it reasonable to expect to adopt a child under the age of 3 with no medical needs (other than those from being in an orphanage)? I don't mean this to sound rude but I already have two children with some degree of medical needs, one of the reasons we are hoping to adopt is to avoid having future children with these needs.
I have heard wait times for referral can range from 4 to 18 months...is this correct? Also I have read on one agency webpage that we can expect to travel twice, once for about 17 days and next for 10 days. Another agency states that you will be in country for 7-20 days for the first trip and 5-7 days for the second trip. In other cases I have read of adoptive parents staying in country for as long as 7 weeks. With two kids at home to provide care for I need to know a reasonable time frame to spend in country.
Two agencies we are looking at are Saint Mary International Adoptions and Good Hope Adoption and Family services (they work in collaboration with Huminska’s Anioly). I know we can't discuss these agencies openly on this forum so I would be very greatful to anyone who is willing to PM me with any information, experiences, reviews, or anything regarding these agencies.
Like all adoptive parents, my husband and I have a lot of decisions to make. We still have not ruled out domestic adoption but we like the finality of international adoption. Thank you for your help.
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I think under 3 w/ no special needs "other than being in an orphanage" could come with a longer wait time. We said under 4 and I thought our wait time was reasonable at 8 months. At referral our daughter was 3.2 and 3.8 by the time she came home w/ us.
I would also warn you that the concept of, "other than being in an orphanage" might prove more trying than your current children's medical needs, even though the child(ren) are "healthy". Our "healthy" daughter is currently receiving occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, sensory integration therapy, special ed therapy, psychological services, and education tutoring. Phew.... Most through the county, some private.
You have to remember that the children need to be available for adoption in Poland for at least a year prior to being made available for international adoption. Polish do adopt the younger, healthy children.
I'd recommend Poland and we had a good experience. Different agency, though one of the ones you listed uses the same in-country people. Our timeframes in-country were different but we were one of the last through pre-Hague. The process can be really different now.
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