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As some of you know I have been exploring various international programs and Bulgaria is one that I still am very interested in....BUT....here is the information I got today in an email:
"There is quite a range of moderate to severe special needs. What I have found when reviewing the registry of waiting children in Bulgaria is the younger children primarily have on-going special needs. There are many older children"....which they define as 7 years of age and up...
" listed with correctable special needs or no special need other than their age. Here are a few examples of moderate to severe special needs seen in younger children Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, significant developmental delays, etc."....gosh...am I being unrealistic in wanting a 2-3 year old with correctable needs like club feet, or cleft lip? I don't consider any of her examples as moderate needs.:confused:
"At this time we are gearing our Bulgaria program towards the placement of older children and children on the special needs registry as that is the focus of Bulgaria֒s Central Authority, the Ministry of Justice. Over the past few years more and more families have submitted dossiers hoping to adopt younger and healthier children and there is quite a back-log of waiting families. Families with dossiers submitted in 2010 for healthyӔ younger children may wait 3 years or longer for a match. "
WOW, I am blown away. Feedback, anyone?:roadblock: :(
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pkthomas
Unfortunately I think that email might be very accurate.
That email sounds very accurate - it supports everything I have been hearing for the last 2 years since the program got restarted with a focus on special needs and older kid adoption. If this is an email message from your agency, I would trust them. There are questionable agencies out there that like to promise that Bulgaria is "speeding up" and is right for people looking for non or minor SN kids under the age of 2.
Hi, from what i heard is that now many more children are being registered for adoption, domestic first then they move to the international register. I beleive after 6 months or if they have been rejected by three families within Bulgaria they are moved to the international register. You have to remember there are also hundreds of Bulgarians waiting to adopt a child. Which is maybe why most the children who reach the international register are older or with some special needs. We adopted an older child and were matched within 8 months of being regisitered.
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ananas
We adopted an older child and were matched within 8 months of being regisitered.
Most countries consider a child to be "special needs", even if he/she is healthy, if he/she is of school age, usually defined as six or older.
The hardest healthy children to place, of course, are children over 10 or so, especially if they are male. For these children, agencies often offer grants to offset some of the adoption fees.
In general, the older a child is at the time of adoption, the more likely it is that he/she has been exposed to negative experiences, either in his/her bio family or in an orphanage or foster care.
As far as adopting a school aged child, most do learn English very quickly, especially if they are sent to school very soon after homecoming. The parent may need to work with the school on special accommodations -- ESL, tutoring, etc. -- or find outside resources to help. And, obviously, the parent will need to consider the child's emotional needs; some children may have too many attachment issues to start school right away. But it is amazing how important peers are to language acquisition in an older child.
Sharon
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