Trying to start this process

I am not aware of any countries that will allow you to adopt at your ages. Often there is both a length of marriage requirement (3 years or more) and an age requirement (usually about 25).

Very few countries anywhere in the world will accept a couple where both spouses are under 25. Also, most homestudy agencies, and many countries, want to see stability of marriage before approving a couple. One year is a minimum. Some agencies and countries want to see three or more years of marriage. In addition, there are relatively few Asian countries open to American adoptive families, these days. Vietnam and Cambodia are closed, pending reform of their adoption systems. China is not an option for you because its minimum age at the time of application is 30, and it also has length of marriage requirements. In addition, the wait for a "healthy infant" is at least five years, and some say that the wait is increasing. The special needs program can grant waivers for some things, but not age. Korea has a wonderful, stable program, but it has decreased in size because the country's prosperity has made fewer children available for adoption. Because there are relatively few healthy babies available, compared to the number of families seeking to adopt, Korea, which has age and length of marriage requirements, will be unlikely to grant waivers. Taiwan has a similar situation -- too few babies for the number of families wanting to adopt. Right now, many agencies are not accepting new applicants. It's pretty open on age and length of marriage, though individual orphanages may have their own rules that are more strict than those of the country. Some Taiwan programs allow birthmothers to choose the parents for their child, and contact between birthparents and the adoptive families is possible. It is very difficult for foreigners to adopt from Japan, unless they have lived in the country and established good contacts there. First off, there are very few children available for adoption in general, because of the country's prosperity. And many children living in orphanages are NOT available for adoption. There is a strong cultural belief in the importance of the "blood tie", and a suspicion that if a person adopts a child who is not a relative, he/she must have ulterior motives, like enslaving or prostituting the child. When a parent IS willing to place a child for adoption, he/she will usually not permit overseas adoption. Only 32 children from Japan came to the U.S. on adoption visas in 2010, and some of these children may have been adopted by relatives. While Laos would appear to have very liberal adoption laws, with regard to the age and length of marriage of the adoptive parents, it is very difficult to complete an ethical adoption. The laws aren't always clear. There is no government authority in charge of adoptions. There are no official orphanages. Some unscrupulous people pay birthmothers to relinquish children and then try to sell them to foreign families. And so on. If the U.S. cannot be sure that a child was adopted in an ethical manner and in a way that complies with U.S. and Laotian law, the child will not receive a visa to enter the U.S. Burma (Myanmar) does not allow adoption of children by anyone who is not a citizen of the country and not a Buddhist. Your age and length of marriage might be OK, but you have the wrong citizenship and, probably, the wrong religion. Thailand requires parents to be 25 or older and married for at least three years. Right now, there are also quotas that limit the number of children adopted internationally, and few healthy infants are available. Hong Kong, while technically part of China now, is allowed to have its own adoption system. It requires prospective parents to be at least 25. There are few healthy young children available for intercountry adoption, and these children, plus children with milder special needs, will almost always go either to domestic families or to families of Chinese origin. At this point, anyone who is non-Chinese can expect to be referred a child with a rather significant special need. India is considered South Asian. It is in the process of clearing up backlogs in placements, and of making some changes in its system, and is currently not accepting dossiers of foreign families until at least the end of September. It will not accept people under 30, and has a five year minimum length of marriage. Nepal is currently closed to Americans, except those who are already in process. The U.S. feels that the documentation available on many Nepalese children is not reliable, and that some children listed as abandoned may, in fact, not be. All in all, my suggestion to you is that you wait till you are 25, and have been married a few years, if you wish to adopt internationally. Since the adoption world changes regularly, you may or may not be able to find a country open to you at that point, but you'll have a better chance than if you apply now. Sharon