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There is a good discussion of adoption from Laos on the website of the U.S. State Department, at [url=http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_info.php?country-select=laos]LAOS | Intercountry Adoption[/url].
Although Laos allows international adoption, the process is not always clear. There are no official orphanages. There are no official departments of the government concerned with adoption. There are no clear standards for ensuring the authenticity of Laotian documents like birth and death certificates, and so on. The U.S. government may find it difficult to ensure that a child whose adoptive parents apply for a visa for him or her has not been bought or stolen.
Because of the lack of a clear, standardized process, almost no adoptions by Americans from Laos have occurred in recent years. Those adoptions that do occur are primarily adoptions of relatives' children. To the best of my knowledge, there are no American agencies with Laotian adoption programs, though if an individual identifies a well-qualified child on his/her own, most agencies will help the individual with completing the adoption.
If you do try to adopt from Laos, be very, very sure that you do not finalize an adoption before determining that the child will be eligible for a visa to enter the U.S. Otherwise, you could wind up with a child for whom you have legal and moral responsibility, but whom you cannot bring to the U.S. In such a case, you will either have to live overseas with the child for two years before applying for a visa, or rescind his/her adoption.
Sharon
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