single ready to adopt but lost

International adoption is tricky as a single - I thought China didn't accept single women anymore? Very few countries do.You may want to look at domestic adoption. I had my beautiful boy placed with me in May at 8 days old, and he is healthy and perfect. The more open you are to things like race, age (I know you said you were comfortable with a toddler, too), drug exposure, some health or mental health history, the more likely you will be to match more quickly. There are some helpful books on adoption, including books for single parents (can't remember titles right now, but if you want them send a PM and I'll look for them).

One option you could look into is Honduras. They allow single women to adopt and don't have any additional restrictions. What I mean by that is it isn't like some countries where single women can only adopt school age or special needs children. I brought home my healthy two year old daughter this summer. Honduras currently requires two trips with the second being 4-6 weeks. The program is also very small and the timeline is really unpredictable. For the last few months they have been "revamping" the process and put everything on hold. Hopefully in the next few weeks they will be announcing what the changes will be if any to the process and things will resume. It isn't the most predictable program but it could be an option for you. Especially with so few programs open to single women. There are also a lot of great Honduran children waiting for families if you can handle wading through the process. PM me if you want the agencies (2)

I'm single and adopting from Bulgaria. There are healthy toddlers who are starting to be referred...but the wait time is going to be 18-24 months at least. There are some wonderful waiting children who have minor special needs that have come home. PM me if you have any specific questions about the program...but I will be leaving to go on my first trip to meet my daughter this weekend. So, if you don't hear back for a while, that is the reason why.

My daughter just turned four when I got her as a foster child. They were always trying to give me babies and I don't mean babies with serious issues either. So the reason people don't want to do domestic foster adoption is the kids can go back. That is the price you pay. However, children from foreign countries can have as serious issues as any in US foster and there will be no chance to say you changed your mind. I had several short term placements before my daughter, one hurt when they left, one hurt but I was glad because they weren't the right fit for me. My daughter never had parental visits, no really horrible issues. Oh yea, and the big shocker I didn't know about, they pay the foster money after adoption, a chunk of the daycare and medical bills and not because we are poor. Foster care might not be without pain but it is more difficult to look the other way.

I am female, single, not rich and over 40. I have adopted from foster care and have loved every minute. I am not a baby person, so that was not an issue for me. I would heartily suggest foster care adoption. I know a family that adopted a 2 year old, then his infant brother and then another infant brother. One advantage of domestic foster care adoption is the logistics. The lady mentioned above took both of the infant boys home from the hospital as newborns. You cannot take a foreign newborn home from the hospital. While the foster care adoption could fall apart I know of a few international adoptions that fell apart also. Then there was a lot of money lost as well. One thing I would suggest though is to try an agency that specializes in foster adoptions. DHS is very busy and not as responsive IMO. Plus the agency is on your side and I feel more upfront. The agency helped me apply for daycare subsidies and difficulty of care. DHS never mentioned either of these to a friend and she discovered it 7 months after receiving her son.