Anyone adopting from Morocco?

I don't think a lot of people are going to adopt from Morrocco because of the strict religious requirements. According to their adoption laws, the parent must be practicing Muslims or be willing to convert the Islam. The vast majority (I would probably guess around 85%) of adoptive parents are Christians and I seriously doubt the government will accept their applications for adoption.

I would be careful about trying to adopt from Morocco. Morocco is a Muslim country, and takes its religious heritage seriously. Moroccan adoption law states that prospective adoptive parents must either be Muslims or in the process of converting to Islam. If you are Muslim, this country would be a good choice. It respects the concept of adoption laid out in Shaaria -- Islamic law -- which is very different from the Western concept. Under Islamic law, adoption is more like foster care or guardianship. The child remains part of his birth family, with regard to inheritance rights and maintaining the family's surname. The birth family is encouraged to play a role in matters such as deciding on how his/her religious education will be handled, along with the adoptive family. And the child can even return to his/her birth family at any time, if the birth family's situation improves and competent authorities determine that it is in the best interest of the child to do so. Normally, it is difficult to immigrate a child from an Islamic country to an American adoptive family's home, because the USCIS follows the Western concept of adoption, in which it is expected that the rights of the birth family have been irrevocably severed, and that the adopted child will have all of the rights and privileges in his/her adoptive family that he/she would have if he/she were born to that family. However, the Moroccan government will provide a decree of guardianship to the Muslim adoptive family, which satisfies USCIS requirements for issuing an IR-4 visa -- that is, a visa under which a child is brought to the U.S. for adoption here. For an American who is not Muslim and has no serious intent to become Muslim, I would strongly recommend against adoption from Morocco. I have heard that some unscrupulous facilitators encourage people to undertake sham conversions. One person was reported to have said, "All you have to do is sign a paper saying that you believe that there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammed is His prophet." To me -- and I am a Jewish woman -- a person who undergoes a sham conversion in order to adopt insults Islam, Islamic law, and the Islamic culture of the child he/she hopes to adopt. How can such a person then raise the child to respect his/her birth heritage and feel good about himself/herself? And what will the child think, when he/she learns that his/her parent lied in such a manner? In addition, from the standpoint of the U.S. government, an adoption visa will not be issued to the child of a person who violates the adoption law of a child's country of citizenship. There could also be charges of visa fraud -- a federal crime under U.S. law -- if a person provides false information on documents given to the U.S. government in support of a petition to bring the child into the country. Sharon

I would be careful about trying to adopt from Morocco. Morocco is a Muslim country, and takes its religious heritage seriously. Moroccan adoption law states that prospective adoptive parents must either be Muslims or in the process of converting to Islam. If you are Muslim, this country would be a good choice. It respects the concept of adoption laid out in Shaaria -- Islamic law -- which is very different from the Western concept. Under Islamic law, adoption is more like foster care or guardianship. The child remains part of his birth family, with regard to inheritance rights and maintaining the family's surname. The birth family is encouraged to play a role in matters such as deciding on how his/her religious education will be handled, along with the adoptive family. And the child can even return to his/her birth family at any time, if the birth family's situation improves and competent authorities determine that it is in the best interest of the child to do so. Normally, it is difficult to immigrate a child from an Islamic country to an American adoptive family's home, because the USCIS follows the Western concept of adoption, in which it is expected that the rights of the birth family have been irrevocably severed, and that the adopted child will have all of the rights and privileges in his/her adoptive family that he/she would have if he/she were born to that family. However, the Moroccan government will provide a decree of guardianship to the Muslim adoptive family, which satisfies USCIS requirements for issuing an IR-4 visa -- that is, a visa under which a child is brought to the U.S. for adoption here. For an American who is not Muslim and has no serious intent to become Muslim, I would strongly recommend against adoption from Morocco. I have heard that some unscrupulous facilitators encourage people to undertake sham conversions. One person was reported to have said, "All you have to do is sign a paper saying that you believe that there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammed is His prophet." To me -- and I am a Jewish woman -- a person who undergoes a sham conversion in order to adopt insults Islam, Islamic law, and the Islamic culture of the child he/she hopes to adopt. How can such a person then raise the child to respect his/her birth heritage and feel good about himself/herself? And what will the child think, when he/she learns that his/her parent lied in such a manner? In addition, from the standpoint of the U.S. government, an adoption visa will not be issued to the child of a person who violates the adoption law of a child's country of citizenship. There could also be charges of visa fraud -- a federal crime under U.S. law -- if a person provides false information on documents given to the U.S. government in support of a petition to bring the child into the country. Sharon