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You will need a homestudy to adopt either domestically or internationally. And most of the social workers and homestudy agencies that do homestudies will not undertake one for a newly divorced person, just as they will not for a newly married person. The reason is simple. It is not easy to learn to live with a partner if you have been single for quite a while, and it is not easy to learn to live on one's own after having had a partner for quite a while. During the adjustment period, usually construed as at least a year, it is not a good idea to take on the additional strain of bringing a child into the family -- or even to make the decision to bring a child into the family. It is not in the best interests of either the child or the parent(s) and, moreover, nearly all countries and jurisdictions require the homestudy to document the stability of the person's status.
Also, the homestudy will need to document the stability of your financial situation, your job, your home life, and so on. If you have just returned to Ireland, and are in the midst of a divorce, you are probably not in a good position to get an approved homestudy. How will you support a child? Most agencies expect to see you in a job for at least a year, and to know that you have a game plan and good skills, in case that job eventually dries up. How comfortable are you with your current home? Does it have proximity to good schools, other parents and children, etc? It is not a good idea for a newly adopted child to be moved around a lot. Get settled in a home before you embark upon an adoption, if at all possible.
And the issue of a social support network is more important than you probably realize. I'm an old single Mom, so I know that very well. Only a year after I brought my daughter home, I fell and shattered my kneecap. I needed to spend a week in the hospital, and a week at home just getting rid of all the painkillers in my system. I wore a long brace for six weeks after coming home, which meant that I couldn't fit in a car, except lying in the back seat, couldn't shower, couldn't put on my own underpants easily, etc. And when the brace came off, it turned out that my leg had "frozen" in position. It took about six months till I could bend my knee, and there was still massive swelling of the leg, lots of pain, and so on. I had months of physical therapy.
I was lucky. Although my parents are deceased and I have no siblings, I met, through my adoption agency, a couple that loved children and took care of Becca for two weeks, until I could safely care for her; they are now divorced, but the husband remains my daughter's favorite male role model, and she was a bridesmaid, a couple of years ago, along with his own daughter, when he remarried.. A close male friend took me to doctor appointments. A close female friend had her nanny pick up my daughter and take her to the playground occasionally, along with her daughter. Another friend sometimes brought over lunch so that my daughter could have a playdate with her daughter. The head of the summer camp at my synagogue insisted on enrolling my daughter in her program and driving her there and back daily. I'm not a person who likes to be dependent on others, but I had no choice -- and it was wonderful that so many great people were around when I needed them. You may never need this much support, but none of us knows what life will throw at us, and it's absolutely necessary to know how you will parent your child if something of this sort happens.
Remember that you don't have to live in a country to adopt from it. As an example, I live in the U.S. and am a U.S. citizen, but I adopted from China. The country from which you adopt must be willing to place children with people of your citizenship status, living either in your country of citizenship or abroad. And the country where you are living needs to be willing to allow you to immigrate an adopted child from overseas without waiting years. There are complexities, and you should work with a stable foreign country and a good agency so that you don't gave too many snags as you proceed to adopt, but it's definitely doable.
In general, unless you adopt from your own country's foster care system, adoption isn't cheap. With international adoption, there will be travel costs -- Russia requires from 2-4 trips to the country -- as well as court costs, guide/translator fees, agency fees, fees for documents, foreign government fees, passport fees, visa fees, and so on. Some countries allow independent adoption -- that is, without use of a licensed agency -- but it won't save you a lot of money, as you'll still need in-country assistance, and you'll have a greater chance of having problems with the process.
In many Western countries, if you wish to adopt a healthy newborn through a domestic agency, you will incur high fees, primarily because there are far fewer babies for adoption than there are families eager to adopt. The agencies have to spend a lot of time identifying birthmothers and working with them, and the cost of the agency personnel involved in these tasks gets passed on to the prospective parents.
All in all, my suggestion to you is that you finalize your divorce and spend at least a year living in Ireland or another country, getting your life in order. Then, take a look at what foreign programs are out there -- countries open and close frequently -- and their requirements. Also begin doing research on the availability of domestic programs that accept single women. At that point, you are likely to be in a better position to have a homestudy and proceed with your plan to become a single adoptive parent.
Sharon