Need Opinions!

Poland is a Hague country and, therefore, it must agree not to place a child for adoption internationally unless he/she cannot find a home in his/her own country. People in Poland are fairly prosperous compared to those in some countries, so fairly few children, total, are placed for adoption. Also, being fairly prosperous, Polish citizens are more open to adopting than people who have to struggle to put food on the table for people already in the family, so domestic adoptions do occur regularly. Since most residents of Poland, like people around the world, prefer to adopt healthy infants and toddlers, those children are adopted most quickly, and it is not common for a child under three, who is fairly healthy, to be available for international adoption. However, it is possible that some Polish social welfare organizations, particularly those that provide maternity care for unmarried women and help them make adoption plans, may have more young children available than those that mainly take in children who are abandoned, removed from dysfunctional families by the courts, or reliqnuished because they have a disability. If a U.S. agency works with facilities that specialize in maternity care, it may be more likely to have young babies. Do remember that internationally adopted kids are NOT usually healthy, as defined in the U.S. Many will suffer from minor issues, such as malnutrition, parasites, respiratory infections, and such, which can be easily rectified. Others may have delays attributable to institutional life, which may take longer to correct. They may also have behavioral and emotional issues resulting from institutional life, ranging from food hoarding to bullying to difficulties with attachment; attachment disorders may be anywhere from very minor to very severe, though the latter are not common. Some children may have issues that are not recognized by the country's medical system. In some parts of Eastern Europe, for example, a child may have had prenatal exposure to alcohol or drugs, yet a fetal alcohol spectrum issue may never be mentioned on the child's medical report. FASD can, in some cases, affect learning ability, impulse control, understanding of cause and effect, and so on, with the degree of impairment determined by factors like when in her pregnancy the birthmother drank, how much and how often she drank, and so on. And other children may have records that are falsified -- either made to sound more serious, so judges will regard them as OK for international adoption, or made to sound less serious, so that Americans will be willing to adopt them. You honestly have to be prepared for all of these things; you hope for the best, but must prepare for the worst. Yes, Catholic heritage and the willingness to raise a child Catholic are important in Poland, though non-Catholics can adopt in some cases. Make sure that your homestudy emphasizes your Catholic upbringing, your Church marrage, your plan to raise a child Catholic, and so on, and discusses your husband's openness to all these things. And fairly young parents are preferred in many countries, around the world. Countries that prefer older parents are actually in the minority. I'm not aware of any Polish objection to adoption by fertile couples, and most American agencies do not object to adoption by fertile couples, though many may ask that you put your adoption on hold if you become pregnant, and not adopt until the bio child is at least a year old. The reason is that agencies want to be sure that parenting the new bio child isn't so stressful that you decide that you are unready for another child, and that, by the time you adopt, you will be truly prepared to give the adopted child, who may have some unique challenges, adequate time and attention. Sharon

I'm currently in Poland adopting a 5 year old boy that is small for his age and does have minor delays. He is diagnosed with FAS. But he is so cute, has tons of energy and we love him. And I have to tell you that there are no children under age 3 for adoption in Poland. All the young children are adopted by the Poles them self and only if the child has severe medical issue that it will get on the international adoption list at the Adoption Center in Warsaw. We went to the orphanage where our son was at and there are mostly older boys and a few girls. This has been a very costly and long process. The outcome is great, but think of the cost and length of this whole process.

That is helpful info!! We had just decided to go back to Russia when they closed so are now researching countries..have been looking into Poland and is quite a difference in agencies as far as what they say is available! Some claim 24 months and up. Spoke with an agency today and she said they never have brought home a child under 5 yet!! Super informative to hear unbiased APs who have actually been in the orphanages to share! Thanks!!! We are hoping for under 3 so think we can scratch Poland off our list :-)

Bbinporkopolis, who did you decide to go with? And why? Did you find out anything good or bad about other agencies? PM me. Thanks.