Would you start a Congo adoption? I am scared it will be closed

We just completed an adoption in Congo (traveled in March). All of the changes with DGM and the Embassy Investigation process were happening as we were there (we were in country for 2 weeks). The updates we received from our agency seem to indicate that DGM (Congolese immigration) will be issuing exit letters (that's the last thing you need before you can travel home with your child) at the end of the month. I think what has happened is that Congo adoptions have grown so quickly and the process is now catching up. My best guess is that the process will slow down, which is hard for adoptive families, but necessary in order to make sure that things don't get missed. Our process from agency application to travel was about 12 months. If we were starting over, I don't think that we would hesitate to adopt from Congo, but I think we would expect it to be more like 18 months. Please feel free to PM us or email at sconrad1@gmail.com Good luck to you!

It is a risky time to jump on board the DRC Adoption band wagon. I've been in the process for almost 3 years now and still don't know when we will be able to go pick up our daughter (yup, adoption final and legalized since November 2012). I'm in Canada and a couple provinces have closed to DRC adoptions...hoping this won't cause a domino effect. But very uncertain for Canadians right now. Sorry I don't have better news for you!! :(

Hello! I just received my referral two weeks ago for a little girl in DRC. I've been waiting since February and even with all of the changes this country has made regarding intercountry adoption, I feel this is the right country for me. peanutpeanut- that is great you are keeping an eye on the adoption.gov website. It has good information. If you do choose to adopt from the DRC, you need to be very careful which agency you choose. Do your research and make sure the agency has successfully completed adoptions from the DRC. The timeline to adopt has increase with all of the changes that have happened so far. These changes are good changes in that it is being verified children are really deemed adoptable. The part that increases the timeline is that the staffing has not been increased to handle the increase in the number of families wanting to adopt from the DRC. This is hard because children have families, but are stuck waiting until the paperwork can be pushed thorugh the bottleneck. Picking a country like DRC, you need to be flexible and realize the steps are always changing and the order of steps is constantly changing. A good agency will stay on top of all of these changes and keep you informed. They will also answer your questions and address your concerns about adopting from DRC. That's my two cents anyways! Have a good day! Justine