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We are all new to this. Has anyone tried to do an independent adoption in Ecuador? This would be an uncontested adoption of a three year old girl in Guayaquil. Its a crazy story but the little girl is the daughter a friend's housekeeper. The housekeeper does not want her and has left her with the employer. We are working on getting an attorney there in Guayaquil, but I wondered if anyone has done an independent adoption internationally. I see that in 2011 only 6 children were adopted to Americans in all of Ecuador. So we are trying not to get our hopes up. Would love to hear any stories, advice, guidance.. Thank you so much!! Elizabeth
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Ecuador and the U.S. have both ratified the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption. As a result, you will not be able to do an adoption without involving a Hague-accredited U.S. adoption agency, and you may find it difficult to do an identified adoption (where you actually know the unrelated child you seek to adopt, even if you use a Hague-accredited agency. Even if you manage to complete an adoption without going through the Hague process, the USCIS will not issue an adoption visa to a child from a Hague country who was not adopted through the Hague process. As a result, you will be legally and morally the parent of the child, but unable to bring her to the U.S. unless you live overseas with her for two years and then apply for a regular visa. If you insist on an independent adoption (and I don't recommend it for first-time internationally adoptive parents), you will really need to adopt from a non-Hague country that allows them. Increasingly, countries are prohibiting independent adoption, as that is where corruption is most likely. Some agencies don't like to help with identified adoptions, whether Hague or non-Hague, as there are often problems with the children's eligibility for adoption and/or immigration. As an example, in a non-Hague adoption, U.S. immigration law prohibits the immigration of a child who has been living with two parents, or a parent and stepparent, prior to adoption. It is very painful for an agency to have to tell a family that the child they hope to adopt does not qualify for a visa. And in many Hague adoptions, a child can't be adopted directly from a birthmother; he/she may need to be resident in an orphanage or foster home for an extended period, with no contact with the birth family, and there also may need to be a documented unsuccessful search for a qualified domestic family who can adopt the child, before the child is allowed to be placed internationally. Sharon
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To add to my previous post: One reason that there are so few adoptions from Ecuador is that most Latin countries take very seriously the Hague emphasis on finding domestic homes for a child before agreeing to an international placement. As a result, almost all of the healthy infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are adopted domestically. Most of the Ecuadoran children placed internationally tend to be of school age, to have special needs, or to be in a sibling group (NOT infant/toddler twins). Sharon
Sharon- Thank you so much. Your knowledge in this area is invaluable. I've been reading your posts. I very much appreciate all the information. Wow... I thought it might be a fight but I am a little stunned at the moment. I will contact an agency as you suggested and see what they have to say. Do you have any recommendations of who to contact? There seems to be a huge list of options but many have such bad reviews or comments. Its hard to know who to trust. It is a very sad situation. The little girl is darling and knows mom does not want her (what a thing for a little person to know at 3). The moms employer says she feels like she is too old to keep her and since the employers nephew and my daughter are dating and I have always wanted to adopt (but thought it was out of reach financially) they asked if we would take her. I was afraid there would be huge issues after seeing a documentary about Guatemala adoption post Hauge Convention, but hoped with consent from the birth mother it would be ok.
We had to let it go, we contacted every agency that works in Ecuador (from the state dept website) and no one was willing to venture into that identified child adoption. I feel terrible for this little girl, but basically the moms there in Ecuador just do not get to pick the family. The attorney there tried to do everything to help guide us but no agency here would even try.If something happens to the lady who is watching her now she will end up a sex worker (like her mother). We still send clothes, toys, books etc to her, she is now 4 and smart as a whip.
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We had to let it go, we contacted every agency that works in Ecuador (from the state dept website) and no one was willing to venture into that identified child adoption. I feel terrible for this little girl, but basically the moms there in Ecuador just do not get to pick the family. The attorney there tried to do everything to help guide us but no agency here would even try. If something happens to the lady who is watching her now she will end up a sex worker (like her mother). We still send clothes, toys, books etc to her, she is now 4 and smart as a whip.