Advertisements
Advertisements
Hello people,
My wife and I are considering international adoption, and to be honest we have no idea where to start.
A little background info: I'm South African, she is South Korean and we live in Seoul. We contacted adoption agencies in Korea and we were told that it would be impossible for us to adopt since I'm not Korean.
We are now trying to figure out if it would be possible to adopt from Russia or Kazakshstan. We are hoping that it would be possible to be matched with a Eurasian girl for adoption.
Can anyone point us in the right direction or recommend an agency that might be able to help us. We can only find info on adopting from the US.
Thanks so much.
Advertisements
You can use any Licensed Social Worker to complete a International Adoption.
Both Kazakhstan and Russia are currently closed to American Families Adopting their children.
Personally, and Professionally, I think that you have a ' unique situation ' , for you to contemplate??
Unfortunately, Juli, you are not correct.
When you adopt internationally, you must comply with at least two, and often three or more sets of laws.
First, you must comply with the adoption laws of your country of citizenship. It sounds as if South Korea, which has very strict adoption laws, may not let you adopt internationally using its adoption process, so you will have to use the South African process, if that country allows you to do so.
In most cases,your country of citizenship will need to have an adoption agreement with the country from which you wish to adopt. I do not know if either Russia or Kazakhstan allows South Africans to adopt there. If it does, then the child would have to qualify for adoption under the laws of Russia or Kazakhstan. Be aware that Russia "may" not want to work with South Africa, because South Africa permits gays and lesbians to adopt and Russia strongly opposes gay marriage and LGBT adoption. Even if you and your spouse are heterosexual, Russia could decide to avoid working with ANYONE from South Africa.
You would also need to comply with the IMMIGRATION laws of the country to which you want to bring your child and, if you plan ever to return to your country of citizenship, with ITS adoption laws, as well. You would need to determine whether South Korea's immigration laws, as opposed to its adoption laws, would let you bring a newly adopted child into the country, where you are currently living. And you would want to be sure that, should you ever decide to move back to South Africa, it would let the child move there with you.
In addition, of course, if you adopt from a country which is Hague-compliant, or if you hold citizenship in a country that is Hague-compliant, your adoption will have to conform to Hague laws and regulations. South Africa is Hague-compliant, and I believe that Kazakhstan implemented the Hague a few years ago. Russia is not Hague-compliant, which could actually be a problem if South African law does not allow adoptions from non-Hague countries. Most Hague countries require that you use a Hague-accredited agency in your country of citizenship to adopt.
Be aware of two other issues, as well. First, in the past, Kazakhstan has refused to allow married couples to adopt if one spouse held citizenship in one country, and the other spouse held citizenship in another. Its thinking was that this could create major problems for the child if a divorce occurred. It is not clear if this policy is still in effect.
Second, you need to determine what citizenship you want for your child, and how to obtain it. Your child will still be a citizen of his/her birth country when you adopt him/her and bring him/her home with you. In fact, Russia and some other Eastern European and Latin American countries consider adopted children to remain citizens of their birth country, even if they are internationally adopted and raised in another country. The only way they can lose their Russian citizenship is to make an official renunciation at a Russian Embassy or Consulate, after turning 18; it must be done by the adoptees in person, and cannot be done before they turn 18. This can make travel a little complicated. Whatever other citizenship you obtain for your child, if you want to bring him back to visit his/her birth country, he/she will need a Russian passport to enter Russia, and a passport of his/her preferred country of citizenship to return home. In your case, you will have to determine whether you can obtain either South African or South Korean citizenship, or both, for a child you adopt; in most countries, it's not automatically given to an adopted child, and you will probably need to naturalize him/her.
As far as agencies go, if you adopt under the South African process, you will almost certainly have to use a South African agency, or a Hague approved government agency, as your adoption partner, as it is Hague-compliant. I am not familiar with South African adoption agencies.
Do be aware that South Africa seems to be a sending country, much more often than a receiving country. In other words, the people to whom you talk may be more familiar with the process for placing a South African baby with a foreign family, than the one for having a South African adopt a child from another country. You will have to do a lot of research to find out how to complete the adoption you desire.
Sharon
One more thing. If you use the South African process, your homestudy will have to be done by a social worker authorized to do homestudies for South Africans. You may be able to find such a person in Seoul, possibly via the South African Embassy, or you may be able to find one through your South African placement agency. If all else fails, you may be able to have one done by International Social Services, although I'm not sure that they are authorized to do homestudies for Hague adoptions; they generally do non-Hague homestudies.
Sharon