International Adoption

Originally Posted By HollyStephanie is right about this new program. The last I heard the fee is $10,000. Although it's still expensive it's still less than half of the average.

Originally Posted By Lori CIf and when you or anyone else finds out more specific info about LDS foreign adoptions, please email me!! hayou65@hotmail.com.

Originally Posted By KatieMy husband and I are just starting the adoption process through LDS Family services. We spoke to the director in our area yesterday and this is what he told us about the international adoption program. He stated that the agency fee is $5,000, but you are also responible for paying INS fees, passport fees, travel, etc., just like with any other international adoption. He said that you usually have to stay in the country about 2-3 weeks to make sure that you are properly bonding with the child (you visit it in the orphanage) before the adoption is approved. Adoptions are finalized before you leave the country. The countries he said that are currently involved (please forgive my spelling, I am not going to look them all up ;o) are: Azerbejhan, Bolivia, China, Equador, Rep. of Georgia, India, Kazahkstan, Peru, Russia, and the Ukrain. He said that he believes there are others, but those are the ones most active for the time being. I hope this is helpful.

Originally Posted By debbiehow can i obtain more information about this.

what and where is lds service?

Originally Posted By HollyThere was a special workshop at last year's National FSA Conference on the international program. There will also be additional information at this year's conference. This year's conference is in Provo at BYU, July 26-27th. If you'd like to know more please contact me. I serve on the National FSA Board.Also, I have asked on of our board members who has been with this new program since the start for some input and should have more information soon.Best wishes to all,Holly

Originally Posted By DeniseHolly:I am LDS, but new to the adoption thing. I don't mean to sound stupid, but what is FSA,and is there any online location or information on it?Thanks,Denise

Originally Posted By HollyHi Denise,You are not at all stupid. FSA stands for Families Supporting Adoption. There are local FSA chapters located all over the US - anywhere there is an agency there is a chapter. Anyone can join as a member. We do a lot of volunteer work trying to educate the world about adoption. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. I have served as an executive chair in our old Idaho Falls chapter and now serve on the National Board on the Media Committee. There are also Outreach, Legislative and Education & Support Committees. If you want to e-mail me your information I can tell you who is the contact in your area. holly@fsaorg.comBest wishes,Holly Schwendiman

Originally Posted By StephanieLDS Family Services is a church ran service that works with not only adoptions, but also family counseling, etc. There are 57 locations throughout the United States...and a few international ones.Here is a website that may help explain more:Note: To become adoption certfied you DO have to be LDS (Mormon) but not necessarily for other services that they give. i.e. birthmother services, family counseling etc.

Dear everyone, We are new to this list but have been involved in LDS international adoption since June. We are adopting two children from Kazakhstan. The fees for this program are nearly the same as if you adopted domestically, plus travel fees and document fees. Travel and document fees vary by country, and are significant (several thousand dollars.) The agency fee is 10% of your gross income, with a $5000 lower limit and a $10,000 cap. In our case, the agency fee is roughly half of what we would pay using another agency, so it is a bargain. However, we talked with the director of the LDS international program in June and she said that those fees might have to be raised soon. LDS Family Services has contracted out with two international adoption agencies, CASI and Children's House International. Between the two international agencies they do cover about 14 countries. HOWEVER, not all of those countries are currently open to foreign adoptions, or they may have extremely long wait times (China was up to 14 months after completion of your dossier, and India was up to two years). I would strongly recommend doing extensive research on the countries involved and picking one that fits your needs. The best source of information we found to do this was on the internet at the state department's web site, where they list each country and it's laws. Internet support groups by country are also extremely helpful - they can give you a moment-by-moment snapshot of what is going on in the adoptive community invovled with that country. It is also worth your while to research CASI and Children's House International, since you will be working a lot with them also. They both have websites which give a lot of useful information and contacts. The paperwork for international adoption is extreme but doable. Requirements vary from country to country. If we were starting from scratch, I would estimate 6 months - 1 year to complete all of the LDS paperwork, plus any your state may require, plus your dossier for the country you choose. After your dossier goes in, you await travel orders or begin to look at "referrals" (individual children available for international adoption), so it is not a quick process. Right now there is no limit to the number of children you can adopt through this process, or the number of children that you can have in your home. However, you pay 10% of your gross income for EACH child you adopt to LDS Family Services. On the other hand, adopt two at once and you cut down the overall cost per child because the travel cost stays the same. (Assuming you make only one trip to pick both up.) We were not able to find a country which LDS Family Services was working with that you could get a newborn from. (Does that make sense grammatically? Sorry.) Some countries advertised that you could get a newborn from them, but when you looked at the paperwork delays they infant really wound up being 6-8 months old when they were finally placed in your home. It is quite common to get a 8-12 month old from some countries, and even more common to get a toddler (3 and under). There are a very few countries which will allow you to have your child escorted to the United states, for a fee. I believe that LDS FS is discouraging that though. Plan on travelling. Yes, sometimes the trips are quite long but sometimes they are not. It depends on the country. Being a pilot program, there have been some glitches. Most of these centered around our local LDS FS office getting the paperwork straight for the international dossier. I assume that as they do more of this type of thing, they will get better at it. Feel free to e-mail me if you are interested in more details of the process, especially in regards to Kazakhstan. Thanks, Teresa

Hello, Thank you for the info you provided above! Since you know about LDS international adoptions, I have a question for you. I know that the church has closed international adoptions right now, I assume because of the war and SARS, etc. But I was wondering what kind of fees you have to pay above the church fees. I know you have to pay your own travel expenses, but what kind of costs do you pay in the country for all the paperwork? Or is that included in the adoption fee to LDSFS? I was just wondering what kind of expenses I should be saving for. Also, how smoothly did your int'l adoption go? Thanks! :)