Wanting to adopt Filipino baby

Shelly -- Thank you very much for replying. Mike and I have sent a letter to Wide Horizons are we are waiting for the information packet. We have been married since Nov 2002, so I guess we don't meet the 2 (3?) year requirement? What else can we be doing at this point (besides praying that God will give us a child)? Also, what has been the general cost? Does each search involve ($1000) or so? Please advise. And thanks again!

Cielo,I think the 3 yr marriage rule is set by the countries rather than the agencies, but I'm not sure. You've probably visited it but in case you haven't Wide Horizons web address is [url]www.whfc.org[/url] I'm not quite sure what you mean with the $1000. per search. WHFC will break down the fee schedule for you and it's due at different times during the adoption process. As of right now the PI program fee is $5,500 due at the acceptance of referral, but there are other fees as well, agency fees, BCIS fees, etc... I think when it's all said and done including travel for 2 our total adoption cost will be somewhere between $12,000- $15,000.Hope this helps Shelley

My husband and I are waiting too, but in a different way....we had a birthmother from the Philippines choose us--we're very close to family here (that are Philippine) that she knows over there so she feels very comfortable with us and actually chose us...we never even did anything... But, what we're running across is, the Philippines do not honor private adoptions over there (not like the U.S. here does...I didn't know....) and there is a very good website that discusses in detail the Philippine laws regarding adoption.... The marriage rule we saw too was if there's a second marriage for either spouse, the waiting period then becomes 5 years..... A couple of really good websites are: [url]http://travel.state.gov/adoption_philippines[/url] Remember, in looking at these websites, if you reside in the U.S. and are a permanent U.S. resident, you want to read under the section of Inter-Country adoptions, not domestic. Another good website is [url]http://www.dswd.gov.ph/[/url] In this website there's a good link to the Inter-Country Adoption Board - known as the ICAB.... Best of blessings to everyone. Melody

My husband and I were also looking to adopt from the Philippines. I am half filipino and thought that they would be a bit more flexible on the 3 year marriage rule. But I called the ICAB office in the Philippines and was told that there is no exception to the marriage rule, even if I am of filipino heritage. I guess the adoption placement would go faster, but we do need to be married 3 years, regardless. Good luck to you!

I would say if you're somewhat close to 3 years, maybe 2 1/2 years, I'd start all your paperwork...because it does take a while to do everything and maybe by the time you're ready to SUBMIT your paperwork to the PHILIPPINES, then you would be married 3 years... Because it takes a while to do your homestudy (which there's no marriage requirement, I think--worth checking into....) and then it takes a while to do your INS paperwork and fingerprints, reference letters, medicals, physicals, etc. etc. etc. and then that all could be done and THEN YOU COULD SUBMIT IT TO ICAB when you hit your 3 year anniversary...maybe????? Personally, I wouldn't wait to START all the preliminary paperwork until your 3 years...I don't think that's necessary.... Maybe when you submit it to PI, you need to be married 3 years, but it does take a while to DO THE PAPERWORK... Just a thought....worth looking into.... Melody

To all replied to our initial question, especially Shelly :) and Melody :cool:, and our subsequent question about the 3 year requirement --> Thank you so much for your help. Please pray for us. We were disheartened about the 3 year wait, but we will take the advice to start the process soon after our 2 year anniversary. Assuming it takes several months, we will definitely apply by our 3 year anniversary (and perhaps a few months before). In the meatime, we have been researching a lot agencies and the cost $$$. Right now we are saving like crazy, and putting off some much wanted vacations so that we have enought money in a year or two for the initial costs (estimated at being around $6,000 or so). Also, we are seriously considering adopting domestically (preferrably a Filipino baby) in states with many Pinoys, like TX or CA. We are researching the time frames for adopting and costs now for domestic adoption, but we are still set on adopting from our "home" country in the Philippines. Any help with domestic adoption would be most helpful? Please post any comments.... Also, the adopt-philippines group on yahoo.com has been especially great. It has been a nice read to see successful and happy families who have adopted Filpino babies. Please look it up.... Mike (& Cielo)

Hi there Mike and Cielo! Our daughter came to us at the age of 9 months old from foster care in California. Both her birthparents were from the Philippines (came to the US in there teen years). She was in foster care since birth which was 10 weeks premature. She is an amazingly healthy 4-year-old now. I know it is rare to find Filipino babies here in the states...but it can be done! The great part about fost/adopt is that it doesn't cost much and usually a subsidy from the government is given until they are 18-21 (depending on the state). My husband and I feel so fortunate to have found our child right here where we live! We also have two bio sons and one bio daughter. Our family is now complete. Any questions about fost/adopt - please feel free to ask! Blessings, sherryk

Hi Sherry, I am new to this forum. I read about your adopting a Filipino baby from California. Would you mind sharing your experience? My husband and I are in the process of adopting an infant from the Philippines. We just completed the Home Study. Thanks,

Hi Gladys! I would love to share any question you have specific to our adoption! What type of things do you want to know? I'm open about our adoption experience, and in fact, love to tell about our journey! Hope to hear from you soon! sherryk

I'm new to this board and like many people my husband and I would like to adopt a Filipino baby. I am Filipino and my husband is Caucasion. I don't want to go through an adoption agency because of the $$$$ involved. Is it better to go through an adoption agency and pay the $$$ or find an attorney in PI to get our baby?

Jake (pinoygift2004) - would you please contact me regarding this birthmother? email is fireflysa@aol.com Thanks, Sara

To reply to many of you, My husband is Filipino, and we will go pick up our new little daughter in a few weeks. There are strict laws the Philippine government goes by, and they do not budge. You absolutely have to go through an adoption agency. We checked them all out The average wait is 1 1/2 years, but since my husband is filipino, our wait from beginning to end is just barely under 1 year. Yes, you can get babies from 6 months and older. And even though they say there are more boys available, there are tons of girls too! We are in contact with the orphanage we are adopting from, because it is the same orphanage my husband was adopted from, and out of their 150 children they have there right now only about 30 or 40 are boys. We have sent "Santa" in for the last 2 Christmas's and we have also raised money to send for anything they needed at that time. We are starting up an organization called "The Philippine Orphanage Fund" foundation, and we hope to be able to continuously give aid to the orphanages there. As soon as our adoption is done, we will start the paperwork to become a 501c3 not for profit organization. If anyone wants to see a little of what we've done so far, or read my husbands adoption story you are welcome to visit our website - although it isn't completely done - at [url]http://orphanage_fund.tripod.com.[/url] Good luck to all, and I would love to answer any questions anyone might have. We've learn a lot, and have even been in direct contact with the directors of ICAB, and have been invited to share our story with them at the global conference in Aug. or Oct. 2005.

Hi orphanagemom, It's encouranging to read that the wait for someone with Filipino descent could be approximately a year. We are both of Filipino descent and have requested for an infant boy age 12 months or younger. Our dossier was couriered to the Philippines in Dec 2003. Will definitely check our your website. Thank you for your email. Gladys California BAAS dossier to the Philippines Dec 2003

I would just like to state that being a Filipino does not decrease your wait time in adopting a child through the Inter Country Adoption Board. The way it works is that after you complete all of your paperwork, your name gets placed on a spread sheet with all of the other families that are approved. This list includes your name, your citizenship (not your nationality) how many children you have, where you live, which agency you are working with and what age/sex of child you prefer. The person in charge of each orphange gets this list every two weeks, and goes through it and sees if any of their available children match the criteria that they are looking for for their child. Some may want their children to be placed in a large family, others, may want their children to be placed with just a mom and dad. I lived there for 6 years and adopted two children, one through Inter Country Adoption Board, and one through the domestic adoption program that is available after you live there for three consecutive years.

Hi I'm about to give birth on October 3,2013 CS delivery we need help financially,specially for the hospital bill,I'm looking for a couple who will want to Adopt a Baby boy 1/4 british(mother side) and 1/4 japanese (father side) couples who are willing to give him a good education, love and shelter..someone who will treat him as their own,.pls send me your offers or arrangement through txt (09054970005) or email (victoriajane_williams@yahoo.com):thanks: