You are here: Home / Archives for Over Seas Adoptions

Adopting Children from Other Countries

Adoptive parents looking to adopt a child outside of the United States will need to familiarize themselves with a treat that regulates international adoption. This treat has been created with seventy other nations in order to standardize the procedures and policies involved with international adoption.

For a long time the overseas adoption industry was unregulated. This led to some very dark accusations. Many people believed that overseas agencies charged hidden fees. Some thought that the children up for adoption were abducted or being sold. In order to stop these practices a treaty called the Hague Convention was ratified in 2007. This treaty allows adoptive parents and the federal government to see which international adoption agencies are accredited. Accredited agencies are safer for parents to work with.

According to the guidelines of the Hague Convention every country has to have a central authority. This central authority will establish the ethics and policies related to adoption. The authority will also track adoption records and approve or deny adoption applications.

Thanks to the treaty many adoption agencies that were not accredited have applied for and been granted accreditation. The agencies were evaluated on a number of factors at the time of application. Some of these factors include the size of the facility, the qualifications of the staff, their policies and procedure as well as their financial resources. These agencies must also be transparent enough to inform the parents of their company policies and the health and history of the child that is being adopted. In the past this information was not available to prospective parents.

Adoptive parents that are seeking an international adoption should by wary of agencies that are not accredited. While some of them may have legitimate practices others will not. Accreditation prevents Americans from being involved in corrupt adoption practices.

Filed Under: Over Seas Adoptions Tagged With: , , ,

Making Foreign Adoption More Simple

President Obama has signed into law a pair of bills that are aimed at making it easier to adopt children from foreign countries. The Adoption Simplification Act and the Help HAITI Act speeds up the process of bringing adopted kids into the country and eliminates some of the roadblocks toward becoming naturalized citizens.

The Adoption Simplification Act applies to the adoption of children from Hague Adoption Convention Countries. They include places like Guatemala, Cambodia, China and Hong Kong. The law says that these children will no longer have to receive all of the needed immunizations before they can enter the United States. Supporters say it was a safety issue because putting the kids through a series of inoculations in a short period of time can potentially be dangerous.

The Adoption Simplification Act will also speed up the time between American families adopting these children and actually being able to bring them to the U.S. Another provision of the Simplification Act clears the way for an American family to adopt an older sibling of the child they are bringing to the United States. In the past, the cutoff age was 16 but under the new bill it rises to 18.

The Help HAITI Act makes it simpler to bring to the U.S. children who were left orphans by the catastrophic earthquake that hit the country. It also clears the way for more than 1000 children who are already in the United States to become U.S. citizens. Members of Congress who sponsored the bill say it gives the children new legal rights and the families who adopted them peace of mind. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was particularly proud of passage saying that it keeps with the American tradition of being a welcoming refuge for those in need. The adoptive parents can now apply for legal permanent residency for the children who were going to have to wait two years to do so.

Filed Under: Over Seas Adoptions Tagged With: , ,

Foreign Adoption

International adoption is an excellent way to start a family or add on to one. There are thousands of children living in orphanages around the world who have been left parent less because of war or disease. They long for an opportunity to get a fresh start in a new country with parents who love them.

There are a number of agencies who work with parents interested in international adoption. Because of the numerous legal issues, it is very wise to work with an established agency and an attorney skilled in international law. The United States works with a number of other countries on issues surrounding the adoption of a child but it is the country that the child is coming from which must finalize the process.

Before you start the process, it is important to discuss what you are looking for in a child to bring home. Age, sex, religion and race are all considerations. You also must determine if you are willing to accept a child with mental or physical disabilities. Prospective parents must also subject themselves to a detailed background check which will vary from country to country.

One of the reasons that many Americans look to foreign countries to adopt is because there is no restriction on the age of prospective parents in other countries. Older couples who want children are welcomed more freely there. Many foreign countries are also more willing to consider adoption to single parents.

The total number of international adoptions averages about 15,000 per year but there has been a great deal of fluctuation in that number. In 2009, for example, 12,753 children were brought into the U.S. according to the State Department. The 12,753 adoptions were the lowest number in the past ten years in the United States, the highest total was 22,884 in 2004.

Filed Under: Adoption Process, Over Seas Adoptions, Parenting Tagged With: , ,