|
My friend is now on her THIRD attorney in Panama (and I don't know how many thousands of dollars they've shelled out -- not to mention that the child they're trying to adopt now considers them her parents & cries when they have to leave her at the orphanage after each visit). It's been a nightmare for her and her husband. Her husband is actually FROM Panama, so you'd think things would go a bit more smoothly but it's literally been 2 years since they filed the adoption request for the baby girl they are trying to adopt -- and this was already about 3 months after identifying a particular child. When I told her about your post she told me that I should warn you what the situation is regarding adoptions in Panama. Since she's been going back & forth for over 2 years now she's gotten to meet other prospective adoptive parents also & apparently her situation is not unique. The delays appear to be a combination of factors -- the courts and the adoption bureau (dept?) are very suspicious of people trying to adopt (more so with baby girls according to my friend), everything comes to a halt during the periodic political reshuffling, there's a lot of corruption (and where there isn't the courts assume there has been anyway), & there's an incredible amount of incompetence at every step of the process (stuff like papers that were supposed to be signed off on by a social worker in Panama months ago never being signed, children's files getting mixed up, etc.).
Sorry to be so pessimistic! The whole IA thing seems to be more difficult than ever. The country we adopted our son from, Vietnam, is closed, and we're still years away from our China referral (if it ever comes). Vietnam was enough of a rollercoaster for us, I wouldn't want to be emotionally (and financially) invested in adopting from a country that didn't seem like a "sure thing" personally, and Panama really seems to be one of the worst countries in terms of uncertainty & delays.
|