[jcutter]

Hi, we are interested in adoption but are not sure where to start. We would like to adopt an older female - ages 2-5 preferably. We already have a biological son who is under 1 YOA. We would prefer Caucasian or Asian (China, Korea, Taiwan, etc). I was leaning towards Eastern Europe, but then read about all the horror stories of HIV and FAS. Also, Russia is very strict on health issues and my husband has MS. He is young and asymptomatic, but he has it nonetheless. The wait time in China is pretty disoncerting.

However, I think that our main concern is that it is a country where the child will likely be the healthiest and have the least issues. (Can you take a doctor with you to examine the child if you have one in your family? What about having a doctor review medical records?) Also, we would like to pick a country where cihldren have the most interaction and least amount of developmental or institutional delays. Would that be Korea and Kaz? Any others??

Does adopting an older child necessarily mean that something is wrong with that child?

Please give us your thoughts.

If you have recommendations on countries, please PM me with recommendations on agencies. Right now, I have a name for one for Kaz - World Partners, one for China - Chinese Children Adoption International. None for Russia or other Eastern Europe or Korea or other Asia.