[spaypets]

As I understand it, the Indian government no longer streamlines the process for NRI (nonresident Indians). It used to be that NRIs skipped a step that nonIndian parents had to go through, but that is no longer the case (I believe it was obtaining the NOC)

As a result, it is highly unlikely that a child would come home at less than 1 year old. There are two reasons for this--first children can't made available for international adoption until they are at least 6 months old -- and in actuality, they aren't being certified until they are more like 9 or 10 months old because India requires that they be offered to at least 3 families in India -- often more and in other regions, before they are free for international adoption.

Second, now that NRIs no longer skip the NOC step, the wait from referral to homecoming is about 6 months (often longer).

So it is true, that it is highly unlikely you would get an Indian child under 1 year old, unless you moved to India and adopted as an Indian resident -- HOWEVER that could pose immigration issues in bringing the child back to the US.

I do not know how possible it is to adopt w/o using a US agency --remember not only will you have to deal with the Indian bureaucracy, but you will have to deal with US immigration policy, which as very strict standards about what sort of child is considered an orphan and can be adopted internationally.

We received the referral for our DD at 10 months. She was 18 months by the time we picked her up (we're not NRIs). I do have to say that the orphanage she was in took very good care of her. She is happy, healthy and has always been developmentally on target.

We loved India, btw, and can't wait for our dd to be old enough to go back to visit -- she's 3.5)
Good luck!