[lotterino]

We brought home our daughter (our first child) from Guatemala last year. Below you can see our timeline. An international adoption does not necessarily take a long time. From the time the first paperwork was filled out to when we brought Azaleah home was 8 months, and she was 4.5 mos old.

We are from MN and our agency is in FL, so like others have said, there is no problem working with agencies in different states.

We researched different countries first to decide what would work best for us and from there we started looking into agencies with experience and a great reputation for dealing with Guat adoptions. Once you decide on a country, go to the forum for that country and ask specifically for feedback on the agencies you are looking into. Or simply ask for recommended agencies.

You can also get the homestudy process and USCIS(immigration) paperwork started before you decide on an agency. But before doing that, I would decide on a country.

Good luck!!