[Michigan Mom]

Hi!
We are new and excited about adoption. We have two children ages 7 and 6. We would love to adopt two chidren. We were thinking of adopting from either Guat. or Korea. Has anyone adopted two children at the same time from either of these countries? Is there any type of financial discount? Can you tell me if you can specify boy/girl situation? We have one of each right now here at home. Also, I have heard bad things about adoption from Russia and old soviet countries. Like the children have health issues not disclosed and attachment issues. Would you please share experience with me regarding any and all of this. We live in Michigan. Can you recommend any agencys for us?
Thanks
Julie

[kazakmom]

Hi Congrats on our decision to adopt we are in our final step and just waiting to travel. We also live in Michigan. I can not offer any info on Guat or Korea but I can tell you Kazakhstan is a great Country to adopt from. The children are very well taken care of. I did alot of research on different agencies around and found Commonwealth adoption services they seemed to be wonderful. We did not use them because our child we found on the precious.org site but when I talked to them they were very helpful and truly seemed to be in this for the children and no other reason.
Good luck on your adoption, I hope it all goes well, keep us posted.

[Pamsko]

We adopted two children from Guatemala (a toddler and an infant). The children were taken care of in foster homes and we have been VERY pleased. They were healthy and happy when we brought them home. Our adoption took 4 months from being paper-ready (and our whole adoption journey took only 9 months, so we can't complain about that). It was, however, one of the most expensive adoption programs and did not offer much of a discount for adopting two at once (only the $1000 application fee was waived for the second).

Good luck and feel free to PM me if you have any other questions!

[Kimberj71]

Hi and Welcome to the Board!

We adopted two infants from Guatemala last year. From the time of referrals to bringing them home was about 4 months for each of them. They came home about 3 months apart because we accepted our second referral without being paper ready.

There was a small reduction in our agency's fee for preparing the second dossier, but there was no reduction in country fees which makes up the bulk of a Guatemalan adoption. We were able to specify gender. We specified girl for our first referral and along our journey decided to begin a second adoption and had no preference and were blessed with our son.

Both of our children are healthy. Our son came home with a few developmental delays, but we are working on them with a physical therapist. There are never any guarantees when adding children to your family...either biological or adopted, it's just a risk you take knowing you will handle what comes the best that you can.

Good luck in your decision making! What an exciting time for you!!

Kim

PS. I know the Guatemala board has an agency thread where you can pm people who used agencies you might be interested in. You can also post on the boards asking about a specific agency and people will contact you via private message. The forum rules don't allow individuals to give their opinions of their agencies within the public forum.

[PattyR]

Hi Julie,

I am currently in the process of adopting two children from Guatemala. I have received no fee reduction because I am actually using two separate agencies. I would highly recommend the agency I am working with for adopting my second child.

Guatemala is a great program although I think there are pros and cons to each country. While the Guatemala fees are higher than other countries, the cost of travel from the US is generally much cheaper and the amount of time you have to stay in the country is only around 3 days or so (much less than most other countries), so I personally think the cost balances out with most other countries.

If you have specific questions about Guatemala or would like a great agency recommendation, feel free to PM me.

Best of luck,

[Sleepymom]

We are in the process of adopting twins from Guatemala. If the children are biologically related then there is a slight discount. If the children are not biologically related then the discounts only occur in really minor areas such as agency fees or documentation services.

Also, if the kids are not related then there is a significant chance that you will have to make two pick up trips to go get them as each case will have to process on its own.

Good luck! That is an exciting decision to make!

[RKM]

We adopted from Korea - our baby boy came home in November of 2004. We are in Michigan as well and we were very happy with our agency. They also have a Guatemala program. If you would like any specific info on the agency, feel free to pm me.

[krafmatic]

Okay, we have very similar circumstances. I have two kids, 7yoDD & 5yoDS, and am adopting twins from Guat. Oh, did I mention I live in Michigan?

I am working directly with an orphanage (I can give you info if you want) and I could specifiy girls or boys (I didn't care and they happen to get twin boys in). They do not do "discounts" for multiples, although some agencies might for sibling groups.

Let me know if you have questions.

[Max'smom]

Hi,
I just wanted to address your question about adopting two at a time from Korea: Korea will not allow you to adopt two at a time.
MM

[sak9645]

Korea does not allow the adoption of two children at the same time, except in the case of biological twins (which are rarely available).

Guatemala allows the adoption of two unrelated children at the same time, although the two children's paperwork may wend its way through the adoption system separately and the adoptions may actually be finalized at separate times.

When you adopt two children at the same time, there are some savings, but not all that many. For example:

1. You generally need only one homestudy.

2. You can usually get USCIS approval for two children, using the same I-600A.

3. You will usually need two dossiers, with all original documents notarized, certified, and authenticated.

4. Some agencies will discount fees for adopting a bio sibling group, especially if at least one of the children is of school age or has a significant disability. However, most will not discount fees very much for adopting two unrelated children, especially if they are both under age 3 and have no known special needs. Discounts are generally given to encourage the adoption of hard-to-place children.

5. Most foreign fees will NOT be discounted, since the foreign authorities must evaluate two separate adoptions.

6. If both children's adoptions are finished at the same time, you may be able to make only one trip to the country to pick them up. However, if one child's adoption winds up taking significantly longer than the other's, you will make two trips, with two sets of airfares, two sets of hotel charges, etc.

7. For the return trip, you will have to pay for regular airplane seats for two children if both are age two or over. If one or both children will be under age two, you can pay for a lap ticket for the younger child/children, which may cost about 10% of the regular ticket.

Many agencies allow people to select the gender of the children they adopt, although some do not, especially if a parent is childless. However, be aware that Americans overwhelmingly want girls. Consequently, you may have to wait much longer for a girl referral than you would for a boy referral, since the waiting list will be longer.

ANY adopted child can have previously unknown or undisclosed physical, mental, or emotional issues. Children from certain Eastern European countries appear to have a higher incidence of fetal alcohol syndrome and the more severe forms of attachment disorder. However, there is NO guarantee that a child from another country won't have such problems. In fact, I recently read of a Guatemalan child who was diagnosed as having fetal alcohol syndrome, which can cause significant learning and behavioral problems throughout life.

The good news is that the vast majority of children, including children from Eastern Europe, do just fine. The things you see on TV about children who molest their siblings, throw the cat out the window, attack their parents with a carving knife, tell their teachers they've been physically abused when their parents take away TV privileges, or set fires are extreme examples of damage that a child can have, and are actually very rare.

In its mildest form, attachment disorder can simply mean that a child has never learned to make eye contact, has never learned that getting and giving hugs can be wonderful, does not realize that it's OK to cry for Mommy when he/she falls and scrapes a knee, etc. Such mild disorders can often be cured with love or, at most, a little therapy.

The older the child at adoption, the more likely it is that he/she will have had bad experiences in his/her life, either with his/her birthparents or in his/her orphanage or foster care setting. These challenges can affect emotional health and behavior. If you plan to adopt a child who is not an infant or young toddler, you would do well to read extensively about older child adoption, so that you will be prepared for the challenges.

The more information you have about a child's history, the easier it will be for you to predict whether he/she might have undisclosed problems. As an example, in the case of an abandoned child, you will not know about any conditions in the birth family, such as medical conditions that are hereditary or problems with alcohol, drugs, domestic violence, etc., that could have affected the child.

Sharon

[annaguat]

About twelve years agfo we adopted siblings from Guatemala, a boy 5 and a girl 4. Last year we adopted two unrelated infant girls from Guatemala. Many countries will not allow you to do so or even if the country allows you to maybe the placing agency in the uS does not. Besure your placing agency is not opposed to placing two children at the same time. We really liked it and have absolutely no regrets of adopting two children at once. the babies are home almost a year and are doing well. Besure to check out the possibilities of adopting from Guatemala before signing up as there are many changes expected soon. Anna