[BeautyintheDust]

For the past 8 months my family (husband and 3.5 year old son) have been residing here in Lusaka, Zambia. Originally we're from the US and as we near the end of our stay in Zambia, I've been thinking heavily on adoption.

My son is nearing 4 years old and there is no pregnancy nor luck with the success of adding to our family. Rather than watch the months to continue to pass by, empty, I have leaned heavily towards adoptions. I always assumed we would do so in the states but my husbands job has brought us here. So I don't see the difference between parenting.

I'm looking for those who have had success or experience from here in Zambia. I know briefly about the 3 month wait. It's not uncommon to see caucasians with black babies, but I am not sure of what the circumstances are and what must be done to finalize it.

My family has 8 months left here in Zambia, and while it appears to be enough time, I am expecting hang ups.

Thank you

[sak9645]

This is probably not going to be easy.

As I understand it, the three month fostering period cannot begin until you have an approved I-600A, which makes sense because Zambia is not going to want to put a child in your home unless it can be sure that you are safe and decent people and that you are likely to be able to bring the child to the U.S. You cannot get an approved I-600A until you have an approved homestudy.

Remember that your permanent or long-term residence is not in Zambia; you are just there for a short period of time (only 8 more months). Therefore, your homestudy will almost certainly have to be done in your U.S. state of residence, rather than in Zambia. You will have to be living there for it to occur, since you will have to meet with a social worker licensed by your state at least two or three times, with at least one of the visits at your home. You will also need a lot of U.S. documents that will be hard to obtain while overseas, such as a clearance from the police in your state or locality.

The combination of the homestudy process and the I-600A process could easily take you six months, depending on your state of residence. Some states have a lot of requirements for the homestudy, such as preadoption classes, fire marshal inspections, and so on. And some USCIS offices take 4 months or more to process I-600As.

At that point, the Central Adoption Authority in Zambia will first begin to identify a child for you, and then the Ministry of Social Welfare will consider allowing you to foster. In many countries, such authorities move very slowly. I am not familiar with Zambia; you will have to talk to people in the country about the length of the process.

Even assuming that all goes smoothly, you can't begin actual adoption proceedings until you complete the three months of fostering. And from what I can see on the State Department website, processing the adoption could take a few months.

All in all, I'm not sure how you can deal with the situation. On one hand, you may have to go back to the U.S. before you can have your homestudy and such, since you don't actually reside in Zambia. Even if you don't, it could take you several months to complete I-600A requirements.

Then you would need to remain in Zambia not only for the three months of fostering, but also through the adoption process, which could take a few more months.

All in all, the process could play havoc with your job and everything else going on in your life.

I would actually recommend going home to the U.S. and not starting an international adoption till then. At that point, if you are drawn to Africa, you might want to choose a country like Ethiopia, which does not have a long in-country stay. In fact, with Ethiopia, you can probably travel for a week, and some agencies may permit escort. It's a clean, fairly straightforward process, and if you work with a reputable agency, you should have a positive experience and fees that are in line with those for a Zambian adoption.

Sharon

[Ruthsmet]

My husband and I are in a similar situation as "BeautyintheDust" and I was just wondering if you went ahead and tried to adopt. We've been here for a year and are prepared to stay at least a couple more if needed. Some people have been a bit discouraging, but we're going to try to start our family this way. Several Americans adopted Zambian children last year, so it is definitely possible.

[BeautyintheDust]

Hello,

We did not adopt here. Between the time frame at hand and other outside issues it just wasn't something we could expect a happy ending out of.

I know quite a few people who have adopted lately. I know a few have actually hired a lawyer to represent them and that seems to help tremendously. I believe the fee for that is roughly $1000 USD. There are still plenty enough snags to deal with but overall adoptions seems to be in the favor of those pursuing.

Because we are US diplomats living abroad (here in Lusaka) we were able and eligible to have our home study performed here. We would work with a case worker back in the states but ultimately would not have to return to do anything.

Where are you located in Zambia? We depart Lusaka in about 90 days and are heading to Poland. There is a new consular officer at the US Embassy and she like her predecessor are pro adoption and very helpful. For all my questions, I just dropped downstairs and they would help. I can reach out to a few friends who have departed post and have adopted and find out any contact information for their lawyers if you'd like.

While this wasn't a possibility for us at this time and place it did open many doors for me and and I've really appreciated that. If you have any specific questions, do not hesitate to ask. I hope to help as many as I can out before our departure.

[Ruthsmet]

Hi, I just tried to send a private message to you, but I can't tell if it was sent properly or not. Unfortunately I didn't save the message, so I hope you received it!

In short, I am here in Lusaka and would be very appreciative if we could meet sometime. My husband and I have already been to the embassy a few times and have met with the new consular officer. I agree, she was very supportive and yet realistic about adopting here. Apparently it might be a bit 'easier' in other parts of the world, but my husband and I are here and we think our first child is too.

Please let me know if you received the other, more personal, message.

[Ruthsmet]

Hi again 'beauty in the dust'

I am not sure if you received my last message or not, but I was wondering if it might be possible to meet some time. If you know of people that have adopted here in Zambia recently, I would love to get in contact with them to find out how they went about doing it.

For the time being, I am having trouble finding a licensed adoption agency in the US that is willing to help me get an approved home study. My husband and I haven't lived in the States for years (he's not American anyhow) and so it wasn't possible to get a home study before moving overseas.

Hope to hear from you soon.