[kenzseth]

When we decided to adopt internationally, we were deciding between Guatamela and China. This was at the beginning of January. Our agency gave us pros/cons for both countries. At the time, the wait for Guatemala and China were about the same (6-8 months). I just talked to a friend who is adopting from Guatemala and she said that there is no wait time right now. This is somewhat frustrating, although I know that our child is in China. It also gives me hope that things can change so quickly. Hoping that they change for the better!

[drmalcolm]

We actually started with Guatemala and at times I miss the child we had to turn down--and I still DO feel that my child is in that lovely country. For us, however, money became a factor when a situation with a facilitator of ill repute promised to be a several-year run.

I think you have to take the bad with the good. China does have a long wait time, but I have friends adopting from Guatemala who have confided that they'd take the China wait in exchange for being kicked out of PGN a few times or for the unpredictability that can sometimes accompany an adoption from Guatemala. Still, they feel that *their* children are in Guatemala, so I guess we all need to listen to our hearts!

Good luck with your wait!

Christina

[cungar]

The short wait time was a BIG selling point for us but now that we've come this far there's no turning back and we would have chosen China even if they said 10 months. My wife is not even involved in any groups and she just gets wait time info from me.

[arolloseco]

We were also torn between Guatemala and China. That said, I haven't heard from my friends who are adopting from Guatemala that the wait time has gone down. The difference with Guatemala that I saw (from research and talking to friends who have adopted from there) is that you might get a referral immediately (especially if you request a boy), but you still need to work your way through PGN, which can be an extremely unpredictable experience.

I do wonder, very generally, where we would be in the process had we chosen Guatemala. That really was the hardest decision my husband and I ever made-harder than choosing to get married, than choosing where to live, than choosing whether to go back to school, and much harder than the initial choice to have a child. Once I had to pick sex, country, age, etc., I really felt unsure. It was such a gut decision, and there was and is no way to know what would have happened if we had chosen differently. Kinda freaks me out, sometimes!

[stephdpenn]

Before we decided our choices were between China or Russia. Since there have been so many problems with agencies getting reacredited I have been very thankful for the stability that China offers.
That being said though I do feel like our daughter is in China. If she was in Russia then we would be in for one heck of a ride I guess.
We have always joked that we were glad that Breanna isn't in Guatemala because then we would have been out $30,000 instead of $20,000.
I totally believe that you have to go with what feels right deep down inside of you. Weither it is the cheapest, fastest, easiest, whatever-you go where your child is.

[Momof2boysinOH]

We debated between Korea, Colombia, and China. Even though I'm a Colombian citizen, that program was too difficult for us so we were left with Korea and China. Korea was quick (with the agency here in Ohio) but we just didn't "feel" it like we did with China. I don't know how else to explain it.

I must admit that recently hearing about Vietnam's referrals has me wondering if we should have held out and explored that program. As tough as this wait is, though, we're in it for the long haul.

[anitainla]

Hi my DH is from Colombia as well. His sister just adopted a little girl from Colombia last year. I think she knew someone whose cousin was some sort of adoption official so it wasn't as difficult and she didn't have to wait as long. Not sure of the exact story but it all resulted in a beautiful little girl. I am Chinese so I've always wanted a little girl from China, and I mentioned to the DH that we should get a little boy from Colombia. We'll see! =)

Anita

[beachdreams]

We were torn between both Guatemala and China and decided that we would adopt from Guatemala first and then adopt a toddler (18-36 month old) from China the next go round because toddler adoptions can be a bit more complicated in Guatemala.

We got our daughter's referral shortly after becoming paper ready. That being said, we ran into a few issues. I have to say, I do wonder if China will be easier on my heart. With Guatemala you know who your child is for many months and wait to bring him/her home. The process is very unpredictable. I watched many people who accepted referrals 3-4 months after we accepted ours bring their children home while we fought to get our daughter home. With China, the process is a bit more streamlined and the wait after referral to travel is not as long. I think for me, it would be easier to wait for a referral than to know who your child is and have NO clue when/if you will bring that child home.

[Momof2boysinOH]

Originally Posted by anitainla

Hi my DH is from Colombia as well. His sister just adopted a little girl from Colombia last year. I think she knew someone whose cousin was some sort of adoption official so it wasn't as difficult and she didn't have to wait as long. Not sure of the exact story but it all resulted in a beautiful little girl. I am Chinese so I've always wanted a little girl from China, and I mentioned to the DH that we should get a little boy from Colombia. We'll see! =)

Anita

Oh really? Where in Colombia is he from? My mother's family lives in Medellin. I lived there for 2 years as a child. It's a beautiful country, but has so many problems. Because we already have 2 children the orphanages in Colombia weren't very open to us adopting, unless we adopted a much older child or sibling group.

Good luck with your journey! I assume you will get expedited because you're Chinese?

[anitainla]

Hi Mary,

My husband, Alejandro, grew up in Bogota, and came to the US at 15. I would love to go visit but he says that he would be worried about me given the situation there. Some day! I told him about you and he asked where in Ohio do you live? (He went to Kent State for college.) He is always interested in meeting other Colombians and I don't think he met any while he was in Ohio. We have some friends from Medellin and Bogota here in LA.

We did look into adopting from Colombia as well, but both of us really have our hearts set on a little Chinese girl.

As far as being expedited, I have heard something like that and will ask the agency when we actually meet with them. Do you know anyone who was expedited because they are Chinese?

Anita

[looneytunes32]

I know of 3 couples that received their referrals yesterday that were expedited because one of them was Chinese. 2 of them had August LID's and one was (I think) October, or possibly November. So it definitely happens, and it definitely speeds things up!

As for the topic - we debated between China & Korea. My heart was with China, but I did like the fact that we could choose to have our child escorted, if we wanted, from Korea, and since we alrady have two boys at home, this was appealing. The agency we are working with had a wait list for Korea, and we wouldn't have been able to start even the HS until this past September, and we knew we didn't want to wait. Once we decided we were adopting it was full steam ahead and I don't think I could've waited that long to start! After we got going we found out that we wouldn't have been able to request a girl from Korea, since we don't already have a boy from Korea, so that confirmed to me that China was right for us.