[Happy2Bhere]

HELP!
I thought I had it figured out- the agency, the country, etc- but now am having second thoughts about the agency, and we had originally picked Russia- since the children can be older- and we had wanted a female child- range 18-30 months.
Now, we are drawn to China & Guatemala more than Russia.
Can anyone give any help on picking an agency, time lines, etc?
Thoroughly bogged down & confused with the whole process, just when I thought I had it figured out!
Thanks in advance-
Melissa

[SofiasMom]

For information on China adoptions and a list of agencies, go to the Families with Children from China website www.fwcc.org

Good luck in your decision.

[drmalcolm]

Hi Melissa!
You can still adopt an older child from China if you want that 18-30 month range. I would visit the website SofiasMom offered in addition to just Googling "China Adoption Agencies" or something to that effect. Agencies now have so much of their info online (their whole pamphlet, basically!) that you can really gather good facts about a country's program with an internet search.

I'm with a China-only agency and would be happy to recommend them. Feel free to PM me if/when you get to that point.

You may want to visit the Guatemala forum, too, as the country is going through many changes. Adoptions from there may not be possible as of January 2007, but the folks on that forum will have more specifics than I do.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to post them here!

Best to you,
Christina

[Steffanie]

Our agency worked with both Russia and China. They have just started the China program a few months before we signed up with China. They shut down their Russian program last week. Due to our experience, I would be afraid to deal with Russia right now. The agencies that are accred. are due to expire in May or Sept. Russia still has not re-accred. half of the agencies that have been expired for a year. I would check the agency feed back thread for China and Guat. I have been looking in to Guat. for our second adoption. Good Luck. I know how confusing it all can be.
-Steffanie