[prayby2004]

Hi all,

So glad to have found this message board!

My husband and I started this adoption journey 19 months ago with Guatemala. April 2003 we had our dossier all completed for Guat. then all the problems started happening. We switched agencies and to Colombia. That was 1 yr ago. Then the agency we were using for Colombia was UNETHICAL (their Colombian Rep. was arrested for baby smuggling) so we immediately severed our ties and moved on to agency #3.. which is very reputable and honest. We FINALLY received approval from ICBF last week (like Jun 16th) and now start the wait for a referral. Our agency is saying 9-15 months. I was reading the various posts about some changes in Colombia??? Any new updates on that?? Anyone know if adopting toddlers/preschool children is any quicker? My husband and I are requesting siblings (2) ages 0 to 7 yrs old. We're going directly through ICBF not one of the private orphanages.

Just wondering if anyone had any recent updates??

Thanks

Patty

[chrismwj]

Hi there...
We also just recieved ICFB approval on June 2nd. We were told 8-10 months from the approval date. I also have heard about the changes in Colombia but I'm not really sure what they are all about. Hopefully they will speed things up a bit. There are two other list serves that you can try to post your questions on....they seem to get responses a bit quicker.


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adoptC...guid=161959239

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Colomb...guid=161959239

Those are two pretty good groups.
Good Luck!
Chris

[Erika32]

Hi! It is my understanding that the wait time IS shorter for people who request siblings and toddlers. We are waiting for an infant, and were told it would be 15-18 months. Good luck!

[entropy]

how long did it take you folks to get ICBF approval. our paperwork has been done there since APRIL!

[prayby2004]

Chris, thanks for the info. on the Colombian message board groups. I'm actually a member one of them but haven't posted on there for probably 7 months. I'm just now starting to get back in the swing of it. I'll have to post there and ask if they've heard of any changes.

Erika, 15-18 months is pretty good time frame for an infant.. are you requesting a boy or girl or are you not able to request a specific gender?

Entropy, I would think that you would be hearing something about ICBF approval soon. The last of our documents were sent to Colombia mid-April and we received word of our approval last week. I actually received a copy of our approval from ICBF today in the mail (our agency actually sent us the letter after their Colombian Rep. received it). The date on the letter was 6/11/04. Did you get your fingerprints done, the hard copy that was sent to the FBI in West Virginia? That was one of the last things we had to do.

Have a good evening!
Patty

[entropy]

we got fbi fingerprinted back in Jan. we sent off our complete dossier in march. it was translated and presented to ICBF the first of april. we are still waiting... hopefully, we will hear something soon.

[prayby2004]

Just wanted to clarify:

Regarding my first post. Our first agency that we were using for Colombia itself was not unethical... the Representative that was hired via the agency was unethical. Our agency director was "taken" by this Rep, as we were. Just wanted to clarify. I have NEVER posted this agency's name on any message board since this all happened many months ago, despite someone stating that I have "posted it all over the internet." Once we severed our ties with this agency, I never posted anything about them, never naming them specifically. I believe I know who e-mailed my above forwarded post to a particular person, if you know who I mean.. I thought you were my friend.

I wish all of you the best who are adopting from Colombia, but I will no longer be posting to this adoption board.

Take care,
Patty

[gibbsc]

if you request an infant boy is it a quicker time frame? are there sibling groups with infants?

[Erika32]

I was told that there is a much longer waiting list for girls, so I assume it might be quicker to get a boy. As for the sibling groups with infants, I am not sure on that. I think there might be, but it would still be a long wait.