[Rackley]

We are considering Columbia for our next adoption, hopefully in 2007. Our first was from Guatemala. Our son was 18 mons. when he came home and he is now 4 years and one of the loves of our lives, we have two other children. We are interested in boys ages 7 - 11 years of age because we know they are harder to place. Could some of you tell me what agency you used and what your experience was with them?
Thanks in advance.
Becky

[Zuke]

Hi Becky!
We are actually doing the exact same thing. Our first son came home in November from Guatemala, and we have now applied to adopt from Colombia. Just working on the paperwork right now, but I will PM you with our experience so far.
Take care, and good luck!

[amie-b]

we too have one child from Guatemala, and are starting to feel out options for our second adoption. could you give me some info as well? ie timeframe, ages availabe and cost? thanks!

[MNStarr]

Joining in. We adopted our daughter from Guatemala last year. She is now 15 months and we are starting to look into options for #2. If anyone can share info that would be great.

[scottskaggs]

We are in the process in Guatemala right now and are looking at other options for our next one due to the Hague. I would appreciate any info. on how things work in Colombia also.
Thanks

[hopester22]

Hi, Becky - I think it's great that you want to adopt an older child. Have you heard of an organization called Kidsave? They bring orphans from Colombia to the US for six weeks over the summer to spend time with an American family. Although there are no guarantees, if the summer goes well, you are supposed to have first rights to begin the adoption process.

That was my plan after last summer, but the boy we hosted was adopted by another family. So it doesn't always work, but what I love about the Kidsave Summer Miracles program is that you get to know the child before making the decision whether or not to pursue the adoption. You can check them out at kidsave.org. Good luck!

[meganicolson]

Congratulations on your desire to adopt from Colombia!

We have adopted twice from Colombia and have had wonderful experiences both times. Our children both came from a private orphanage in Bogota called Ayudame. We used Bethany Christian Services as our agency here at home and they had a representative who helped us in Colombia. I'll give you a quick run down of our time frames, but then you can feel free to pm me with any additional questions.

Initial application - September 2003
Dossier requested - February 2005
Referral - April 2005 (4 month old daughter)
Travel - May 3 - June 8, 2005

Initial application - July 2005 (we knew it could be long so we started right away)
Dossier requested - Jun 2006
Referral - August 2006 (4 month old son)
Travel - September 10 - October 20, 2006

As you can see by the timeline above, our wait was considerably shorter the second time. Our daughter is now 25 months old and our son is almost 9 months old.

Best wishes on your upcoming adoption journey!

Megan