[meetoo]

Hello,

I just found this forum and am appreciative of all of the info people have shared. I have read back posts and learned a lot.
We have chosen Colombia to adopt a child from, but have yet to choose an agency. We have two biological children and hope to adopt an infant/toddler (0-2). My husband and I are 38 & 34 - respectively - years old.
Anyone willing to shed some light on the "best" program/agency for us. I understand there may be restrictions due to our age & other children, but I'm also finding contradicting information on agency websites.
Any thoughts are appreciated.

Meegan

[DrLaura]

You are going to need an agency who deals directly with ICBF. Many of the casa privadas limit the number of children in the home for the families they deal with. At your ages you will likely be approved for 0-2 although if you could get your dossier submitted before your husband turns 39 that would definitely help. They tend to look more to the primary caregiver (typically but not always the mother) when making the age determination.
25-38 is 2 and under.

I know the information on our agency website is incorrect. I have told them about it and they are reworking the website although I don't know when they will have it done. So if there are agencies you are interested in...call them. They may be able to give you better information. And you will get a better feel for the ones you would really want to consider. Talking to them helped us narrow down our options quickly.

[mommytoEli]

does icbf have a family size limit? if so, what is it?

[Sumerce]

ICBF does not have a limit to family size. Not only is it not mentioned anywhere in their guidelines, I personally know a family that had 9 children and adopted a sibling group of 3 from Colombia.
I do think that you may have to wait a bit longer than the childless, but you will not be put on hold forever.

You also need to prove financial solvency for that many children -- and there is a formula, but I do not know what it is it was like you make so many thousands of dollars for each child you have in your home. You also need to show that both parents can spend adequate time with the children. I know this from our own process to adopt a third child. We needed to have the social worker specifically address how my husband planned to make time in his life for a third child -- we found it kind of silly, but that was the additional information they requested from our family.

[mommytoEli]

interesting. thanks.