[chockada]

My husband and I want to adopt but want a young child (under 3). We are investigating International because we have been told that it is hard to find a domestic child under 3. In most cases, an attempt is made to reunite the child with a family member. We are each 40 and worry that waiting for an infant may take awhile. Any thoughts or suggestions on adopting a young child and where would be appreciated. We live in VA.

[tobe]

Domestic adoption is very much possible, or countries such as Russia and Guatemala with shorter wait.

Good luck,
TB

[Linny]

If I understand your post correctly, you are hesitating to pursue a domestic adoption for a child/baby under the age of three...because you feel it will take too long?

I can assure you that, unless you are searching for a perfectly healthy CC baby....your age should usually not matter in your search for a domestic infant. (And, if this were your choice, there are many older couples who ARE being chosen for healthy white babies....the wait for them is almost always longer, though.)

We have adopted seven times. Internationally (2 infants), through the state foster/adopt system (3 children), and most recently, transracially through a domestic agency. We never wanted CC babies, and so never even pursued this avenue. (In fact, we turned a couple of situations down.)
But, we are both 47yrs old. Our youngest baby is almost 18months.....the next to the youngest is almost 3yrs old. Our oldest child is now 24yrs old.

I would encourage you to go to the 'over 40 adoption board'. I think you'll see a lot of us 'older couples' are adopting like crazy!!!!)


Sincerely,

Linny

[tobeafamily]

Domestic Parental Placement adoption (aka "private" or "open" adoption, although openness varies) in the US generally takes between 1-2 years to complete. We also live in VA (Virginia Beach area) and are friends with several families who adopted this way. None spent more than a year waiting/networking before their babies came. PM me if you'd like to know which agency we used.

Domestic parental placement is also almost exclusively newborn adoption - very very few children beyond newborn are placed this way.

Toddler adoption can be accomplished two ways - domestic waiting child/foster care and international waiting child/orphanage adoption.

As with anything in life, all adoption carries risks and benefits. If, however, your main concern is time to placement, then you should consider all three, as none takes an extrodinary amount of time, depending on your desires in the child you parent.

DH was 45, almost 46 when our son came. Age was not an issue, though it makes for a funny family story as bgranddad is 2 years younger and bgrandma is 1 year older than he.

HTH

Regina