We are also looking into Belarus. Does anyone know if FAS/FAE is a problem here too? What age are the children when you are able to bring them home? Anxious to hear.

[Shadowfax]

From what I understand infants are available in Belarus once they are removed from the "national database", or whatever it is called.

FAS and FAE is an issue you have to address EVERYWHERE. I too when I started this process was looking for that one perfect EE country where FAS was non-existant, to no avail.

Your best deffense is to be educated on this issue, have faith, and jump on in.

[happy&waiting]

terbear,When my husband and I were deciding to adopt from Belarus, we were also worried about FAS and Chernobyl. We are currently in the process of adopting from Belarus, and each day we get closer to bringing our bundles of joy home!! I agree that you must have faith and jump right in. From all of the people I have spoken with and research I have done, the children from Belarus are relatively healthy. Hope this helps!

Does anyone know how old the children are when they arrive home?

[Belamamma]

I don't know exactly what age kid are when they can come home with you, but I do know that it has to be at least 6 months old. There is a law in Belarus that all children that are eligable for adoption must be on the national registry for those 6 months. During that time, they are adoptable by citizens of Belarus only. After the six months, they are available for international adoption. I know that in our own case, once the children were "chosen" and named, it took another 3 or 4 months. I think you would be looking at children that are at least 10 months old before they can come home with you, and my guess is more likely that they would be over a year old. When we left Belarus, we were joined by two other couples who were adopting babies. Both of those children were 13 to 15 months old. It did not affect us since we were adopting teenage sisters.