[nikchick]

I was wondering if anyone knew whether or not a bad credit history would prevent adoption from Taiwan. I had to file bankruptcy back in 1998, but my credit rating since then hasn't been great either. We are currently working to get out of debt, but my credit score won't drastically improve before another year or so. We are wanting to start the adoption process the first part of 2008. If anyone has knowledge about this subject, please help!!!! Thanks!!!

[sak9645]

All homestudy agencies will want to know your revenue and expenses, assets and liabilities. As part of developing this knowledge, some agencies will pull a credit report and some will not. Many, but not all, will ask about bankruptcies.

If a homestudy agency feels that you have not demonstrated an ability to live within your income, without excessive debt, it will not approve you to adopt. While you do not have to be rich to adopt, you do have to demonstrate that you can live within your income and put a little money aside for emergencies and for raising a/another child.

If you have homestudy approval to adopt, you still must get USCIS approval to bring an orphan into the U.S. One of the big concerns of the USCIS is that families have enough income, and enough money management skills, so that a child will not wind up on public assistance.

The USCIS has sometimes questioned homestudy agencies about a family's financial stability and demanded additional information if an issue such as bankruptcy is mentioned in the homestudy report. It could turn a family down if it considers the family's financial stability inadequate, even with an approved homestudy.

The foreign government won't think in terms of credit scores or bankruptcies. It will usually want to know whether a famiily can live within its means and can afford to support a child without taking on a ruinous amount of debt. In most cases, a foreign government will have some sort of financial report that must be completed as part of the dossier. This report will usually have to show the relationship between a family's assets and liabilities, income and expenses. But even if a foreign government does not require such a report, it will look at the homestudy report to be sure that the family is considered financially stable enough to adopt.

If you are working with an experienced placement agency, it will know the foreign government's sensitivities with regard to financial status, and won't let you submit a dossier unless there's a good chance that you will be referred a child.

Sharon