[SkiTCC]

Hi,

My husband and I are planning to adopt, and have been focusing on Latin/South America. We are considering a child between the ages of 3 and 7, and have found some research to suggest that Peru might be a good fit.

Has anyone adopted from there (I saw the previous post on this but that was several months ago, and there were more people expressing interest, but not a lot of information in it)? Would you share some of your experiences? Impressions of the program? Answer some questions?

Any information you could share would be greatly appreciated!

SkiTCC

[rhouse77]

State dept flyer on Peru
Intercountry Adoption Peru

It does not mention 6 months, but does say
Prospective adoptive parents should plan to stay in Peru for approximately eight weeks, and sometimes longer.

[adoptcolombia]

I don't much much at all about adoptions from Peru, but you may want to look into Colombia as well if South America is a big draw for you. It is beautiful, the children are typically in foster care or well-run orphanages, and depending on the age the wait time can be quite a bit shorter. From what I understand, a child age 7 or two or three siblings up to age 7 usually take just a few months for a referral. My husband and I considered a sibling group ourselves, but right now just feel like we need to start with one. Anyway, good luck in your journey and if there's anything I can answer for you, just ask.

[BrandyHagz]

I've deleted 2 posts (one made by a troll and one in response to the trolls post) because...the troll.

Julianna - the Adoption Troll is back in full force - please report anything you feel might be incorrect, so we can investigate.

[SkiTCC]

Thank you. I didn't take the troll's advice to heart, because it conflicted with the research I have already done. I just never imagined that someone would care to be a troll on an adoption board. What could the motivation be?

We are looking into Colombia, too, but I have been quoted much longer wait times for children over 3 (around 30+ months) from there. Not only have I been told that it's a much shorter wait for Colombian infants than older children, but also that there may currently be some bumps in the road with adoption from there due to new regulations. Is this inaccurate?

[SkiTCC]

Oh, and my husband and I are tempted by the suggestions that sibling groups may mean shorter wait times, but as first-time parents, we think it's best we start with just one child at a time. I'd hate for our enthusiasm to lead us into an overwhelming situation.

[adoptcolombia]

I believe you're right about the wait time for children around 3-5, when it is just one child. The wait for a 0-2 year old is about 30+ months right now as well, through ICBF. If you adopt a baby through a private casa, the wait time may or may not be less...seems like some have been around a year or year and a half, but I believe this is the wait time that people are more unsure of how it will change with the implementation of some procedures.

I know exactly how you feel regarding siblings...same with us. I do think that someday this might be something for us, but most likely not with our first.

[rhouse77]

Sadly there are trolls many places on-line, for many different reasons.

[csw]

Hi
I adopted from Peru in 1991 when it was still a private birthmother/lawyer relationship and then it had to go through the gov't like Guatemala. Ours took six months and I had to live there the entire time. No running water for 23.5 hours a day, laundry by hand and walking 2 miles to the nearest grocery store..Ahh..memories..

Luckily things have changed since then..
It is all through the gov't and no more private attornies.
They do have strict age requirements and the length of stay now I believe is more like 3-6 weeks or 2 trips..etc..

Contact the Latin American Parents Association in your area to see if someone has adopted from there recently.

[FranTastic]

Um, what the heck is a troll? The living under a bridge, wart nose variety?

[BrandyHagz]

Fran,

It's someone who really has no business being allowed in public...

We have a few folks who think it's fun (or maybe they believe it in their head) to pretend they are connected to adoption.

In this case, the user has adopted like 3945820 kids from various countries...of course, she has fabricated the entire story.

She makes promises to help people financially.

She contacts agencies and causes problems for people.

As far as I can tell, from talking to the Police in the California town where she lives, she is a mentally ill woman who lives with her enabeling parents who know what she's doing but won't do anything to stop her.

Because all she does is emotionally 'prey' on people - she hasn't officially broken the law - although, I spoke to an arson investigator last winter who said that because she'd actually sent a physical letter to them making similar promises that she makes to parents on adoption boards, it now could be a federal issue (postal stuff...I didn't understand and haven't followed up).

Anyway - troll basically means someone who isn't real. Emotional scammer if you will.

[lil_hobo]

I would love to hear what you find out about Peru... links etc. I asked about Peru awhile back as a friend is super interested in there after she worked at an orphanage and fell in love with the kids.

[erdoran]

I have two daughters from Peru and a son from Honduras, but my adoptions were 1985, 1987 and 1990. I'm glad to answer any questions you have as long as you realize how out of date any of my info is. Also my son and one daughter have either severe ADHD or FASD, I'm not sure which any more, so I'm not the most glowing person to talk to. Having said that, I loved the entire foreign adoption experience, including the stay in their countries. YOu are welcome to post or email me with questions. For what it's worth, I was in Honduras two months in 1985, Peru two months 1987 and one month 1990. All were final adoptions.