[Archive]

Originally Posted By llanas

my husband and i want to adopt a infant to three years of age.how do we get started?my husband is from mexico,does that make a differrence?we own a home there also.we visit frequently.what should we do? some one please help.

[Archive]

Mexican adoption is possible, but difficult. For one thing, each of Mexico's states has different adoption laws, and practices may even vary from municipality to municipality. For another, there are a good many corrupt people claiming to be able to facilitate adoptions, and families who are not careful can wind up with no baby and loss of thousands of dollars. As a result, there are surprisingly few non-relative adoptions from this neighboring country.

If you do wish to adopt from Mexico, begin by looking at the U.S. State Department website at http://travel.state.gov/adopt. Click on "Mexico" at the bottom of the page to see information about the adoption process.

Then, I would urge you to contact a reputable, experienced, LICENSED, NON-PROFIT agency that places children from Mexico. You can find a list of licensed and non-profit agencies working in the country in the "Report on Intercountry Adoption 2002", published by International Concerns for Children, a non-profit family support group. For each agency in the list, you will see the types of children available (age, health status, etc.), the requirements for prospective parents, the estimated time frame, and the estimated fees. The publication is not in the bookstores; you can order it from ICC by e-mailing icc@Boulder.net or calling 303-494-8333. Sometimes, you can find an old copy in a public library, but it will generally be so out of date that it isn't much help.

Be sure to check references on any agency carefully, going beyond the list provided by the agency, before you sign a contract or pay money.

Sharon

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Lillian

My husband and I started the adoption process (indepedently) in Mexico. If you want to try to adopt without going through an actual agency here in the U.S., try with the DIF (Desarrollo Integral de la Familia). I contacted them back in March and heard good news last week. I did a lot of research about them over the internet. In fact, I read that the DIF is the legal rep. for orphaned children (they provide foster care also) and that they have an office in every state. Sorry, the only problem that we have encountered is that the state that we are dealing with is allowing us to adopt in that certain state because my parents were born in Mexico. From what I was told, the DIF does not have a fee for the adoption. You can get more information from: http://travel.state.gov/adoption_mexico.html

I wish you the best of luck. If you have any other questions about starting or where to look, etc., let me know.

Thanks

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Kathy

PLEASE CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITIES BEFORE YOU COMMIT!!! I am in the second year of adopting my daughter from Mexico! ALthough my child is the world to me, I would NEVER adopt from Mexico again! There are many wonderful children residing in orphanages who need homes. However, in order to adopt from an orphanage, you must work with DIF. In the other response, DIF had been very helpful. That is true. However, DIF works differently from our child welfare services. Many times, (not all) the people who work there do not care for the children, just their jobs. Like I said, it has taken me over 2 years to adopt my child. SHe is legally free, her birthfamilies rights are terminated. SHe lives in an orphanage, etc. I live in Mexico, away from my family, so I can be with her everday. You need a lot of cash, a lot of time, a lot of patience and you must be prepared to wait a long time! I would highly discourage you from adopting in Mexico. I know that my story can not make you give up hope for a mexican child, but consider all possibilities before you commit. There are many hispanic children in the USA that need homes. My next child will not be from Mexico. Please be careful. Godd luck and I wish you all the best.

[Archive]

we are adopting through an orphanage a 9 year old Girl. But it is througha missionary. We successful adopted 2 boys from cal who are mexican. Try www.lifetimeadoptions.com. Our one baby was only 2 months old when we brought him home.

[Antoinette]

Kathy,

We are thinking about adopting from Mexico as well and have heard many different stories. sometimes the DIF seems helpful...one thing i noticed is that it seems particularly helpful to mexican citizens or those adopting parents that have parents from mexico. Are you originally from the U.S.? What kind of problems did you encounter that ended up taking 2 years? Also, are there any health problems. Please email me at elaia@texas.net. Anyone else who may have a story, good or bad, about mexican adoptions and suggestions on the best way to expedite an adoption and also the most affordable way.

We don't want to be discouraged b/c my husband is originally from Mexico City and is very aware of the number of orphans in Mexico.

Thanks,
An

[catbite]

I wish you all the best in your attempts. Five years ago I was able to adopt my daughter with a private agency, but the process was problematic (for example, I stayed 6 1/2 weeks to complete the process). I wanted to utilize Mexico again for my second adoption.
My first agency had given up on Mexico because it was so challenging and time consuming to get kids home. I found another agency willing to attempt Mexico and they had started a new program there, and so I signed on with them. After a almost a year waiting for some action, I gave up on it and switched to a different country. They were unable to get any kids home except for one family. The placement officials constantly changed, they rarely met to place children, and did not work to get the many orphans legally freed for adoption. I felt that I stood a decent chance of getting a kid because of my first child and my willingness to accept an older child, but I had to realize it would never happen. I had done quite extensive searching on the Intranet for programs and found very few choices for Mexico.
Best wishes
Mary Anne

[kathyandjoe5]

We are in the process of adopting a 9 year old girl. Our church sponcers a orphanage. She lives there. We will visit her in two weeks. We have very little cost for the adoption. under 5000 for everything. I will keep everyone posted of the progress of our journey. We have 2 boys (9y and 1y)who we adopted domestically and 2 boys we adopted from Guatemala (6y-1y ) we just brought them home 10-12-02. We are excited to meet our daughter God willing.