[thehopefulone]

This is my first post on this forum. So hi!

I am American but have lived in England 8 years, my husband is English and son (3 years old) and I have duel citizenship. We are sure we do not want any more biological children but would love to give another child a wonderful life who wouldnt otherwise have one.

We have a lot to offer (if I do say so myself!) in that we are a very loving, close, happy family. Before we would be in a position to adopt I need to find the job I am looking for and also move to a bigger house as we only have a 2 bedroom, so realistically we are looking at 1-2 years or so?

Anyway, we are exploring ALL of our options. Adopting from the UK, overseas, and indeed, from America! Which we can do as I am a citizen. But I have literally no idea how to go about doing it as I do not know what the American system is like. I dont know where to start, what to do, anything. I could really do with a very patient and kind hearted guide!

We are white but we are happy to adopt a child of any race and would raise him or her with an awareness of their heritage. We do not think we would be up for taking a "known" special needs child - of course there is a pot luck of lottery with any baby born as there was with our son but that is just how we feel our limits would be. We would like a young child or baby. Boy or girl is fine.

In return we would raise the child with more love than you could imagine (well you probably could, you are all clearly family orientated!) I am a writer specialising in humanitarian issues and I truly see each child as a special gift. I would be so honoured to have a child given to me in this way.

What do I do? Where do I start? Does it cost a fortune? Help! Do I "sell" us to someone?

Thanks so much!

[Linny]

We lived in Okinawa, Japan when we adopted our first baby. My husband was in the Air Force and we lived there for three years----which gave us time to complete 2 adoptions. (Barely time for the second one, but God had a plan, obviously. )

We had no idea where to start as we were living in Japan, but were American citizens. And, we wondered if the military would/could be able to help us as well. (They couldn't.)
But, we just started asking for the whereabouts of any agency. Okinawa had only ONE agency on the entire island, and this is where we started.....asked questions, had our homestudy completed and eventually adopted our first two. Those two babies are now grown and on their own....and we went on to adopt many more times.

I would suggest you do as we did.....start asking (check your phone listings) and start phoning agencies or attorneys to inquire where you start. I have no idea what the policies are in England (even though I have a daughter who resides there); but any creditable attorney/agency would be happy to tell you of the basics....more than likely without any charge.

We have adopted internationally, through the foster care system (all three failed in some way); and transracially through domestic adoption. We now have four little ones at home.

I hope this helps in some way; and feel free to pm me if you believe I could help further.

Sincerely,

Linny

[thehopefulone]

Thanks very much Linny! Your advice was great. I am following it. Casting my net as wide as possible actually to see what all of our options are.

What are your experiences of adopting children from a different race from yourself? I am personally happy to do that - is it thought to have a detrimental effect on the child, even if you handle it really well?