[shammi]

Thank you for letting me know the orphanage you are dealing with. It seems that by making all these rules and regulations they are trying very hard to deter people from adopting kids. Now after the tsunami it has gotten more difficult. There are many people who are coming into orphanages and claiming children. These children are then taken as servants and some go into the military for the Tamil Tigers. The one story that has gotten all this publicity has been Baby 81, where there were nine parents trying to claim this child. I have read several articles saying that Sri Lanka has banned adoptions for the next year until all the paperwork has been sorted from the tsunami effected orphans.
I really don't know what is going on there, and the only people really losing out on this process are the children.

[2ndchance]

You are absolutely right, they have banned tsunami victims to be adopted, but you could still file papers for an adoption from a registered orphanage as long as you do not use the word tsunami, smart aren't they. Even though I have some type of contacts in Sri Lanka, I am keeping my fingers crossed. The story at this point is that they have plenty of Sri Lankans living in Sri Lanka that are waiting to adopt. I was informed that its not so, accept that many Sri Lankans have now, sponsored children in orphanages, but the children still remain within the walls of the orphanage.

[octavius1969]

I am Sri Lankan born, British Citizen living in the US and my wife is a US citizen. We are looking into adopting a baby from Sri Lanka but cannot find any agencies that handle Sri Lanka.
I have read through everybodies messages dating back to 2003. Has anyone managed to successfuly adopt a baby from Sri Lanka?
Is there a reliable Agency or method?
How long does it take?
Do you have an estimated cost?
Any replies appreciated.

[2ndchance]

Hi there,

Welcome to my world. I am in the midst of the adoption process from Sri Lanka. I live in IL and went thru LifeLink, the adoption agency that took care of my home study. It has roughly cost me about US $ 4,500/- at this point. My paper work arrived last September in Sri Lanka and nothing has happened since then. It has been an emotional roller coaster. The Sri Lankan Authorities keep sending you from pillar to post. Unfortunately I have no way of giving you a time frame from beginning to end. The paper work here in the US took me about 4 months. I have a close friend of mine who adopted from Sri Lanka 6 years ago and it took them about 9 months to get a child into their hands. But let me tell you they had all the influence they needed.

Good luck to you, please e-mail me, if you have any further questions, I would be happy to share any information with you.

[octavius1969]

Thanks for replying. I am sorry it is taking so long for you. Have you had any further progress?

How do you go about beginning the process of international adoption? whether it is from Sri Lanka of anywhere else?
I notice from the US dept of State website, they don't mention any visas issued for Sri Lankan adoptions since 2001. Does this mean that the web page is out of date or that the Sri Lankan authorities are dragging their feet.

I contacted the Sri Lankan embassy in DC today and they are sending me an info pack in the mail and they told me that I can adopt following the procedure, but I would like some official back-up (Agency or something like it) to make sure everything is being done correctly.

I read a book on international adoption that mentions that you have to have three copies of everything. How do you get copies of your birth certificate from Sri Lanka?

[shammi]

Hi Everyone
I am curious to find out some updates in regards to everyones journey in this adoption process. I have a cousin who is working tirelessly and it seems nothing is happening.
The Dept of Probation has told us that there are three orphanages that they deal with, and beyond these three orphanages they don't handle any other cases from other orphanages. Eventhough they have said this I just read an article about a US citizen who was born in SL who is 48 years old and has three biological children went to SL, looked around orphanages and picked the little boy she wanted to adopt. So you tell me where are the rules and regulations that have been set up by the Dept of Probation. The little boy that was adopted was 4 years old. That was another thing I just did not understand as the Dept of Probation has told me specifically that the child must be over 3mos of age to one year maximum age for foreign adoption.
No one seems to be able to give us a straight answer. This has been frustratiing and we are considering not going any further with this process as the emotional ups and downs are just too much to handle for us.

[Tawnya]

Octavius1969, you probably already figured out how to get a birth certificate from Sri Lanka. Just in case you are still needing this information or others are needing this information, I would like to let others know how to do this. I managed to find the correct government website at the Registrar General's Department (http://www.rgd.gov.lk/forms_registrar_general's_department.htm), however could not download the application for birth certificate or search of registers. So, I went to the contact site (http://www.rgd.gov.lk/mail.php) and emailed the Registrar General's Department for information on how to obtain a birth certificate/registration. A month later, I received a letter in the mail with the application and procedures. The application needs to be completed and sent back to the registrar's office with a stamp fee of Rs. 75 in Sri Lankan currency. I have a copy of the letter and application if anyone wants me to scan it and email it to you as an attachment, let me know by sending an email to me privately. I did not actually use the form because my relations managed to get a copy of the birth certificate from the divisional office along with a certified birth translation. I am keeping the application just in case in the future we need to get another birth certificate and relations cannot always be relied upon.

[octavius1969]

Tawnya - Thanks for the info, it will come in handy next time. I also managed to get copies of my birth certificate from family.
Shammi - No, we are still trying to get information on adopting from SL. I did find out that there are a lot of orphanages with children to adopt, but administration in SL are dragging their feet. I am trying to find out whether there are any agencies in the US which can help with afopting from SL but have not found any. Another way is to find a lawyer whoo can handle adoption from SL. The SL Embassy/Consulate in Washington DC was supposed to send me a package giving me information on adopting from Sri Lanka back in January, but I still have not received this.
Apparently the process of adoption in SL locally is very simple and they are wondering why more foreigners are not applying for adoption, but it seems that there is a major breakdown in administration or communications.

[sak9645]

The few agencies that tried to work in Sri Lanka were deterred by the lack of a standardized, transparent process. Ethical agencies will not work under such conditions, because they want to be sure that families will actually complete an adoption in a reasonable period of time, comply with all foreign laws, and be able to bring their children into the U.S. on an adoption visa (which means that they must qualify under the Immigration and Nationality Act.)

Sharon

[shammi]

I found that the biggest obstacle in SL is that they are not keen on foreigners adopting from SL. Priority is given to local adopting within the country. I know there is one agency in Canada EDITED TO REMOVE AGENCY DISCUSSION that seems to have the market for adopting from SL. You have to be living in Ontario, Canada to use this agency. They have successfully done adoptions from SL. Eventhough I live outside of Ontario, but within Canada they still did not want to work with us. This agency has people within SL working for them.
I do feel sorry for all the children living in orphanages while there are so many couples wanting to adopt from SL.
Another trap that seems to happen is that many of the children they are wiling to give for adoption are sickly. At least in Canada this causes major problems in regards to immigration.
I wish you all the best as you travel this journey of adoption. We just did not have the patience to travel this journey and are adopting from Nepal. Now this seems to be a country that wants their children to be placed in homes and with families regardless of where you live in the world.

[sonja_in_europe]

I found a discussion about the difficulties in adopting from Sri Lanka and I'm hoping to get a discussion going about it again.

I'm new to this site, but not new to adoption from Sri Lanka in the sence that my husband and I have been trying to get our adoption through since almost two years now. Admittedly almost 8 months was due to the slow bureacracy in Sweden. I was under the impression that there were quite a lot of children adopted to USA and Canada from Sri Lanka. To Sweden there's only been two children during the last five or eight years. Both children were infants. We've been told that the only way to adopt from Sri Lanka is to have someone, through an agency, that does all the foot work locally. We also get to hear that there are no children and espessially no older children. (we have consent for 1,5 years to 4 years) And still when we were there the last time and visited orphanages they were packed. I also got a list of all the orphanages near Colombo and on the west coast, and that was a long list......

Well anyway, I hope to hear something from you, then we can get in to moore detail.

Kind Regards, Sonja

PS. sorry for the spelling misstakes.

[sak9645]

While at least one reputable American agency worked in Sri Lanka in the past, I doubt that you'll find any American agencies working there now. Agencies will not work in a country where rules are unclear and ethical adoption is difficult if not impossible.

Unfortunately, although there are many children in need of permanent, loving families, there may be no way to bring them home. You would probably do well to consider another country.

Sharon

[Tawnya]

Unfortunately, there is no agency in the USA that has a program in Sri Lanka. In addition, we were unsuccessful in locating programs for adoption of Sri Lankans in the Diaspora communities. While people advise us to go to other countries or to pursue domestic adoption, we would like to start a family with a child or children who is/are similar to my husband, who is Sri Lankan. So, we have finally abandoned the idea of pursuing adoption in Sri Lanka, which was another loss for us as a Sri Lankan-American family. USA citizens appear to not have the option of adopting from Sri Lanka even if they are immigrants from Sri Lanka.

We are now in the process of pursuing adoption in India. This process is not as easy as one would like to think and has its own problems. It appears that anyone in the USA who would like to adopt from Sri Lanka needs to consider adopting domestically or from another country. While this will be a loss for any Sri Lankan immigrant, know that you're not alone. It's a loss also for the country of Sri Lanka, even if they do not realize it, because these children would be adopted into loving Sri Lankan homes living abroad within immigrant Sri Lankan cultures (the greater Sri Lankan Diaspora). My husband, for example, is literate in all three languages of Sri Lanka and we are fully integrated in world-wide Sri Lankan Diasporas. With the civil war continuing, more and more will continue to leave the country and will want to adopt from their mother country - their father land. Know that you are not alone in not being able to adopt from Sri Lanka.

We hope to be adoptive parents soon of a child from India. I recommend you to also consider other countries.

[sak9645]

Tawnya, you are giving great advice.

In many countries, children are placed in orphanages, but not fully relinquished for adoption because their families hope to come back for them. So while the orphanages appear to be full, there may be only a handful of children who are legally free for adoption.

In many countries, there is a bias against adoption, EITHER domestic or international. People who believe strongly in the "blood tie" simply don't understand that there are decent folks who would even DREAM of taking in an unrelated child and giving him/her all the rights of a homegrown child. They assume that if children are adopted, they will be used as servants or in the sex trade. So they actively discouraged adoption. This is true even in relatively prosperous countries like Japan.

Also, many people fear that children who are adopted internationally will lose touch with their birth culture. Even if you tell them about all the Sri Lankan communities around the world and the non-Sri Lankan families who will keep kids proud of their heritage, they simply won't believe it.

I remember being invited to spend time with some Russian and Kazakhstani judges who were brought to the U.S. by the State Department, so that they could see for themselves what was happening with Russian and Kazakhstani adopted children. They were totally surprised at how openly families discussed adoption -- it's a huge secret in Russian society, with women putting pillows under their clothes and pretending to be pregnant if they are adopting; they then go away, presumably to a hospital, and come home with a baby.

They were also surprised at how many of the kids were taught their birth country's language, taught to celebrate Russian/Kazakh holidays, music, crafts, etc., taught to be proud of who they were. Even those kids adopted by non-Russian, non-Kazakhstani families were totally familiar with Russian/Kazakh customs. It was really eye-opening. Unfortunately, all too few orphanage directors and government officials around the world have this sort of experience. So it is natural for them not to understand how Americans view international adoption.

In addition, in countries where there has been a natural or manmade disaster, federal and local officials have simply been -- and I hate to say it -- "too busy" to worry about orphans. They are restoring infrastructure like clean drinking water, roads, the food supply, police protection, and so on.

Unfortunately, there are also countries where adoption is technically allowed, but where there is tremendous corruption. Baby-buying and bribery are rampant. Neither the U.S. government nor ethical adoption agencies will allow adoption under these circumstances, which can result in the coercion of birthmothers and placement of children with unapproved families.

Of course, even if Sri Lanka were willing to allow international adoption, the recent disaster probably has destroyed a lot of things like birth certificates, which would be necessary for it to occur. The U.S., for example, requires all adopted children to have birth certificates, proof of their status as "orphans" under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, adoption or guardianship decrees, etc., so that the government can determine that they qualify for immigration to the U.S.

Sri Lanka is not the only country in the world where there are many children in need of permanent loving homes, and yet where adoption simply isn't occurring. Very few countries in Africa, for example, allow international adoption and/or have a transparent process allowing it to occur. The situation is truly sad.

I would love to see ethical international adoption from Sri Lanka. The situation in the country regarding children's needs for permanent, loving families is tremendous. But since adoption is not feasible at this time, about the only thing an American can do, if he/she wishes to adopt internationally, is to pursue adoption from another country.

While Indian children may look a lot like Sri Lankan children, the Indian adoption process is not easy, either. The Indian government tends to give strong preference to Indian citizens, including "overseas" Indian citizens. Also, each Indian state has its own rules, and some states have a good deal of corruption.

The good news is that at least a few American agencies have Indian adoption programs that are somewhat stable and are managing to bring children to families in an ethical manner. These agencies are both licensed in U.S. states and accredited by the Indian government through CARA, India's Central Adoption Resource Agency.

But there are also other countries from which Americans adopt, sometimes a little more quickly and easily. Right now, for example, Americans are turning to Ethiopia and Vietnam, which have young children, relatively liberal criteria for parents, and a manageable time frame. China, always a stable program, has recently tightened requirements for parents and found time frames lengthening because there are actually more families willing to adopt than there are paper-ready children.

International adoption is a wonderful way to build a family. But for many reasons, when a prospective parent decides to adopt, he/she may have to explore several options before deciding on a particular country.

I hope that you will all be able to pursue your dreams of giving a home to a child in need.

Sharon

[Tawnya]

Just wanted to clarify that it is possible to obtain birth certificates from Sri Lanka. First, the tsunami only affected a small proportion of the country; therefore not all areas were affected where records are maintained. Even in the areas of the country where the civil war continues to ravage, we found that it is possible to obtain birth certificates. My husband was born in the northeast part of the island in a small town on the beach. We were able to obtain a copy of his birth certificate after the tsunami as we needed an official birth certificate in order to pursue adoption. In addition, it appears that all births are registered in Colombo, so it is possible also to obtain a copy of the birth registration where records were not affected by the tsunami. So, do not despair if you want to adopt, you can still obtain a copy of your birth certificate and/or birth registration from Sri Lanka. Please read an earlier post for instructions. In addition, if you can find someone in the country to go down in person with your birth certificate or registration (be sure to provide an affidavit to allow them to do so on your behalf), you can get an officially translated copy of your birth certificate/registration in Colombo. I believe I might have also posted that instruction on the website. If not, it is posted on the Sri Lankan government website. Whatever you do, do not give up your ONLY copy in your possession of your birth certificate/registration and its translation. I have heard of families from India making copies and then attaching an affidavit (notarized/apostilled) stating that the copies and translations are true and accurate copies of the originals. I don't know which countries will accept these copies in lieu of official copies from the Sri Lankan government.