[ndkaff]

My husband and I have been trying to adopt domestically for 2 years, with no luck. We have had 2 failed adoptions.
anyway, we are now looking into possibly going with MAPS and looking into India since they will escort the baby to the U.S.
Has anyone use MAPS for international adoption?
Any info. is helpful.

[spaypets]

I really recommend going to India -- if only for the child's sake. The time we spent bonding with our daughter in her home country where there were other people who looked like she was used to was valuable. There was the added advantage of familiar food and music...I was so leery of traveling and I am so glad I did. She smiled for the first time on the plane ride home -- I would have hated to have missed it -- after 10 days of looking so worried to see her dimples and lovely smile was a treasure.

India is facinating and beautiful. I loved it there and can't wait to go back someday.

[Cheryl in MO]

Hello ndkaff,

I can't speak directly on the topic of MAPS, as we have not used this agency. I know several years ago they had a great reputation, but for some reason their name just hasn't come up at all in the adoption e-groups I belong to, in the last couple of years. I don't know if that's good or bad.

Regarding escorting vs. travel, we used escorts for both of our India adoptions, and while I do wait with great anticipation for the day we will all travel to India as a family, I am also quite pleased with our choice to use escorts. Our girls were 10 and 12 mos. old when they each arrived home, and were VERY busy little girls. They each learned to walk about 8 or 10 weeks after coming home, so until then there was lots of "cruising around the furniture" and exploring, and attempts to walk, and pushing toys around, and wanting to be held constantly... Not to mention the general time it takes for the child to adjust to her new home and new family, and new TIME ZONE (12 hours difference).

I know my own physical energy capabilities, and I was thankful that I wasn't also jet-lagged, exhausted from traveling internationally for the first time, and possibly dealing with whatever intestinal "friends" I may have acquired while there. As it was, I caught a flu from each of them shortly after they arrived. Apparently I had little immunity to Indian flu bugs! So I was off my feet for a few days because of that.

The arrival experience can be an amazing and heartwarming moment, for you, as well as your friends and family, should you choose to have people come meet you at the airport. Some choose to have it be a private family moment.

All this, though, is based on adopting a very young child. If I was adopting a child older than 18 mos., I would probably make the effort to go there, get to know the child in her/his surroundings, learn what routine they were used to, meet their caretakers, soak up the culture, and let the child get to know me in a place where they felt safe and secure, before taking them away from everything they know and flying them halfway across the world to a place that looks different, sounds different, smells different, taste's different, etc.

Good luck as you go through this nerve-wracking decision-making process! Once you do your research and choose the agency and situation you are most comfortable with, you'll find it to be a truly awesome experience!

-- Cheryl in MO

[veganquaker]

Hi!

We just got back from Pune with our daughter 3 weeks ago today! We used MAPS International and cannot say enough glowing things about them.

I sympathize with your difficult process! We were 10 months late going to get our daughter. This was due to a bad orphanage director, but MAPS and their social worker in Pune were amazing! They fought hard to get to the bottom of the problems and finally got us there, just in time for her 2nd birthday!

One big benefit of working with MAPS is their Indian social worker, Minal. She's so amazing. She knows all the movers in India and is honest and tough when she needs to be. We were dealing with some severe malnutrition problems with our daughter and Minal went to visit her weekly to make sure she was doing better while we were waiting to get her.

The other great thing about MAPS is their India director, Jenny Mills. I had lots of questions and fears due to our difficult process and due to our rotten homestudy agency. She worked ceaselessly to get things done, and was even gracious about a frantic middle-of-the-night phone call from Delhi. She pulled everything together so we could leave on time.

Our situation was unusually hard and they are not using this bad orphanage any more, so other MAPS adoptions should go more smoothly. I mention our problems just to demonstrate how hard they worked for us.

I love MAPS. They united us with the perfect child for us. If you want any other info, you can email me at ramo@qadas.com.

Good luck - it will be worth all the tears and frustrations.