[CordeliaS]

My husband and I figured since we're both in and out of India freqently, why couldn't we tour a orphanage and choose our child that way? If we did do that, would we be able to even adopt the child we felt a connection to? Also, would that be faster than waiting for a referal?

[chloeg]

If you are considering an adoption then Indian policies state that you can't visit an orphanage to meet children. The only way to adopt from India is by waiting for a referral. In the case of international adoption CARA policies state that you cannot meet the child that you are reffered until you get to a certain stage in the adoption process, and they only make exceptions in very unusual cases. Also there are many children in orphanages who are not free for international adoption, so even if you did go to an orphanage and meet a child you wanted to adopt there is a high chance it wouldn't be possible.

[spaypets]

Just to elaborate on what cloeg said--the US government has very strict standards on what it considers to be an orphan. You could fall in love with a child that you could not bring back to the US.

Second, not every Indian orphan is allowed to be adopted internationally. They have to be presented first to Indian families and turned down before they are certified for international adoption.

The rules are in place to ensure that the process is as ethical as possible and that children are given a chance to be placed within their culture. Circumventing the rules and procedures will likely make your process longer rather than shorter.

[Julie KS]

NRIs used to be allowed to see several available children and choose their child. Is that no longer possible? I'm just pointing this out because it's possible the original poster is NRI or married to one.

Julie

[CordeliaS]

So it might be possible? My husband and I are both NRI, so it is possible to see children first? But would that make any difference in the adoption time line? By the way, we're both Canadian.

[Jensboys]

Contact the Adoptive Families Association in Burnaby, BC (they have a web page). They would probably be your best bet for current information. I know lots of children from India do come to BC, but 99% of the time its a direct adoption from families. I know the laws were tightened up because of that. (it was used to circumvent immigration regulations) that a child must be considered legally an "orphan" in order to be eligible to immigrate to Canada.

[chloeg]

As I understand it the new regulations mean that the only different treatment non-resident Indians recieve over 'totally foreign' families is that they are higher up on the list of prefered situations, ie Indian parent/s, NRI parent/s, couple with 1 NRI parent, totally foreign parent/s. With the exception of that I believe they have to follow all of the same rules and procedures meaning they cannot meet the child before beginning the adoption procedure. I think it's the case now that even resident Indian couples adopting no longer get to choose a baby, although they do get to meet older children. However I do know that many agencies in India are not yet following all of the new rules, so you may find exceptions, this won't speed up the process though.

There is no way to speed up the adoption process, however if you can stay in India for an extended period of time depending on the agency you work with in India you may be able to foster the child you are adopting once you have recieved your NOC until the child is able to enter Canada. This would allow you to meet your child earlier.

[Anna King]

I'm puzzled by some of what I've read here but then I'm new to this and probably don't know enough yet. I live in the UK. We don't have adoption agencies here that deal with overseas agencies for us, so I thought that meant I had to identify an adoption agency in India myself. I am going out to India next week. Can I not visit an agency and see the children and how they are carted for? If we later go through the formalities, can we not see the child proposed fpor aoption?