[Anu Subramanian]

Hi all,
I am totally new here and in the whole area of adoption. We are considering adoption and would love to adopt from India. But, both me and my husband are green card holders and will not be eligible for citizenship till 2009-2010 and I don't want to wait for that long to start the adoption process. Does anyone know if there are any domestic adoption agencies that have South Asian children we can adopt?
Searching for options!
Anu Subramanian

[sak9645]

Domestic agencies don't specialize in particular racial or ethnic groups. However, you are most likely to find children of a given heritage in an area where there are a lot of people of that heritage. So think about where some large clusters of South Asians are in the U.S., and contact agencies there. Just remember that you will still need a homestudy by a provider in your state, and that when you adopt from a different state from the one in which you reside, you will need to satisfy Interstate Compact rules.

You are right in saying that you cannot adopt from overseas at this point. The USCIS requires at least one spouse to be a U.S. citizen in order to obtain an adoption visa for a child.

By the way, to make your adoption easier, search your heart as to whether you would be able to parent a child of a different ethnicity. Yes, you may run into some challenges in terms of acceptance by your family and in terms of raising a transracially/transculturally adopted child. But all children need the love and structure of a family, and there are many wonderful children out there in need of homes.

Sharon

[Anu Subramanian]

Thanks Sharon. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with such adoptions. I have wanted to adopt my children since I was in 6th grade. Ideally, I would like to adopt from India, because that is where I first thought about adopting. We are willing to consider other racial and ethnic groups, but I would like to start with South Asian children and explore that option first!
Again, thank you for your input!
Regards,
Anu

[SWRobb]

Anu-

If you are a non-resident Indian(NRI) I would strongly suggest you pursue adoption from India.Their are 4 million kids that need homes and people who are not NRI have little chance of adopting from India. My wife and I love South Asian culture and are thinking of India ourselves, but there are numerous roadblocks to us doing so because we have no South Asian heritage.

Robert

[sak9645]

Robert, it would be wonderful if Anu could adopt from India.

However, the U.S. government will not, under any circumstances, grant an adoption visa to a child, unless one parent is a U.S. citizen. This is part of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. Anu and her spouse are green card holders and won't become citizens till 2009 or later.

So even if Anu managed to complete a NRI adoption, from the perspective of Indian law, the child could not come to the U.S., unless she and/or her spouse left the U.S., moved to India for two years, lived with the child during that period, and then applied for a regular visa for her.


Sharon

[Vijaya]

Hi Anu,
My husband and I are in pretty much the same situation as you- we are green card holders and would like to adopt domestically. Although we are open to adopting a child of any nationality- if we were to be able to adopt a child of south asian origin in the US- it would be ideal. Have you had any luck in your searches?

[mom2tara]

Robert mentioned the NRI advantage, Iused to think the same way but as a wife of an NRI I recently found out we have no advantage except in adopting infants.
It is not hard to adopt chilren in India as long as they are not healthy infants or toddlers. If you want a child or an infant who has or had minor problems or siblings, they fall under special needs and are much easier to acquire.

[Anu Subramanian]

Not so far, Vijaya. After the responses on this forum, I decided to wait till the citizenship comes through and go from there.

[nezumi]

Hi, It will take a while before your homestudy is done and your file gets screened by the Indian authorities. In Canada, it takes about 7-8 months to get the homestudy done (you will need this in any case). Then, another year or so after your file is sent to India while Indian authorities clear you for adoption and send your file to the orphanages. Then they will select a child and release him/her for adoption locally - another 2-4 months. All that will take until about 2009. You could start the process now and by the time you get your citizenship, you should be very close to getting the child. If you wait until 2009, you will have to wait another 2-3 years. You should check if you can start homestudy while on greencard and whether you can send your file along while waiting for citizenship.

[Anu Subramanian]

That is a good point - anybody know if we can start the homestudy before the citizenship? I thought being a citizen was a requirement even before the start of the process. How will it affect the process if we move to another state in the US during this 2-3 year process? Any input would be welcome and much appreciated.....
can i start to get excited???

[BrandyHagz]

A homestudy, in the US, doesn't generally take that long - and a homestudy is generally only good for a year, maybe two (depending on the state). The second step in moving forward for international adoption, after getting the homestudy, is getting USCIS approval, which you can't do.

It's better to wait a until you are a few months away from citizenship, before you start.

[wannabamom]

I can't help but reply. Like Brandy said, it is a requirement that atleast one of the spouses be a US citizen, but PLEASE MAKE SURE WHETHER IT WORKS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE IF ONE OF YOU IS ALSO AN INDIAN CITIZEN. Because, it's much more simpler and easier to get a referral especially of an infant if one is an Indian citizen. Good luck in whatever you decide to do!!!!!!

[Anu Subramanian]

Thank you for your responses, Brandy and wannabemom. From what I read, I figured that I would have to wait, but I was hopeful on the 'off-chance'?? Oh well.... Our plan is that one of us gets the citizenship and the other waits till we are done with all our adoptions. But who knows what's in store for us..
fingers crossed. (and toes!!)
Anu

[BrandyHagz]

Anu,

You do know the citizenship requirement is only for International Adoption, right? You can adopt while living in the US from the US, without being a citizen.

It might be something else to consider - if you're open to that.

[sak9645]

1. An American homestudy will usually take no more than 3-4 months. However, a lot depends on whether you can access documents from India that you may need, such as marriage certificates and such, easily. It also depends on whether your U.S. state of residence requires things like in-person preadoption classes or a certain number of in-person visits with the social worker. And in some states, there may be a shortage of homestudy social workers, so it may take time to get appointments scheduled.

2. You can do a homestudy before citizenship if it is for domestic adoption. However, if you request a homestudy for international adoption -- which has some significant differences -- your agency probably won't start it until one of you becomes a citizen, since USCIS delays are common and the homestudy could expire before citizenship occurred. Depending on your U.S. state of residence, it could expire in as little as a year, and the agency wouldn't want to waste its time and your money doing one too early.

3. If you are planning to move within your current state after your homestudy is complete, but before your child comes home, it's not overly difficult. Your homestudy social worker will have to visit your new home, to be sure that it is safe and welcoming, and he/she will have to ask you some questions about how the move affects your financial picture, your commute to work, your plans about child care, and so on. If your state requires things like a fire marshall inspection, they will need to be done. He/she will then need to prepare an update report. It shouldn't be as expensive as a whole new homestudy.

4. If you plan to move to another state, either do it now or wait till your child comes home. Most homestudy agencies are licensed in only one or two states, so if you have a completed homestudy and then move, your agency probably couldn't do a simple update. Basically, you'd need to find a new agency in your new state. That agency would pretty much need to do a new homestudy, since that state's laws would likely be very different from your first state's, and the new agency would have different policies and requirements from the old agency's. You would probably need to get new police and child abuse clearances, new employer letters, and so on. Fees would likely be almost as much as a brand new homestudy.

5. It is customary to start the I-600A process around the time you start your homestudy or somewhat before. Ideally, you'd want to have your I-600A and your homestudy report reach the USCIS at the same time, or (in states where USCIS offices permit it), to get your I-600A to the USCIS shortly before the homestudy report is completed. Don't start it too soon, however. Remember that fingerprinting for the I-600A must be redone in 15 months, if an adoption hasn't been completed by then, and that the I-600A approval, itself, must be redone within 18 months, if an adoption hasn't been completed by then.

6. You really can't do much other work on an international adoption until you get citizenship. The foreign government will usually need to see proof that you have an approved homestudy and I-600A before it will assign you a child or start approving other paperwork.

7. Since you have a while before citizenship, by all means explore domestic adoption. However, do be aware that people from India who live in the U.S. tend to form a close knit community. Few children ever wind up without a relative or other known Indian person applying to do an identified adoption. You may see very few Indian children available, either through agencies or through the U.S. foster care system. If children become available, they are more likely to be of school age or to have a significant special need. But since there ARE exceptions, you might want to prepare a generic letter to be emailed or sent to a large number of adoption agencies in U.S. cities with a large South Asian population, and to state foster care agencies in those jurisdictions.

8. If you specifically want an infant, in terms of domestic adoption, you would probably do best if you are open to a child of any race. There is a great shortage of healthy, Caucasian infants of any specific ethnic origin, and most will wind up being placed with U.S. citizens. Even healthy Black and Hispanic infants under one year of age may be hard to find, depending on where you live. You will have greater flexibility if you are also open to an older child or one with special needs, but not all families are equipped to parent such children.

9. All in all, unless you are approaching the maximum age for adopting from India, you probably should wait for citizenship if you really want a South Asian child. If you really want results sooner, you should consider a child of any race from the U.S. If finances are a factor, adoption from the U.S. foster care system is the cheapest option. A domestic Caucasian infant adoption through an agency is likely to be the most expensive option -- even more expensive than adopting internationally, with the travel and so on.

Sharon