[Ann Fleming]

I am new to the list and would like to introduce myself. My name is Ann Fleming, and I have two beautiful daughters, both of them adopted from Calcutta, India as infants. My family lives in Madison, Wisconsin, where we are fortunate to have the company of a large Indian-American community as well as a large number of families who have adopted from India. Beth Peterson-Krueger, the creator and moderator of the worldwide ICHILD listserve for people interested in adoption from India, remains the adoption expert who provides some consultation when people on the AdoptionForums.com India bulletin board have "pithy" adoption questions. Beth has asked me to help out as someone who can answer some of the day-to-day questions posted to this list. I am happy to be here, I'll "pop in" every now and then with a thread or a response to a thread, and I look forward to meeting others on this list!

[Asha]

Welcome aboard Ann!

We're just about to begin the process and I'm sure I'll have lots of questions. Thanks for your input.

And, congratulations on your little girls!

[Beth PK]

Hi Ann and All,

I just wanted to thank you for moderating this forum. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Warmly,
Beth

[lilnico31]

hi, i would love to know the cost of adopting a baby/toddler from india? we are looking for a low cost adoption any advice would be appreciated.
nalla@access995.com
thanks
REbecca

[All Boys]

Hey there all,

I have a few questions about adopting from India. Does anyone know if they allow private adoption of orphans?
Our church is considering a mission trip to India. And the pastor that we will be going to his church's good friend has a large orphaninch and he e-mailed us and said that he would try to help us to get a little girl to adopt....
But all of the web sites I have looked at, say that you have to go through an agency. And we would rather not if we don't have to . We would just rather go through an attorney.
If anyone has any info I would greatly appreciate it...
Thank You

[thecareysig]

Hi Ann,
I'm brand new here too, so welcome! I am just beginning the process and still in the research stage, so I'll keep my eye on this thread.
Like you, I am very fortunate to live in a culturally diverse area. I'm in a DC suburb, and there are people here from every country you can imagine.
pamela

[pas]

Hi all,
This is great forum. Will probably read thru the messages at least next few days. Thanks everybody for sharing.
Just started exploring a possibility for adopting a child from india.
We are not US citizens and hold indian passport. Does that mean the adoption will be treated as 'By indian family in India"?
How does it affect cost of adoption and time it takes?
Thanks.

[divine64]

I am new to this site as well. We are waiting to be matched with a little one from India as well.

May I please ask if anyone knows anything at all about the latest rules and Hague Convention laws that have been introduced there?

Will write again soon

[Ann Fleming]

I am not an adoption professional, so I am not sure whether India has signed/implemented the Hague Convention or not. You could certainly ask your international placement agency for this information. You are right, there have been many changes over the past 18 months to 2 years with regard to Indian adoption. First and foremost, India is successfully encouraging adoption by Indian families, meaning that there is a greater chance that a child in need of a family will find a family within India rather than being cleared for international placement. There is also an increase in the number of NRI, or non-resident Indian, families who are adopting from India. But while NRI families used to be able to adopt from India without one of the clearances (I think it's VCA) which other international adoptive families must satisfy, NRI families now have to do VCA, too. In practice, what does all this mean? A non-NRI family adopting internationally from India may have to wait slightly longer for a referral, or might need to be open to a child who is slightly older or who has some identified special needs. The reality is that there remain many, many, healthy children in India who are in need of families, so it is still a wonderful country from which to adopt. The care in Indian orphanages is generally very good. And the process is generally quite smooth, if a little slower than in previous years. I hope this helps! Good luck!

[divine64]

Thank you very much Ann. Info much appreciated

[rabbisusan]

Hello, My husband and I have four children and would like to adopt from India - we are interested in adoption from Calcutta, Mizoram and Manipur. I am feeling a bit frustrated and would LOVE some guidance. Do you know someone who,could help us get on a track to adoption? thank you, Susan Silverman

[Ann Fleming]

Susan, welcome and best of luck on your journey. You can get a wealth of information on Indian adoption, agencies, etc., by visiting www.ichild.org. I am the mother of two daughters from Calcutta, and I'd be happy to share agency experiences if you email me privately at m_ann_fleming@yahoo.com. (Agency recommendations are prohibited on the Adoption Forums.) Thanks!

[Anna King]

Originally Posted by Ann Fleming

I am new to the list and would like to introduce myself. My name is Ann Fleming, and I have two beautiful daughters, both of them adopted from Calcutta, India as infants. My family lives in Madison, Wisconsin, where we are fortunate to have the company of a large Indian-American community as well as a large number of families who have adopted from India. Beth Peterson-Krueger, the creator and moderator of the worldwide ICHILD listserve for people interested in adoption from India, remains the adoption expert who provides some consultation when people on the AdoptionForums.com India bulletin board have "pithy" adoption questions. Beth has asked me to help out as someone who can answer some of the day-to-day questions posted to this list. I am happy to be here, I'll "pop in" every now and then with a thread or a response to a thread, and I look forward to meeting others on this list!

Ann

We're at the very beginning of the process but am going to Mumbai next week. Would it be wirth going to see any adoption agencies? Also is it true that there is an upper age limit of 40?

Thanks
Anna

[Ann Fleming]

Anna, congratulations on the decision to adopt. If you have decided to adopt from Mumbai, and are working with a U.S. agency for international placement services, you might want to ask your U.S. agency if they can arrange a visit for you to one of their partner agencies (orphanages) in Mumbai. Typically, India does not allow prospective parents to select their child, with the possible exception of the selection of a "waiting" child. Meaning an older or special needs child. But the opportunity to meet the staff at the orphanage from whom you plan to adopt, even if you were not able to interact with any specific children in need of placement, would be valuable. Regarding the age limit, typically a married couple's combined ages cannot exceed 85. Preference for placement of infants is with parents under, I think, age 42. With exceptions made for those adopting waiting children. I would recommend that you visit the website of India's Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) for a full explanation of adoption criteria and for a list of Indian and U.S. agencies. www.cara.nic.in

Good luck, stay in touch, and safe travels!

[Colorbind love]

Hi Ann.

First, I would highly recommend you take your email out of your post, or at least put a space in it. There are search programs online that grab emails on message boards, such as this one, and use them for spam mailings. If you just put a space so that your email is not a direct link, it should eliminate the problem.

However, if I am not mistaken, this message board does not allow you to edit your post after its been placed. You introduced yourself as a moderator, but I see your membership status doesn't indicate that. I'm not sure if its a typo or if you are offering your knowledge as someone who has btdt as a sort of de factor moderator. I'm thinking probably you are not an official moderator on this forum. In that case, to edit your email link, you'll need to PM someone with moderator status on the forum to do it for you. It shouldn't be a big deal, but you really will want to make your email NOT a direct link to avoid the spamming programs.

Other than that, I say welcome. We're currently waiting for NOC and hoping to get to the court before the summer shut down on our little boy waiting to come home. I'm trying to be patient, but its not exactly my forte!