[zonker]

good morning everyone !

my wife & I are just getting started. we were referred to WPA by a friend of a friend and are waiting for the information pak to come in the mail. their e-mail follow-up has been great and pleasant so far. do you have any experience with WPA ?

my question is...is it advisable to hire an adoption attorney if you are still working with a reputable agency ? would that be adding an unnecessary expense ?

also how often do new babies become available at any given agency ?

Thank you, we're both real excited.

[Sienna3]

Welcome zonker.
I don't have experience with WPA.
Which countries are you considering?

Here is some info: The agency will be the one with the responsibility to "match" you with the child either via a waiting list of kids or with the help of facilitators or lawyers in the country from which your child comes from in many cases. I think at least Ukraine and a few others differ in that you go to that country to select a child-the agency does not (and I believe cannot) assist. Anyway, for the matching part of the adoption, you would not need a domestic lawyer.

For countries in which the agency assists in the match AND the adoption is finalized in that country(not all adoptions are finalized in the foreign country), the agency has foreign lawyers that they work with-you wouldn't need to find the foreign lawyer.

If you choose a country where the adoption is NOT finalized there, then you need a domestic lawyer to finalize it in the US.

Also, there is something called "readoption" or some refer to it as "registering" in which your final adoption decree is obtained in the foreign country, but you want to gain a US birth certificate for your child and that requires a domestic lawyer. That is done after the child arrives here in the US. This is what I will be doing.For me, my cost will be around $500 to a domestic lawyer for this service-I am sure this cost varies by state as well as the specific readoption process.

Your last question about babies becoming available is almost impossible to answer. Some agencies have "waiting children" which usually are older children (older can mean 1 year and up) or ones with special needs. Some large agencies have many waiting children that you could match with quickly. Each country has different ways of allowing children to become available for international adoption. I am sure people could comment better if you specified which countries you are thinking about.

Anyway, I encourage you to look at several agencies and to really figure out the country you want to adopt from first and then select an agency based on who can do the adoption there best. You do not need to choose an agency that is in your state-most will place in any state. Some agencies in larger-populated states choose not to place in many states because they have a huge client pool. Good luck!

[zonker]

sienna3,

thank you for your response, now I know to get a domestic attorney to get our baby a US birth certificate. we are considering Kaz and Russia.

my wife and I will be glued to this forum, great insight.