[HopefulAunt]

I posted this as well in the Vietnam forum, but thought I would do it here as well to get as many anwsers as I can.

First off guys , Hello! I am new here and I have tons of questions for you guys and hopefully you have the anwsers I need. So let me say that I am a single mom to 2 little girls. MY sister is single and is wanting to adopt. You may ask why I am on here asking the questions, well she is saving money for the adoption and so she does not have internet access except when at work. So here I am asking the questions, because my sister would make a wonderful mother, probably the best that I know, so I want to help her anyway I know how.

So my questions are this. My sister has narrowed her choices down to Vietnam and Russia, but she is leaning more towards Vietnam. The questions we have are this, I would like to know if anyone has any good agencies they can refer to me. She is considering 2 agencies so far but she would like some feedback on them. They are carolina adoption services and asian children services. I know you can't post remarks on here, but please send me an email if you have any you can recommend or warn me against. Or email me if you know anything about the 2 agencies I listed.

MY next thing is this. One of the agencies she is considering told her that it could take as little as 5-9 months to have her baby home from time of application. That doesn't seem realistic to me. Is that possible. Clearly it depends on her and how long it takes to complete her homestudy and dossier. But they are telling her that from the time you turn in your dossier it is 2 months for a referral and then from refferal it is about 1-4 months till you travel. Can that be right?

Last question, would anyone mind telling me about how much it cost you to adopt from vietnam? We would just like a ball park figure. As well , I would love to hear some personal stories about the beautiful children you brought home from Vietnam? Was there any medical conditions? Any problems?
Thanks in advance for all of the information and sorry for all of the questions.

My email is ccox1991@tampabay.rr.com
Thanks
Brittany

[sak9645]

Remember that adoption from Vietnam is just starting up again, after several years of the program being closed to Americans. I doubt that any children have actually come home yet.

Right now, Vietnam is still in the process of licensing American agencies to place children from the country. Thus far, I believe that only eleven agencies have received licenses. You can see the list on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam, at http://hanoi.usembassy.gov. Click on "U.S. Citizen Services", then on "Adopted Children Immigrant Visa". Then scroll down the page to see the most recent list.

Remember that you will NOT be allowed to complete an adoption, or to bring a child into the U.S., if you use an agency that is not licensed by the Vietnamese government. Also remember that you should NOT send money to any agency that doesn't actually have its license in hand, and that is just making promises like, "We will be getting our license any day now." If that agency doesn't get its license, you could lose your money.

In the past, Vietnam was popular because people could adopt healthy young babies, in a relatively short time frame, with a short incountry stay, and at moderate cost. HOWEVER, there is no guarantee that the new program will operate like the old one.

It is possible that travel could occur six months after a dossier is submitted, based on the process as set forth in the U.S. agreement with Vietnam. However, that time frame may prove to be optimistic, in practice. For example, it is not clear exactly how long Vietnam's Ministry of Justice will actually take to approve referrals.

Most agencies are saying that they expect a two to three week length of stay in-country. Again, however, a lot will depend on how smoothly the process goes now, both in the province and at the U.S. Embassy.

Total costs will depend on many factors, such as how much homestudies cost in your state, what season of the year you travel (airfare goes up at certain peak times), how many nights you will have to be in hotels, and so on.

When you look at the fee stated by an agency, be sure you understand what the figure includes -- and DOESN'T include. As an example, does it include in-country transportation? Does it include foreign processing fees? The child's visa fee? Guide/translator services? Dossier assistance? Etc.

A good way to compare costs among agencies is to create an Excel spreadsheet. Across the top, list the agencies you are comparing. Down the left side, list all the possible fees. Then fill in the blanks. You may have to call agencies and ask them what certain stated fees include.

If I had to make a very rough guess, I'd say that total fees, including everything, would be around $25,000. This might be a bit less for a single, because you'd be paying for airfare and such for only one person.

In the past, most of the children were considered healthy at referral. However, as with most internationally adopted kids, "healthy" could mean that a child had intestinal parasites, malnutrition, respiratory bugs, iron deficiency anemia, and so on.

Basic testing is done. However, with any international adoption, you may find that some test results are inaccurate, because of inadequate conditions in the foreign country. Check with an adoption medicine clinic to see if there is data on the percentage of children arriving home from Vietnam with previously undiagnosed Hep. B, HIV, TB, etc. It is probably very low, but almost certainly not zero.

Overall, fairly limited medical information will be available. As an example, since a child may not have been born in a hospital, you may not get Apgar scores. If a child was abandoned, you may not know such things as whether the birthmother used drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. You may not know if the birthmother had prenatal care -- or a high risk lifestyle. You may not know if there was a history of mental illness, mental retardation, cancer, heart disease, etc. in the birth family.

In the past, some of the Vietnamese adopted children were born prematurely and/or had low birth weight. Prematurity and low birth weight put a child at increased risk for certain issues -- from eye problems to motor problems to learning disorders. However, many small babies do just fine.

In the past, it seemed to my untrained eye that we were seeing a number of children from Vietnam with allergies, asthma, and eczema. However, the best person to talk with about the medical issues of adopted Vietnamese children is an adoption medicine specialist. I would be happy to PM you with some names if you are interested.

In the past, care seemed to be pretty good. However, orphanages in any country are often underfunded. Thus, for example, bottles may be propped, causing milk sugars to pool in children's mouths and dental decay to result. And some children just may not receive enough attention, which can cause delays, attachment issues, self-stimulating and self-soothing behaviors such as rocking, and so on.

One thing that I would look for in an agency is a history of working to upgrade conditions in Vietnamese orphanages, even when adoptions couldn't proceed. These agencies are truly committed to the well-being of children.

It is not clear what sorts of children will be available now. I do expect there to be an increase in the number of toddlers and older children available, since fewer infants were adopted when the U.S. stopped allowing adoptions from Vietnam. However, there should still be infants, given that conditions such as poverty and a stigma against unmarried parenthood still exist.

Sharon

[DreamingAzure]

I just wanted to update on what Sharon posted! She has some GREAT advice!!!

BUT The first children HAVE ARRIVED! They came home back in the middle of Feb. on the 18th I think...lol don't remember the exact date. They are coming home slowly but surely! There are a number of toddler age children, but many of the referrals I'm hearing about are for infants under 8 months old. Agencies which have their own orphanages and kept their programs running while the adoption program was closed are having the fastest referral times it seems. As well as wider age ranges of referrals.

More Agencies are getting their licenses all the time...I believe that at LEAST one more was add this week...and 2 more I know of have verbal acknowledgement and should be getting their offical written acknowledgement in the next few weeks!!! It's VERY exciting!!!!!!!!
Sharon, Thanks for always having such great advice!

[sak9645]

Thank you for the clarification. I look forward to hearing from Americans who have recently brought home their children, with regard to age, health status, and so on.

It is also important to note that people from other countries have continued to adopt from Vietnam during the time it was closed to Americans. While their process, timetable, fee structure, etc. may be different from those that will apply to Americans, I'd love to hear from people outside the U.S. who have recently adopted from the country, with regard to the health of their children and so on.

In general, these sorts of comments are best posted on the adoption.com Vietnam board, rather than here. Be sure to check the Vietnam board regularly, as well as the boards of other countries that you may be considering.

Sharon

[Mindy82]

Well, here I am, a non American! I'm from Canada, and though the program closed for awhile, it has been up and running... Children are available at a very young age, from a few months up. The average waiting time is 9 months, so it's like a pregnancy! (although we all know times can vary)