[jaenelle]

DH and I are considering switching from domestic to international, and we were wondering what country or countries generally have the shortest time frame. We are completely open to race/ethnicity, gender, age, and would also be open to many medical issues.

The reason I'm asking about time frame is that we've already spent (I guess you could probably say wasted) since February on the domestic process, and we really don't want to spend any more time than we have to to get our child home.

Thanks. Any suggestions of places to look into are very appreciated.

[Max'smom]

Hi,
Eastern Europe, China and South Korea now are all plagued by waits that are unpredictable and tend to be long (even if in some cases you can get a rather quick referral, you may wait for a really long time before your child is ready to be home). Individual agencies sometimes can help you get around a long wait through "waiting child" programs. Waiting children vary in the severity of their medical issues.
Max's Mom

ps I adopted from South Korea, which is now undergoing a reorganization associated with efforts to encourage domestic adoption that is likely to substantially increase waits. However, I have heard through forums like this one that Ethiopia has quick time frames. I don't know how true this is, but thought I would add that as a postscript.

[hml1976]

I've heard Ethiopia is quite fast! Our Kazakhstan adoption took 9mths start to finish but its a long trip. Some agencies are quoting 9mths or so for Vietnam as well.
Good luck!

[Colorbind love]

Ethiopia is not currently seeing short times. Their times are certainly shorter than China is currently seeing, and more predictable than most of the E. European countries but wait times for referrals are getting increaseing longer in Ethiopia, especially for infants and girls.

Liberia is still extremely quick time. But, be very cautious who you use in Liberia. There are some great and some *really* bad working there.

[caestes]

Ditto the above countries. Also check into Kyrgyzstan and Taiwan referral programs.

Blessings

Christine

[caestes]

One more thing - waiting children are expedited in some countries. I think the USA side expedites for this. My best friend is adopting a 2 year old special needs boy from China. She was pre-approved for her referral in June (no paperwork yet) and will be travelling mid-fall this year. Wow! I think this varies country to country (Guat. doesn't expedite *anything*) - so do your homework.

Christine

[momraine]

I am adopting my second special needs child. While some other places might, the US side doesn't do any expiditing. At least not the government, some agencies will do more, like give you the refferal before you are approved, etc. But the immigration paperwork is the same for special needs or not. Russia is having difficulties right now which could mean short or long waits. Ukraine is still getting back going and has a long stay possible. Poland is stable but can be a long wait and a possible long stay in country.

[kidmd2b]

Dh and I are adopting from Ethiopia and it is true that wait times are increasing. If you are looking for an infant boy, referral time has increased to about 4 months. However, if you don't mind adopting a toddler, everytime I look at the waiting child list, there are a couple of healthy boys around the age of two or three who are there because of age. After homestudy and dossier, if you pick a child off the waiting child list, the process should go quickly.
Cindy

[singlewan2bmom]

I know family law atty in Tijuana Mexico that has support from the American Consulate there on adoptions. She gets some refferals but if she doesn't have any pending situations, she will place an ad in local newspapers. Once the match is made, the legal process runs about 6 mos. I was succesfull and brought home my beautiful 11 mos. old daughter in Aug. 2005. email me and I can provide contact info.
Best of Luck !

[jaenelle]

I think we're sticking with domestic now -- we're signed up with two places which should make our process faster.

[Dearonebaby]

Hello,
I would consider Taiwan.. we got our Referral April 11th.. waited for some info on our baby medically until May 1st and accepted then.. we are picking up October 16th. So here was our time line
Submitted app to agency-march 26th?
Referral-April 11th
orphanage approval-June 9th(held up by our HS agency)
in the courts-june 26th
Hearing-August 18th
First ruling-September 15th and
Gotcha day-October 16th
If you have any questions.. please email me.
Sarah k.