[StarsProudMom]

Hi,

I got a phone call last night from a friends aunt who does volunteer work in Mexico. She spent the weekend at an Orphanage with a baby and says she is a wonderful 6 week old.

She says that the Orphanage is looking for a home for this little one and that the process would not take long to complete. The adoption would be facilitated and handled by the Orphanage which is a government agency.

The Director of the Orphanage is the only one who speaks English and is out of town so I can't get much info.

I have read where prospective adoptive parents have stayed in Mexico from 10 days to 1 year. Does anyone have any experience with how this works?

I don't have a Homestudy yet however our agency feels like they could get one really quick if we decided to go that route.

My head is spinning and I am sooo afraid that once we get to Mexico we may not be able to leave. My husband has a good job I am afraid that once they see what his salary is people will step and say “you haven’t paid this or that” $10K the family is still in the foreign country and can’t come home. I have heard it happening I just can't stay there for 6 months especially since I have a 4 year old.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Maria

[teranga]

I'm sure someone (like Sharon!) can provide you with great detail on this if she sees it.

What I can tell you is that it is NOT straight forward or easy to adopt from Mexico. The process is not centralized, so the requirements of one part (state) of Mexico are not the same as another. As if that is not confusing enough, there are many dishonest lawyers who take advantage of this situation. Additionally, just b/c a baby is in an orphanage does not mean s/he is legally available of adoption.

There are MANY orphans in Mexico, but ifyou go to the state dept. website, you'll see that there are almost no adoptions from Mexico. If it were an easy process, people would be adopting from Mexico, just as they adopt from Guatemala.

We looked into Mexico at one point, as we lived in Arizona and thought it would be a great option for us. We found, after speaking to many, that it is basically not possible, sadly.

I'm sorry to be discouraging but again, there is a reason people do not adopt from Mexico.

[momraine]

Remember a homestudy is not all you need. You need to get paperwork done for immigration, which could take longer. Be very, very careful dealing with Mexico. I know people who were ripped off, and also people who adopted a child only to find out later the adoption was not legal or that they could not bring the child to the US legally.

[kimmom]

Adoption Country Specific Information

This is the link so that you may research each country's specific adoption data as provided by the US State Department.

This is the portion that I believe that you are most interested in:

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS: Mexican adoption procedures include a one to three week pre-adoption trial period during which the child lives with the prospective adoptive parents in Mexico. The adoption is not final until this time, and the child cannot leave Mexico before it is complete. Because of the large amount of paperwork in both the Mexican and U.S. processes, DIF suggests that the adoptive parents be prepared to spend at least three months in Mexico including the pre-adoption trial period.

[CovenantMom]

My husband and I are currently completing an adoption in Mexico. We're just waiting for our daughter's Mexican passport and Visa then we're on our way home.

What I thought was going to be a 3-4 month trip ended up being a 10 month stay. What I like about adopting in Mexico is that we were allowed to foster our baby until we bring her home. The hardest part of the adoption was dealing with people handing our paperwork. Most have an attitude of "I'll get to it when I get to it". Which is why we're just going home now.

I recommend you get an adoption lawyer who has experience with international adoptions. They will be able to give you realistic information regarding adopting an orphan.

I hope this helps.
Susan