[kudzu00]

I've been searching through information online regarding the requirements for adoption from various countries, but am still a bit confused, because some information seems to vary depending on where you look. Hoping for some personal recommendations.

My situation- Husband and I (both 31 years old), have only been married 3 months, but have lived together for six years. We are willing to travel to adopt, but cannot travel for more than a week (7 days) due to husband's job.

What countries would you all suggest for our situation?

Thanks so much!

[sugarandspice697]

The length of your marriage has me concerned because many agencies require that couples be married for a least two years. I gave birth to DD when I was "married" for about two years and it put A LOT of stress on our marriage. We had to deal with a unpredictable baby when we were just starting to bond as a couple. Although I love DP and Firefly to death, if I could rewind the clock, I wished I had waited until DP and I were married a bit longer before we became parents.

If your husband's job requires that he can only be way for one week, there are many countries that will allow one spouse to leave after a certain about of days in country while the other one stays behind. I believe Russia and Columbia let you do this but you may want to ask an agency that works in those countries.

Off the top of my head, Korea, Ethiopia, India, Taiwan and Haiti all have in country stays of about a week. There are a few countries that will allow you to escort your child to a local American airport but many agencies discourage this so you need to find an agency that will allow you to do this.

[SuzySSunshine]

Originally Posted by sugarandspice697

ountries.

Off the top of my head, Korea, Ethiopia, India, Taiwan and Haiti all have in country stays of about a week.

Love your point about marriage, children and timing!

Some clarification regarding these program countries

Ethiopia has an escort program and the stay is only about one week if you do travel. However the Ethiopia program is in flux - sadly a change to limit adoption to married couples is anticipated and I wonder if they may also put additional requirements for married couples in place.

Korea will not work for her because of the length of her marriage but they do have an escort program.

India also will not work because of the duration of the marriage but the typical stay is about two weeks.

[ocracoke]

I would suggest that you check out Dawn Davenports website (am I allowed to post it?). She has a table that breaks down country requirements. The other thing is to start calling agencies and asking questions. I think the length of marriage is an issue that may put your adoption plans on hold for a while. While some countries will adopt to singles they still have marriage requirements. Some countries have marriage length preference but not requirements. For instance, Ethiopia does not have a requirement so the agencies set the length (and usually it is the length of time required before you can start the process -- not for when the child comes home) which can vary from 1-5 years.

Samantha