[JLynn]

Hello! I'm excited to finally have registered.

I'm hoping that you can help me a little bit. My husband and I are in the process of our home study w/o having picked a country yet. We're not determined to go with any certain country, and we need to narrow it down.

We qualify for most, if not all of the most popular countries.

We're looking for a little girl age 4-5ish. Our youngest child is 6 years old (and we have a 9 year old).

We're currently heavily researching China's special needs program, but I just am curious if there are any countries that we've not spent time really researching that

A: Don't require more than a month stay. Husbands job won't allow that.
B: Have healthy non-special needs children available for adoption that fall in the age category we're looking for.
C: Aren't like a 3+ year process.

(I'll be honest and say that Russia + Ukraine and the FAS scares me.)

We were really ready for Ethiopia when we decided, but with the new news coming out of Ethiopia, we've decided the uncertain timeframe is a bit scary.

Where are you looking or currently adopting from if you're looking to adopt a child in the same age range that we're looking to adopt.

Thanks all!

[LG_Family]

We adopted two children from Ukraine just last year. Both have FAS along with a cocktail of other disoders. Though we researched high and low on everything and anything we could get our hands on, nothing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING could have prepared us.
It's definately a LONG road. Thankfully we are in counseling now, but it is just the beginning.

[JLynn]

I'm so sorry, and my thoughts are with you. My friend leaves tomorrow to pick up her daughter from Ukraine. My thoughts and prayers are with you as you are adjusting to your new life. If you ever need someone to talk to -- I know I'm a stranger on a forum -- but I'll totally be that person.

[Max'smom]

JLynn,

I hope your home study provider has indicated that they will wait I to write up your home study until you have chosen your country - the home study will otherwise probably be generic and need to be rewritten possibly at considerable added expense. Each country has different expectations for what a home study should include.

[momraine]

Have you chosen an agency yet? I found that some agencies will only allow you to use home study providers from a specified list. I would not want you to have to pay for a homestudy twice.

[aclee]

We are adopting from Congo. We did things a little differently because we aren't using an agency, but I'm told the referral process is pretty quick. The kids do pretty well once they are home and on a stable diet, and honestly only the strong kids survive. We will have our daughter home in about 6-7 months start to finish, but it could be longer if you referral time is longer. It is about a 2-3 week stay, if you choose an agency that allows travel, some do not.


For "issues" with the children you do not see FAS at all. You see food issues where it takes them a while to figure out when they are full and that their food source is stable. Other than that, some children can be aggressive (pinching, etc...not serious!) because of the institutional care. Good agencies pull the kids out to foster homes while you finish your process so the children are already on the road to a better life for 6 months or so before they get home.

We hope our daughter will be home this summer.

Good Luck.

[JLynn]

Aclee,

I have been to your blog! I'd LOVE to know what agency you are using. I just forwarded on 6 Congo agencies to my social worker to see if she had any insight on any of them.

Honestly, the Ethiopia program seems right for us, but the Congo program might be a good alternative if the E program goes into a crazy-long wait as it is rumored to do so. (Still waiting to hear info from today's meeting....)

Can you email me or PM me with more info? It would be so very helpful!

Thanks!

[aclee]

We aren't using an agency...sorry