[nwonder]

We're planning to start the adoption process soon, though we haven't quite setttled on a country. If my wife and I both traveled somewhere, we likely would bring both children (currently 20 months and 4.9 years). Have any of you traveled to adopt with kids, and was that frowned on by the agency contact/court/orphanage/whatever? I recognize that long flights are difficult with kids, but am particularly interested in the response others had to your kids. Thanks!

[Byrnes]

We traveled to China last year to pick up our second daughter. We opted not to take our first child with us. It did turn out to be a good thing in our case because our new daughter would not let anyone hold her except myself. My husband really had to work hard to get her to not scream when he came near her. If we had brought our oldest then I would have delt with child number two and he would have delt with child number one and they would not have been able to get any early bonding in...On that note one of the families with us brought there two children ages 6 and 5 and they did great...Maybe because they had each other...We did alot of walking and I think my oldest would have wanted to be carried alot she would have been 4 at the time we traveled...If you bring the kids it might be worth it to have another adult around to help with them...Good luck
Byrnes

[jedatu]

We are planning on taking our 22 month old son with us to Vietnam. For us we feel it is important that he is there to bond along with us. I don't want to leave him for three weeks and show up with a baby that we have bonded with, but is a stranger to him. What a way to dethrone him! He is easy going and loves new people and places. He also love foreign food and gobbles up Vietnamese, Thai and Indian so I should be able to find food for him over there. If your child is a picky eater this could be a challenge for you. You will want to consider your child's temperament when deciding to travel. The last thing you need on this trip is a child who will not cooperate the majority of the time.

As of now we are planning on having my mom come for at least the first part of the trip. It may be hard for her to miss work for three weeks. Most people who travelled with kids recommend bringing an extra adult too. Some countries frown upon bio kids being present at court dates and in orphangages. If you are taking both children I would definately bring an adult your kids love and trust. You may end up leaving them at the hotel while you do other things. What toddler wants to go sit and wait for potentially hours at a government building?

When you decide on a country talk with families who have adopted from that country. They will be of a great help knowing what to take, where to stay etc. Also, not all agencies allow you to travel with your kids so make sure this is okay before you sign papers.

Good luck on your journey!

[spaypets]

I just want to point out that sometimes children in orphanages have lice, scabies, intenstinal parasites or just are sick. I would hesitate about bringing a young child along if you aren't sure that the new baby doesn't have anything contagious.

And there's also the question of whether your first child is carrying anything that the new child could catch (their resistance is lowered because of the stress of the situation).

[Cheryl in Iowa]

We brought both our children to Korea when we adopted Karson. The Korean people were wonderful to them and they were glad to see them there. We have always traveled with our children and I think that traveling overseas is easy with children just as long as you keep their needs in mind.
Good luck!
BTW, we LOVED the Korea program.

[Bcelli]

Our first trip to Russia in 1998 was nearly perfect and we intend to take our 5-year-old with us next spring/summer when we return for his 'brother.' I would not be considering this were it not that we have been through the process before and know the ropes and were he a younger child (he'll be 6 when we go). He also is extremely low maintenance. But we think it's important for him to be there as we go through this process of changing our family dynamic. It will affect him greatly and we want him to be in on it from the begininng. I also feel he will be a comfort to his new brother as we travel to and from destinations. Also important, we want him to be able to see his birthplace and remember it and see the process and understand how things happened for us all to become a family.

If you can afford it, another person to help manage your current children is an excellent idea, especially with the ages you mentioned.

I'm sure the people who care for your newest addition would love to meet his/her siblings. In our case, we are returning to the same home, so I know our son will be welcomed with open arms. He was only 5.5 months when we brought him home.

Whatever your decision, God's blessings on your journey.