[jdugosh]

Hello, everyone. We are trying to adopt a girl. Can anyone give me any information about the gender distribution of adoptive infants in kyrgyzstan? Thanks for any help that you can give!

[sak9645]

I note that you have posted this question for a number of countries.

Be aware that virtually all countries have either approximately equal numbers of boys and girls available for adoption, or slightly more boys. The only two exceptions are India and China, where many more girls than boys come into care.

HOWEVER, you also need to be aware that Americans -- who represent the largest proportion of adoptive parents -- overwhelmingly want to adopt girls. As a result, what tends to happen in all of the countries, except China and India, is that a long waiting list develops for girls, while boys can be referred almost immediately to an eligible family.

American agencies are growing concerned about the fact that, in many countries, boys stay in care for a long time, for want of a family, while lengthy waiting lists exist for girls. As a result, many agencies are beginning to refuse to allow gender selection, especially in the case of parents who have no other children at home. (They may allow gender selection for families who have children already, either so that they can balance their families or so that they can have siblings of the same gender share a bedroom.)

If you want to adopt a girl, and do not choose to adopt from India or China, you may have to "shop around" to find an agency that still allows gender selection. You may also have to resign yourself to a longer wait than you might face if you were willing to adopt a boy.

Sharon

[jdugosh]

Thanks, Sharon. We already have a son and we really would like a daughter. Can anyone PM me information you may have about agencies that would allow gender selection in our case?

[mcanvasback]

As knowledgeable as Sharon seems to be on a truly astonishing number of subjects, as far as I know she has not adopted from Kyrgyzstan. Gender selection is definitely allowed with my agency and the timeline for girls has been approx 7-9 months from application.

[hml1976]

We used two agencies for Kazakhstan and both allowed gender selection as well. Actually our wait for our daughter was shorter than for our son, I think the times are about the same recently.