[jackelyn_frost]

A social worker at the Family Counseling Clinic just emailed this to me:

"to receive a healthy polish child the Polish Government requires the parents to be of Polish descent with atleast one person speaking the polish language. If these requirements can not be met, then you will be able to adopt a polish child with special needs."

Is this true?? I haven't seen reference to this anywhere else. My husband and I are both 1/4 Polish, and Polish culture has always been important in our lives, but we don't speak Polish.

[Anita]

I pray what you write is not true. I have not heard those words come from my agency yet.

I did see a Canadian agency explaining the Polish adoption process on line, and it said what you have posted. The children will have some type of disability if you are not of Polish descent.

There are a few families we have talked to, who have received referrals they chose to decline because of health problems.

I guess I will be contacting my agency today to get the specifics.

[jackelyn_frost]

Thanks for your reply. Let me know what your agency says. I am speaking to someone from St. Mary's International Adoption tomorrow and will ask him also. What agency are you working with? I haven't yet picked an agency.
Thanks,
Jackie

[mkaffar]

We have been waiting for a appropriate referral since May 2003.
We requested two children (siblings) betwen ages 4-8 any gender. We have been offered one 9 year old girl with significant emotional problems and a set of three brothers ages 6-11. We declined both. We don't know what to think.
We speak some polish, but are not of Polish descent.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Good luck to all!

[Anita]

We too have had two referrals that we declined due to health concerns.

[mkaffar]

Hi Anita,
Thanks for posting. It makes me feel a little better, too. We went to Mimi's picnic in Pennsylvania in August. She made us feel a lot better. It's still hard waiting, though.

Please feel free to email me at: mboquinn@hotmail.com

[jackelyn_frost]

Hi Anita and MKaffer,

I am wondering how you decided to go with Mimi. I am wondering if she is the obvious choice. I feel interested in working with St. Mary's International Adoption. Did you consider working with this agency? Or any others? Let me know!
Thanks,
Jackie

[Anita]

It was Mimi's experience in Poland that lead us to her. Also, the support group she sponsors in our area is a great source of comfort and information.

When I started this process, there were only limited agencies who worked with Poland. Most of which were just starting, or only a year or two of experience. I did not want to risk mistakes by being one of the first families to adopt through an organization. (This process is complicated enough!)

You have to go with what you feel is right. To us, having the local
support group has been helpful during the waiting. Also, looking forward, it will be nice for our child to have a group of children that started their families the same way.

Good luck as you make your decision.

[jackelyn_frost]

Anita,

Thanks for your reply. I am wondering how likely it is that we could get a healthy girl ages 0-3 from Poland. Do you have any sense of this?

Jackie

[Anita]

From my research, Poland would not be the place to try and get a single infant. If you are interested in a sibling group of three or more, it is much easier to get a younger child.

I'm not saying it is impossible. I've been surprised at how young some of the children are, that we've met thru Mimi's organization. Also, there is MCZYK?, who adopted through St. Mary's. I believe his son is under 3. I am still amazed at how quickly his process went. Oh well, when the time is right, it will happen for us too.

Just remember, Polish natioinals get first choice on children available for adoption. The most popular are single infants, therefore there is a long wait for infants. Also, in Poland, girls are more popular than boys.

We are hoping for a preschool/kindergarten age boy. We have been waiting over a year.

[mkaffar]

Anita,
I'm curious as to when your dossier went to Poland. Did you start your home study in June 2002 or is that when you sent the complete dossier to Poland? And have you had any referrals that you have declined? Just trying to get a handle on how long we will have to wait, too. I understand that the central adoption committee has changed a bit in the last year, too. Would you know anything about that? Thanks for your posts! Really appreciate your contributions. MK

[Anita]

We mailed our dossier to Poland at the end of August 2002.

It is my understanding that it is going to be more difficult to adopt young children from Poland. It sounds like to adopt younger children, Polish heritage is an advantage for adoptive parents.

The reason for the changes is due to the increased demand to adopt within Poland. Also, just in the time since I did my research, there are a few more adoption agencies working in Poland. The demand for children means longer waiting periods.

Parents who are open to adopting sibling groups, preferably three or more, have a much quicker experience.

I am by no means an expert. What does young children mean? Maybe I should say infants. There is a lot of gray.

[gmom]

I have been doing research on indy adoption in Ukraine, but my husband asked me to look into Poland as he likes the fact that it is Catholic. Anyway, we are interested in adopting a sibling group 3 yrs old and younger.

Is this possible in Poland? And who is Mimi? And what role does she play? Facilitator? Atty?

[Anita]

Three years or younger may be tough through Poland. Especially with the changes that were implemented over the past year. I've been hearing referrals, since the changes are, fewer.

If I were starting this process today, I don't know if I'd choose Poland. I think they have changed their international adoption policy to the point where it is very difficult and long for any non-Poles to adopt children.

What was suppose to be a 3 - 6 month wait for a referral is now up to 14 months for us and counting. All of our paperwork is expiring, and now we will be shelling out even more money to update forms.

I wish you luck in your decision.

[Poland]

refer to "First Hand Polish Adoption Experience":

It is apparent that you can adopt a child under 2 years from Poland.

The individual that started that post listed above did so. I believe it just depends on the agency you choose. If you choose a bigger agency it seems that the wait is much longer. You probably are just competing with the other clients of the agency if you are waiting more than one year.

From what I have heard adoptions from Poland should take less than a year and the childen are usually healthier than indicated by the medical reports.