[hlim]

Hello, Adoption.com!

I don't know anything about adoption, besides the fact that I want to. I have my heart set on a relative who is 16 years old. She lives in Cambodia with her parents, but I want to bring her to the States for a better life.

If you have any idea as to how I even begin this process that is sure to be long and tedious, I would really appreciate the help. I need general information such as:

• Do I need a lawyer?
• Should I go to an agency?
• Is there paperwork involved?
• How does her parents still maintaining custody affect the hopeful adoption?

These are just some of the issues that have come to mind. But again, any help is appreciated. Thank you all so much!

[Mom2J]

Hlim,

You're in a very sticky boat with the imigration situation of adopting a 16-year old. I know that "most" international adoptions require the child to be an orphan. If the child has parents, this would nullify the possibilities of adopting this child. I'm not sure of the exact imigration possibilities, but I can remember something about not adopting a child over the age of 16, because imigrating to the US wouldn't happen. You'd not only need an excellent attorney familiar with international laws and adoption, but was also very familiar with imigration.

Good luck,
Mom2J

[Shana112573]

I am (sort of) in the same situation except our niece is here with us now. We want to adopt my husband's niece from Spain (she is 10 and currently enrolled here in public school in Queens, NY). Her mother is okay with this because she really wants her daughter is study in the US and be close to her family (she doesn't have any family in Spain except for her mother). I don't know where to begin either. Her visa will be expiring in about a week so we are running out of time now. Her mother will fly in from Spain if she needs to. Does anyone know what the first step is for us?

Thanks,
Shana

[spitzlvr]

Shana,

I did alittle web research on your question, and here is what I found...

Foreign adoptions in Spain are exceptionally rare. There are not enough children available for adoption to satisfy the demand of Spanish prospective adoptive parents. Adoptive parents must be legal residents of Spain and must remain in Spain throughout the adoption proceedings.

Prospective parents may not adopt their own descendents or immediate blood relatives, and may not adopt second-degree relatives (i.e. niece, nephew) by blood or marriage.

http://travel.state.gov/family/adopt...untry_324.html

This site also has links to get started.

But from what I read, it really doesn't look easy or very possible.

[Jim_n_Teresa]

You say "most" international adoptions require the child to be an orphan, is there an exceptions/wavior then? what about in the case of a relitive within the 4th degree? We are trying to adopt our nephew from the Philippines, we were thinking that if we brought the parents over here and did a domestic relitive adoption that we could avoid the internatioan adoption rules, but we do not want to get anyone in trouble... from what I have read the orphan aspect seems like it could be a stopping block, since both parents are alive and married.. there is an wavor discribed on the US embasy's in Manila web site, but the language is not clear on this issue... thanks for any advise...