[kellypmomof3]

I am at a total loss on which country ,we are torn between Vietnam & Guatemala.Do you think the cost of flights and staying in Vietnam will be very expensive?
We are looking to adopt a daughter between 12-24 months old,anyone have any feedback one way or the other?

Kelly
kn46wl@aol.com

[ChrisO]

We very briefly considered Guatemala but first of all it was too expensive for us, and secondly we werent going to be able to travel twice. Other than that I thought it sounded like a great program.

Im figuring our flights will be about 3K for both of us, and I have heard that hotels are very reasonable. I guess it will depend on where in Vietnam you are staying, and if you want a hotel with all the comforts of home, or something like a little apartment, ect.

Have you checked out the Guatemala program? I thought I heard that in the near future they were shutting down.

Good luck to you!
Chris

[Sampaguita]

I had heard the same thing about Guatemala shutting down after a certain date in 2007 but for the life of me...I cannot remember where I saw that except that I know it was on one agency's website (I haven't read about that anywhere else though).

If we do decide to adopt, we will probably go with VietNam. We were going to go with China until we found out they will not accept wheelchair parents anymore. VietNam will.

Good luck to you!

[DreamingAzure]

The agencies I have talked to say to budget anywhere from 2-4k total for your airfare, hotel, and food for the 10-14 days you will be in VN. It all depends on the time of year you travel and what kind of airplane tickets you are planning on buying

I'm planning on spending about $4000 for my trip. I'm going to be taking an extra week and spend some time in VN at one of the seaside resorts and touring..still don't know if I will do that before or after I am united with my children.

I'm also planning on taking a lot of food stuffs with me and only eatting about one meal a day away from my hotel(I don't eat seafood...so I'm thinking my food choices maybe a bit limited lol) AND then that gives me plenty of room to bring things back in my suitcase(hopefully this will save a bit of money) Better to have too much money in your budget then not enough!!

I picked VN over Guat for 2 big reason. Time & money.

My agency fully expects adoptions in VN to be taking about 6-8 months start to finish by the time I'm ready to adopt, with NO chance of major delays(nothing more then 10-14 days) with Guat there is no promise like that. ANYTHING can happen...you can be like some of the poor parents on the Quat board who have been waiting YEARS to bring home their children.

As for money...The average price I see for a Quat adoption is 33k and I've seen some as high as 45K The HIGHEST price I have seen for a VN adoption is 25K The average is 20k and I've seen some agecies as low as 18k.

I'm sure you will make a good decision for your family I don't think you can go wrong either way

[myworldisdmb]

HI!
We chose Vietnam because we loved the culture. We found that there were many Vietnamese people in our town and in our state. There are different gatherings throughout the year, stores, restaurants, grocery stores, etc around here that would help us expose our child to Vietnam throughout her life. We didn't find that with Guatemala-and although we'd be happy with a child from any country or any race we really wanted our family to be involved as much as possible with the culture of our children. Vietnam being a cheaper program helped a lot too-although with travel and everything added together it doesn't seem like it will save is THAT much over Guatemala.
Good luck with your decision-and whatever you choose I'm sure you'll get the child who is meant to be yours!

PM me if you have any questions or would like to talk about the Vietnam process a little more.

[Jennifer T.]

I'm having the same delimma. The Vietnam program is very appealing because of the cost. However, I wonder if there are a bunch of hidden costs that would make it about as expensive as Guatemala.

There are two major differences that I can see (besides the cost). The trip to Guatemala is shorter. I could definitely do two short trips but one longer trip would be harder. The other difference is that the children in Guatemala are in foster care but in orphanages in Vietnam.

[DreamingAzure]

Not all orphanages in VN are government run. Many of them are agency or church run, giving them (usually) much better child/Caregiver ratios. There are children in foster homes in VN, just a MUCH smaller number then in Guat.

[myworldisdmb]

Actually a lot of the children in Vietnam are also in foster care. The orphanages in Vietnam seem to have a much smaller child/nanny ratio.

[V Mom]

My Husband and I have just started the process of adopting from Vietnam. I am so excited! We chose Veitnam for several reasons. We love the Asian culture wanted to adopt from a county we had a heart for. That way when we talk with our child about his (we want a little boy) country our love and respect for that country will be shared and contagious. Also, we want to later adopt a little girl from China (when I finally turn 30). Having both of our children look similar will help them deal with the whole adoption issue once they are in school because although they won't look like us they will look similar to eachother. That will mean less questions when they are growing up. Lastly, the program just worked for us. We wanted a baby and we want a country with a fast process. Although the adoption agency cannot give an estimate on the time I have heard that the process is proceeding quickly. I can't wait! I am so excited! This is all I seem to think about! This is going to be a long year as we have just started the process. Submit paper work, wait, do this, wait, more paper work, wait. Have I mentioned that I am excited!

[dlwcfp1]

Visiting from the Guatemala forum....
I am in the process of adopting my first son from Guatemala. Guatemala does NOT require that you travel twice. I will only travel once for about 4 days. Some agencies may require that you travel twice but mine does not. I agree - the cost is expensive (mine will probably end up in the low 30,s) and there are unexplained delays but the average time frame to bring a child home is 6-8 months from the date of the referral. There are exceptions to that average.

There is some uncertainty about the future of adoptions in Guatemala due to the Hague. Rather than try to expain it to you - consider visiting the guatadopt.com website for a detailed explaination. (the JCICS.org website also talks about the Hague and they don't think it will effect adoptions until late 07 so agencies are still accepting aplications) There is also an explaination of the process. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have if you would like to pm me.

I would like to adopt a sibling for my son so I am considering adopting from Vietnam if Guatemala is not open. How fast is the process for singles? Are there any singles on this forum adopting from Vietnam? I'd love to 'chat' with you to find out their requirements. Thanks.

[winterparkwannabees]

Dreaming,
when you say the average cost for a VN adoption is 20K -- do you mean without travel? My agency is quoting us 24K but that's with all travel -- including international flights. Just wanted to make sure we're in the right ballpark with this agency.

[DreamingAzure]

The two agencies I'm looking at going to be LESS then 25K TOTAL that is Travel, Homestudy, All the USCIS fees etc. My TOTAL adopt budget is 25K and I'm planning on anther 5K because I'm going to try and spend a couple of extra weeks in VN and ship LOTS of stuff back home.

24K is not too bad if that includes ALL the travel stuff for 2 adults.

I would LOVE to see some of the prices fall...but they won't...the sad thing is that Adoption in VN doesn't HAVE to so expensive. BUT the agencies get to charge you as much as they want...and most people are desperate enough to pay it without saying a word(at least to the agency)

[devildogwife]

My husband and I have chosen Vietnam for a few reasons. We are both have connections with Vietnam that we don't have with Guatemala. I have had a very good friend since high school who emigrated from Vietnam with her family when she was 10. Being such good friends with her, I was exposed to a lot of her culture and I loved it. If felt so comfortable. My husband has 4 aunts and uncles (and many cousins) who are Vietnamese. His 2 aunts and 2 uncles were adopted by his grandparents during the Vietnam war. His grandma worked extremely hard to bring them to Nebraska; they were the first Vietnamese children to come to my state as a result of adoption. Overall, it just seems so right for us. After a lot of prayer and discussion, we feel we have made the right decision and are now just waiting on the timing to start.

[brendanod]

There is something wrong somewhere, and I think that all of us who are involved in International adoption should sort it out.

The French pay an International charge of $5750 ro adopt from Vietnam, The Irish pay $8750 all plus travel expenses.

This price includes in the Irish situation a humanatarian charge of $3,250

What the hell is happening with US agencies.

I will post the Vietnamese Intercountry Agreement, that clearly states that "you must not be for profit" This is audited by the Vietnamese Authorities. You must submit yearly audited accounts.

I think is about time that we all let our voice be heard. Adoption is not for the chosen few, it is for every infertile couple or singles in the world who wish to adopt.

I think that it is scandelous the figures that are being quoted on this forum, quite definately some agencies are soley in this business to make profit only.

I have come accross some US agencies that are charging $10,000 plus travel expenses.

That sounds reasonably ok, but $25,000 / $30,000 that sounds very expensive.

Lets highlight the agencies who are expensive, and also lets highlight the agencies who are charging a realistic fee.

I also think we should dispense with forum rules naming particular agencies. Let democracy rule.

[DreamingAzure]

I'm willing to start a database to track agency fees, so then people who want the info can PM me and I can send it to them...I would LOVE to be able to discuss agencies directly!! BUT I also want to remain a member of a.com

I too am confused regarding agency fees. I'm also seeing different prices listed as the "country fee" I'm seeing that most agencies(who have their prices on their web sites) have it set at $9500 while one has it as $9000 and several others have it at $10,000...so my question is WHAT is is really???

Unfortunately there are MANY ways that a "non-profit" agency can make a profit. The EASIEST way is for the owner of the agency to give themselves a year-end bonus in the amount of the yearly profits that way they come out with a ZERO balance on their financial statements but they still get a LOT of money in their bank account. I have worked for several national non-profits that work like that...it's one of the reasons I ask to see a financial statement before I donate money now.

Let me know about the database though! I'm happy to start one up!!

**ETA** PM me with the agencies you saw at 10K!!! I haven't seen ANYONE that cheap!