International Adoption

The extreme difficulty in locating a baby to adopt in the United States has caused many adopting parents to look elsewhere for a child to adopt. International adoptions are an increasingly common phenomenon. The most common international adoptions involve children from Eastern Europe, but more and more children are being adopted from Latin America.

The obstacles

Two primary obstacles face a couple that desires to adopt a child from another country.

1. First, the couple must be approved by a licensed agency that handles international adoptions. There is no such thing as international independent adoption. All international adoptions are arranged by agencies. Throughout the United States agencies that specialize in arranging international adoptions work cooperatively with agencies in other countries. In most international adoptions, two agencies are involved — one in the United States and one in the child's homeland.

   A couple desiring to adopt a foreign child typically first completes a home study with the agency. This home study is essentially the same as in a more traditional agency adoption, except that the more conscientious agencies will also spend a good deal of time counseling with the couple on how to deal with the cultural problems that inevitably arise in international adoptions. Once the home study is completed, the agency commences a search for an appropriate child to place in that home.

   The children placed in international adoptions tend to be older than those in independent or domestic agency adoptions. Once an appropriate child is selected, the adopting parents must also be approved by the foreign agency placing the child. In some cases, this will require the adopting parents to travel to the headquarters of the foreign agency for an interview. Once both the adopting parents and the child are selected and matched by the two agencies working together, the adopting parents encounter the second obstacle to the adoption.

2. The second hurdle is the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The rules and regulations are extremely complicated, but the adopting parents must comply if the child is to be lawfully brought into the United States. First, the adopting parents must file with the INS a petition to establish an adoptive or prospective adoptive relationship with a foreign-born "orphan."

   INS defines an orphan as an alien child less than 16 years old, who has no parents, whose parents have become separated from the child, or whose surviving parent is incapable of caring for the child and who has irrevocably and in writing relinquished the child for the adoption and immigration.

   To be eligible for an entry visa, the child must either have been adopted abroad or must be coming to the United States for adoption by a U.S. citizen and spouse jointly, or by an unmarried U.S. citizen who is at least 25 years old. The prospective adopting parents must then demonstrate to the INS that they are lawfully married, that they have complied with all preadoption requirements of their state of residence, and that the child is truly free for adoption or was lawfully adopted in a foreign country. Each step must be completed to the satisfaction of the INS before the child may be brought into the United States. The INS requires a filing fee for processing this application.

Special concerns

• International adoptions can be both extremely rewarding and challenging for the adopting parents and the child.
• Because the child is typically older, he or she will have memories of life in his or her homeland, and will bring a cultural diversity to the home of the adopting parents. These memories, however, may often also involve severe deprivation, hunger and even abuse. It is common for a newly adopted child from another country to hoard food and to mistrust the adopting parents. Only time and generous quantities of love can break down cultural, economic and linguistic barriers between the child and the adopting parents.
• Also, it is true of all adoptions that the older the child, the more difficult the transition and adjustment to the new familial relationship. For this reason, counseling is strongly recommended after the placement for both the adopting parents and the child. Many agencies require adopting parents to agree to such ongoing counseling as a condition before a foreign child may be adopted.

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The Whole Life Adoption Book
(Paperback) This professional resource equips the prospective and new adoptive parents with all the information they need to prepare for the adoption process.