Most families who adopt waste no time having their children seen by a pediatrician or other appropriate physician. Particularly when children are adopted internationally, there are all sorts of things to rule out and check for (parasites and malnutrition being two we’re still battling, three months later). Those who adopt newborns domestically with known drug and/or alcohol exposure also are typically given a medical care plan at placement, and older, domestically adopted children can have their own medical issues that need to be addressed. ... more

In today's story, we'll meet the H.B. family who decided to adopt domestically through a private adoption agency. :)

When my husband and I made the decision to adopt, we hadn't even considered where we might adopt from. If you're LDS, you go to LDS Family Services, right? So off we went. We had our intake appointment, were treated very kindly, and began working on the paperwork for our homestudy. All seemed fine, except that we felt no peace as we began to proceed. Despite our determination and a definite confirmation that our... more

Continued from part one

Also at this open house, I asked about adopting from Ukraine, but was put off with comments that Ukraine was not a good place to adopt from because they "put up roadblocks". We went home frustrated (me) and angry (my husband). When we got home, he said that if I wanted to continue with this, I would have to find a way to do it independently. That night I got on the Internet and found Cathy Harris' group Ukrainian Angels. She detailed her adoption struggles in Ukraine and told about how she decided... more

As promised in our survey of the various adoption options open to LDS families, I will be sharing a few stories from families who chose to adopt through each of the avenues we discussed. Today's story is from L.W., who tells us of her family's experiences adopting a son independently from Ukraine.

We have 4 daughters in a row and then a "caboose" son, six years junior to his next oldest sister. We felt bad for him that he was the only boy and so much younger than his sisters. I had him when I was 38, so really didn't... more

Haitian Chicken (This is my own concoction based on several Haitian chicken recipes, and if I do say so myself, this one is divine.)

2 pounds cubed chicken 1/2 green bell pepper 2 + 2 cloves garlic 3 whole cloves 1/2 medium onion 1 bunch parsley 1 small can tomato paste 1 cup chicken broth juice of 4 limes 1/2 cup orange juice 1 Tbsp hot pepper (Tabasco) sauce 2-3 sprigs of thyme salt and pepper

Finely chop green pepper. Saute in oil... more

The beginning of a new year can be a busy time for anyone, but we find ourselves particularly busy due to the traffic jam of first-of-the-year holidays we celebrate in our family. Mercifully, Chinese New Year begins in February this year, so we find ourselves celebrating “only” Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Haitian Independence Day in one week’s time. Most Christian Ethiopians observe an orthodox Christmas, so we’ll have that to throw into the mix when our new child arrives next year. For now, though, we’ll enjoy the... more

Families hoping to adopt through foster-adoption do well to prepare themselves mentally before taking the plunge. It’s very important to keep in mind that the primary goal of the foster care program is reunification with the birth family. While foster parents are busy doing their thing, there are parenting specialists, crisis workers, case managers, social workers, rehab specialists and the like, all working with the birthfamily with the goal of putting Humpty back together again. Ideally, this is how it should be. But foster parents should also be aware that they are often at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to weighing permanency placement options; social workers, the... more

The last option for LDS families we’ll discuss is adoption through a state foster-to-adopt program, which is administered by the state Department of Health and Human Services. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll use Utah’s guidelines as an example, but be aware that requirements vary a bit from state to state. If you’d like to learn more about your state’s specific requirements, you can do an Internet search for your state and “foster parent.”

In most cases, once you’ve expressed an interest in being a foster-adopt parent, you’ll fill out some preliminary screening paperwork and sometimes have an in-person interview with a representative of the foster care department. After this screening,... more

About the children

In the majority of countries, children are considered “infants” from 0-24 months. In most of the more popular countries, babies are in the 8-14 month range at the time of referral, but it is possible to adopt younger babies (as young as 3 months) from some African countries, South Korea, and historically, Viet Nam. In all countries but China, there are more boys than girls available, but it is possible to adopt a boy from China. Some countries do not have infant programs, but those that do generally... more

Homecoming

Some countries require two trips to complete an adoption, but most require a single trip. Trips vary in length from 3-5 days (Haiti, Taiwan, and Ethiopia, among others) to 30 days or more (some parts of Kazakhstan and Russia, for example.) Still others have lengthy residency requirements and may not be options for most Americans. Still, these programs can be popular among U.S. expatriates, those who have relatives in other countries, Christian missionaries, etc. Other countries (Ethiopia, South Korea and... more