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 allow parents to choose the gender of their child. Some allow gender selection only when it’s not a couple’s first child, Nepal being one example.

Most countries have children of varying ages, sibling groups, and children with special needs available. Some allow the adoption of two or more unrelated children, and this can be a more cost-effective way to build a family. For example, adopting one child from Haiti would have cost our family around $15,000, but adopting three at once cost us about $26,000, rather than the $45,000 it would have cost to adopt one child three times. For couples just starting out in marriage or parenthood, but who are approaching the age limits of many programs, countries that allow the adoption of more than one child can be a real boon.

Parental requirements

Adoption requirements vary far too greatly to be able to summarize them in an effective way here, but parents considering international adoption should be sure to ask about the following:

Age of parents (including the lower end!)
Length of marriage
Single status (some countries allow single women, very few allow single men)
Prior marriages/divorces
Number of children already in the home
Income
Weight (South Korea, and more recently, China)
Health
Criminal background
History (even distant one) of alcohol or drug abuse
Education
Fertility status (not an issue for most countries, but proof of infertility is required for some)
Religion (some agencies and/or orphanages will not work with LDS families)

International Programs

This list is not exhaustive, but these are some of the more popular countries with international adoption programs:

Asia

China
South Korea
Cambodia (not for U.S. citizens)
Viet Nam
Mongolia
Taiwan
Hong Kong (program is distinct from PRC program)
Philippines
Nepal
India


Eastern Europe

Russia
Kazakhstan
Ukraine
Azerbaijan
Bulgaria
Poland
Lithuania
Latvia
Uzbekistan
Belarus

Africa

Ethiopia
Liberia
Zambia
Lesotho
South Africa

Caribbean

Haiti
Dominican Republic

Central/South America

Mexico
Guatemala
Colombia
Ecuador
Brazil
Panama

LDS Family Services was briefly involved in an international adoption pilot program in 2001/2002, and although no official explanation has been given for termination of the program, some LDSFS social workers have indicated that the program was essentially "swamped" because of high interest and high costs. In addition, the Church apparently had concerns about adoption practices in some of the countries (over which it had no control), and saw an ethical dilemma there. There are now rumblings that LDS FS is once again putting its toe into the waters of international adoption, and I'll be sure pass on the details as soon as I can get them.