Every year, about 10,000 to 20,000 Americans choose to permanently adopt children from other countries, according to the U.S. State Department. International adoption requires patience, since it can take months or even years and cost $20,000 and up, but welcoming a child into your home from another country can be a rewarding, culturally enriching process.
Countries
Some countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, South America and Africa allow Americans to adopt children. Americans can not adopt children from any country in western Europe, Australia or Canada.
Available Children
The children available range from babies to older children, and may include children with special needs, as well as sibling groups. Most are living in orphanages. In 2009, the State Department reports, most children adopted internationally by U.S. parents came from China, Ethiopia, Russia and South Korea. The child will almost certainly be at least 3 to 4 months old when you bring her home, so forget international adoption if you want a newborn.
Parental Requirements
All countries have requirements that the prospective parents must meet, such as age limits, number of children already in the household, and even weight requirements. Check the State Department's website at adoption.state.gov and click on "Country Info" to view the requirements for each country. Some countries will relax these requirements if you're willing to adopt an older child or a child with special medical needs.
Costs
The costs of an international adoption include agency fees, paperwork and processing fees here and abroad, travel and often a donation to the orphanage. Families routinely spend $20,000 to $30,000 for an international adoption.
Agencies
A licensed agency or social worker must complete a home study, meeting with you several times to make sure you will be suitable parents, before you can adopt. You will also need an agency to oversee the international adoption process. It's easiest to use the same agency for both. If you plan to adopt from a country that belongs to the Hague Adoption Convention (a treaty designed to safeguard intercountry adoptions), you must adopt through a Hague-accredited agency.
Paperwork
Both your state and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must preapprove you as adoptive parents. Then you will submit a dossier--a collection of papers that typically include the homestudy, notice of USCIS approval, marriage certificates, police clearances, health statements and other documents--to the foreign country. After waiting for several weeks to several months, you will receive a referral, information about a specific child with whom you have been matched.
Bringing the Child Home
The USCIS must grant provisional approval for the child to enter the country. Most countries also require that you travel at least once to that country to finalize the adoption. You will also visit the U.S. embassy in the foreign country to get a visa for your child. Once the child enters the United States, he automatically becomes a U.S. citizen as long as at least one parent is a citizen and the child will be living with that parent.
