Adopting A Child From Another Country

The child adoption decision is never an easy task, especially when we talk about adopting a child from another country. No matter the reasons, an adoption represents a major change in the life of any couple, meaning responsibility and commitment to the end. Besides love, the resources required for raising a child are many and of many types, and all these things must be assumed.

Adopting a Child from another Country

Every year, thousands of citizens from the United States choose to adopt a child from overseas. This is in fact also known as intercountry adoption.

Choosing to adopt a child from a different country is frequently a tough journey, and many sites offer the necessary information to aid you as you make steps forward.

USCIS is responsible for 2 things:

• To determine both the eligibility as well as suitability of the Prospective Adoptive Parents who are in the search of an adoption.
• To determine if the child is eligible to immigrate to the U.S.

For which process you fit?

There are currently 3 processes when one wants to adopt a child internationally. Two of these processes apply just for children who are adopted by citizens of the United States.  The process will be determined by what country you want to adopt a child from.

• Hague
• Orphan (Non-Hague)

There`s another process that applies to a citizen of the United States or permanent residents who might petition for the adoptive child using an Immediate Relative Petition.

There are no standard rules regarding adoption – each country has its own rules. You need to contact your national authorities for any information on adoption requirements or procedures that you need to follow.

However, all countries share a series of common principles, which were established in the international conventions on adoption:

• If they are alive, the biological parents need to offer their consent regarding the adoption of their child.
• The decision of adoption needs to respect the best interests of the child.
• Adoption should be offered by an administrative authority or court.

In most countries, the child will be able to take the name and nationality of the adoptive parents, and also have the same inheritance rights as a biological child.

Also, the adoptive parents will have the same rights and obligations towards the child as the biological parents. – Click here!

Domestic vs. International

Adoptions can be of 2 types: domestic or international. In case of a domestic adoption, the biological parents live in the same country with the adoptive parents. While in case of an international adoption, biological parents live in different countries than adoptive ones.

Domestic Adoptions

Domestic adoptions can vary a lot in terms of contact between the child and both pairs of parents, and they generally depend on the needs of the biological parents. Still, international adoptions have more chances to be closed, without any contact between both pairs of parents. It`s expected that both the domestic and international adoption to present a number of advantages and disadvantages.

In case of domestic adoption, agencies can offer more information about the medical history of the biological parents than when international adoptions are involved. In addition, the adoptive parents can be close to the child even from the start of the adoption process, or they are placed in contact with the pregnant woman who will give them the baby immediately after birth.

Also, when a domestic adoptions are concerned, it`s much easier to keep an open or semi-open relationship. The adoptive parents are the ones who decide if an open adoption can be a benefit or a disadvantage in the relationship with the adopted child.

When international adoptions are involved, agencies are able to offer a lot more information about the natural parents and will take a few months until the child will reach the adoptive family because the legal procedures may take a while. If a couple will choose an international adoption and it will adopt a newborn, the baby will reach the family when he`ll already have a few months, at best.

Giving up paternal rights isn`t a mandatory measures when talking about domestic adoptions, especially if the little one hasn`t been born yet. This aspect can be rather scary for the future adoptive parents and can be a reason for choosing an international adoption or choosing a child who have already been given in foster care or orphanage.

International Adoptions

International adoptions can be open, when the biological parents have contact with the child, or closed when there`s no contact between the biological parents in the child. – More details!

International adoptions can also be beneficial because a lot of adoptive parents don`t want to have any contact with the biological parents. Most of the times, this type of adoptions are closed.

There are plenty of families that want to make an international adoption from humanitarian reasons – to save an innocent child from a dangerous situation or poor living conditions.

In case of international adoptions, there`s no risk for the little one to be given to the adoptive parents and then be taken back from them, because the procedures of such an adoption stipulate that the biological parents will give up all their parental rights over the child starting with the moment the adoptive parents intervene in the life of the little one.

Lots of couples consider the conditions of international adoption to be less strict than domestic ones and, thus for these persons there are high chances of adopting a child. Still, these conditions are different from one country to another, and some countries may impose even stricter conditions than the ones specific to a domestic adoption. We cannot talk about good or bad decisions when choosing such a type of adoption. The choice should be made as a result of a common desire depending on what both parents want.

The decision of adopting a child, an innocent soul, next to the decision of becoming a parent doesn`t need to be taken based choosing the best type of adoption, but rather on the desire of ensuring a better life to a child.