Adopting from PERU

by Bethany, posted in Country Programs

Children Available: Agencies place children from the “Priority Adoptions” Program. Through this program, hundreds of children in Peru are registered to be placed with families. The children with special needs are of various ages between 2-16.

Parent Qualification: Married couples should be between 25 and 55 years of age. Prospective adoptive parents should be at least 18 years older than the child. Divorce is acceptable. Singles are accepted for this program. There is no minimum length of marriage and no restriction on the number of children living in the home. Exceptions may be made to parent ages…please contact a licensed agency for more information.

Timeline: The family can travel 2-3  months after dossier is complete and referral is accepted.

Travel: In the case of an adoptive couple, both parents must travel to Peru to finalize the adoption. Stay in the country is approximately 4- 5 weeks. One parent may leave Peru after the court process is complete (2-3 weeks in country). During the stay, Peruvian social workers evaluate the child and family’s bonding progress.

Children of All Nations and Villa Hope have had HIV-positive children in need of international adoptive families in their PERU programs. Another agency working in this country is Lifeline Children’s Services.

Peru is a Hague country.

See also the Peru Adopt Yahoo Group

Thank You Magic Johnson!

by Bethany, posted in Media, Non-Profit Organizations

Nearly 20 years ago, in November 1991, Magic Johnson courageously announced that he was HIV positive and retiring from the NBA Lakers.

Magic Johnson is one of the most notable and admired public figures speaking out. I find that most people don’t want to discuss HIV, but they are fine discussing HIV in the context of Magic Johnson. When I bring up the Magic Johnson topic in conversation and ask people what they think is going on with him and his HIV, people seem to think that his case is ‘special’ and that the only reason he has lived so long is because he can afford the best medication that money can buy. That is true, but what people don’t seem to understand is that anyone with health insurance can afford the same medicine that Magic Johnson takes (although it may not be affordable in 3rd world countries yet). The truth is – there is nothing special about his case. He eats well, exercises, takes his meds and has an excellent long term prognosis.  He is leading a normal healthy life with HIV like many others who have access to meds and diligently adhere to their treatment.

Other people I have spoken with had heard that Magic is ‘undetectable’ and thought that meant he was ‘cured’ which is an excellent opportunity to discuss what ‘undetectable’ really means and how it relates to being ‘close to non-infectious‘.  People are always hugging Magic Johnson and nobody seems alarmed, so I use this as a starter point for discussing transmission.

So thank you Magic Johnson! Through you I have finally found a way to bring up the topic of HIV and educate people about the realities of day to day life with HIV and the realities of transmission. Thank you for your courageous way of openly living with and talking about HIV since the very beginning. You are single-handedly bringing enormous awareness.

International Adoption from BELIZE

by Bethany, posted in Country Programs

One World Adoption Services is advocating for waiting children with HIV in BELIZE. According to adoption.state.gov: Belize is a Hague country. At least one of the parents must be 25 years of age or older and no fewer than 12 years older than the child. Married couples and single individuals can adopt. Single men cannot adopt female children. These restrictions can be waived if the court finds that special circumstances are warranted.

International Adoption from the PHILIPPINES

by Bethany, posted in Country Programs

Special needs international adoption

According to Madison Adoption Associates, international families are needed for waiting children with HIV. Single men, single women and married couples may adopt. According to adoption.state.gov, the adoptive parent must be at least 27 years of age and at least 16 years older than the child to be adopted at the time of the application. The maximum age gap between the adoptive parent and the child and the child to be adopted must not exceed 45 years. Check the agency websites for further guidelines. Another agency to consider is Hand In Hand which has done many HIV adoptions from a different country or Children of All Nations. There are other American agencies working in the Philippines as well.

If you are in Canada, try Formons Une Famille adoption agency which is currently processing special needs requests.  Formons Une Famille Philippines Yahoo Group (Canada) and Adoption_Phillipines (in French).

Little Boy with HIV – Photolisting

by Bethany, posted in Children Waiting for Families

Vadim was born in 2001. He lives in an orphanage in Ukraine. He is HIV-positive. He was living with a single mother in a foster-care situation with the intention of becoming an adoptive family but the foster-mother got married and had a baby and decided not to adopt Vadim even though he was expecting it. Obviously he was very hurt by this. He did not adjust well to the new situation and began acting aggressively for more attention so now he is living in an orphanage. He also has some learning issues (probably ADD). He would do best in a home where he is an only child or the youngest child. Costs to adopt Vadim are in the $22K-$25K range which includes in-country fees, travel, lodging, passport, visa.

Read more about Vadim on Eli Project, The Heart of the Matter and on this blog.

China Implements ‘Treatment as Prevention’ Strategy

by Bethany, posted in HIV/AIDS News

The World’s most populous nation embraces groundbreaking HIV/AIDS prevention strategy. It is implementing a “treatment as prevention” strategy. The proposal calls for widespread HIV testing and treatment. The strategy is based on the results of British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) research published last summer in the Lancet (which I reported about here). Research results showed that the benefit of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) extend beyond prolonging survival, to significantly preventing the transmission and spread of HIV.

“The expansion of HAART treatment throughout the world is critical to containing and curbing the global HIV and AIDS pandemic,” said Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the BC-CfE. “We applaud China’s leadership in implementing treatment as prevention to save lives, prevent infections and in the long-term save money.”

Click on the image to read the press release.