International Adoption from POLAND

In a continuing series of posts about international adoption country programs, the latest country known to have waiting children with HIV is POLAND. Contact Nina.

According to Adoption.State.gov, Rainbow Kids and Children’s House International (CHI):

*The requirements below are flexible for special needs according to CHI

Age requirements: Adopting parents must be at least 25 years old (according to CHI). Parents are generally within 40 years of the age of the child (fathers up to 45 years older according to Rainbow Kids).

Marriage requirements: Married couples and single individuals may apply. (5  years preferred with no previous divorces according to CHI).

Timeline: 4-12 months

Travel: Two trips are required (total of 4-5 weeks according to CHI). Only one parent must travel for 2nd trip.

*Inquire about a sibling group of 3 who were waiting as of October 2010*

6 Yr Old Girl in Thailand & Twins in Ethiopia

There is a beautiful 6 year old girl waiting for international adoption in Thailand. She is being advocated for by World Association for Children & Parents (WACAP). Older parents okay. Prefer families with 3 or fewer children in the home. She is a quiet, but friendly and sweet girl. There is grant for qualifying families. A video is available.

WACAP is also advocating for twins in Ethiopia. The brother is negative and sister is positive – they are 9 years old. There is a $9,500 grant for a family making less than $125,000 after deductions. Both of the children are currently healthy and they are sweet looking children. ID numbers: W.KW.0401.31165.07 and W.HW.0401.31164.07 on the waiting child photolisting.

Int’l Adoption Program: CHINA

HIV adoption from China

China is by no means new to international adoption; Americans adopted more children from China last year than from any other country. This is a stable, well established program. For a long time, children with HIV were not listed for international adoption (not due to any shortage of HIV+ orphans), but now that China is mostly a special needs program, there are some HIV+ children starting to be listed.

Try contacting Adoption Advocates International (very experienced with HIV adoption) and Chinese Children Adoption International.

According to Adoption.State.gov and Rainbow Kids:

Parent ages 30-55.

Child ages 10 months – 13 years.

Married couples married at least 2 years. Previously divorced couples must be married at least 5 years. No more than 2 divorces. Total value of family assets $80K. Family income equals at least $10K per family member. Both parents should have high school equivalent degree.

Single women are now being accepted for children with special needs such as HIV. They must not have more than 2 children already living in the home, with the youngest child being 6 or older. They can adopt one child at a time with one year interval between adoptions. Parent age 30-50 or for parents over 50, no more than 45 years between the age of the child and parent. Total value of asset $100K. Income equals at least $10K per family member.

See above links for health requirements and criminal history of adopting parents.

Timeline is about 8-12 months for HIV+ children. After receiving a referral, it takes about 4-8 weeks to get travel approval. Travel time in China is up to 2 weeks. Only one parent must travel.

Always consult with the agency as they may have slightly different information that the outline above.

Urgent Adoption Situation – family needed

Waiting child - international adoption

This little girl is in an Eastern European country which has a quick adoption program – about 6-7 months total including homestudy. Only married couples may apply. One of the parents must be 51 or younger and the other parent’s age does not matter.

Victoria is an affectionate girl who loves hugs and kisses. Her date of birth is June 2004. She likes playing outdoors and she especially loves to swing and slide. Both of her sisters have already been adopted and she is still waiting for a Mama & Papa to take her home and love her. She speaks and can dress herself but she has significant developmental delays, HIV and is described as being hyperactive. It is possible that she may have fetal alcohol syndrome. There is urgent need for a family and significant risk that she may be transferred to a mental institution soon. She has SO much potential which can only be achieved in a loving and attentive family. She has been in an excellent orphanage up to this point and it’s crucial that she find a family before being transferred to a rather awful place. The birthmother is deceased, most likely from AIDS and she has 2 biological sisters who have been adopted.

Special needs adoption photolisting

This little girl LOVES individual attention. An adoptive family who recently visited her says that it is clear she wants and needs a Mama of her own and she will really miss her sisters. She loved to lay her head in this mom’s lap while on the bench swing and having her hair stroked. She is okay with sharing the attention, too. The mom says Victoria was fine with having 2 children in her lap but the other child tried to crowd Victoria out (because he wanted the attention all for himself) and she didn’t like that. Victoria likes sensory input. For example, she kept running her arms against the husband’s unshaven face and shivering and making a funny face then doing it again. She really likes being in the middle of whatever is going on and to be included. Unfortunately she is often excluded, even by the caregivers. It is a cycle that needs to be broken: she is delayed, she gets frustrated, they don’t let her do things the others are doing,  and she therefore gets more delayed and more frustrated. She is very, very sweet and loving. She needs a family with only a couple of kids so she can get lots of individual attention.

If you want a little girl to hug and kiss, she will gladly take all the hugs and kisses you can hand out. She is good with both men and women. She is a bit small for her age – maybe a size 4. The children are valued and loved at this orphanage. The grounds are visually stimulating and the kids get outside for a couple of hours in the morning and afternoon. They even have a pool and go swimming.

Waiting child photolisting

AAI Uganda Adoption Program

HIV Adoption from Uganda

Adoption Advocates International (AAI) has introduced a pilot international adoption program for Uganda. Salem Richards is the Uganda Program Coordinator and she has also recently adopted from Uganda and blogs at SisterHaiti. They are working with an HIV orphanage in the western part of Uganda near the Congo border. The orphanage has many HIV+ children including a 2/3 year old boy, a beautiful 5 year old girl, a very sweet 7 year old boy, a 7 year old girl and a 12 year old boy. Siblings are also waiting for a family – the sister  is 4ish and the brother is 7ish. Pictures, videos and additional info are available.