Hello

ladies,

For those of you living in the USA and interested in adopting from
India here are a few things to remember or consider before you
begin:

1. You have to work with an agency to bring a child home to the
USA, you CANNOT work directly with the orphanage. I worked with
International Family Services (IFS) who unfortunately lost their
accreditation and are not involved with international adoptions
anymore. We then worked under the supervision of Childrens
House International (CHI).

Here are the agencies recommended by folks who have adopted or
are in the process of adoption.

1. Children of the World
2. WACAP
3. ATWA (Across the World International Adoption)
4. Dillon International
5. Barker
6. Childrens Home Society
7. International Adoption Net

With regards to picking an agency, try to find a person who has
already used that agency (a support group will be of help here, see
#7). All agencies will have pros and cons and you have to figure
out what is more important to you how quickly the agency
moves, communication, how effective their domestic
representative in India is, how many children they have actually
placed in families, etc. From my experience communication was
key!!

2. Its an expensive process ( ~ $30,000 total not including post
adoption services) but some companies reimburse up to $5000
with adoption expenses.

3. Its a long processwe started Spring of 2014 and our daughter
came home December 2106. Though I have to admit ever since
Maneka Gandhi ( Minister for Women and Child development)
passed some changes in late 2015 the process has apparently
become more streamlined and faster.

4. There is a LOT of paperwork involved including medical
reports, employment verifications, homestudies, police clearances,
FBI fingerprinting, etc. All of this typically comprises your dossier.
Your agency will guide you through that process.

5. You will be dealing with a bunch of different organizations
including your agency here in the US, your homestudy agency if the
agency you go with is not from your state, CARA, USCIS and finally
the orphanage your child is from. Sometimes you have to act as the
go between for these various agencies.

6. One of the parents has to be an US citizen and having an OCI
card helps to get a referral for a healthy infant.

7. And I highly recommend joining a support group online.
Honestly, I have learned more from them than from my agency.
The group that helped me the most is for parents who have crossed
the homestudy stage (India adoption on Facebook) but NRI-
ICHILD@yahoogroups is pretty helpful too.

8. One other thing to consider is if you want to adopt a healthy
child or a child on a wait list. The children on this list are
supposedly children with disabilities or older children. But the
disabilities can range from being developmentally delayed or HIV
positive or visually impaired to minor issues like cleft lip or club
feet which are easily correctible here in the US. Only you can
determine whats best for your family. And there are families who
have brought home older children and have adjusted well. So if you
are open to adopting a child from this list (which your agency will
provide you with), the process is much faster ..... I know families
who brought their babies home in one year!


9. Be proactive! Dont hesitate to call/ email organizations with
your case. Theres a lot of bureaucracy involved and you have to
push your case for your child.

Good luck with your journey .. the little one will be so worth it in
the end!

Best,
Sarayu