Agency aids international adoptions

Poughkeepsie Journal (NY)

Jennifer C. Haggerty

Dateline: NEW PALTZ

NEW PALTZ -- Fourteen-month-old Nikolas Miller has done quite his share of traveling before settling into his Gardiner home.

Nikolas, who was born in Guatemala, was adopted by Tanya and David Miller through New Paltz-based Child &amp Family Adoption, an international adoption agency in a partnership with Maryland-based World Child.

Tanya Miller said she and her husband looked at several adoption agencies before choosing Child &amp Family.

''They actually had time to answer our questions,'' she said. ''They didn't just hand us a book to read.''

Based in New Paltz, the nonprofit Child &amp Family Adoption provides pre- and post-adoption services to New York state singles and couples who wish to adopt foreign children. The group will host an informational meeting Wednesday night.

Over the past two decades, World Child has placed nearly 3,000 children into American homes, the group's Web site says. Nationwide, more than 19,000 foreign children have been adopted by American parents.

, foreign program coordinator, said there have been at least 25 families from Dutchess and Ulster counties who have adopted from another country in the last year.

''The Americans adopting internationally are primarily interested in adopting children under 12 months (old),'' Dibble said.

, a foreign program specialist, said Child &amp Family focuses on finding homes in New York for children from Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America.

''We process over 100 adoptions out of our office in a year,'' Whitaker said. ''It is a consecutive process in which one family completes adoption and another begins paperwork to adopt.''

Russia and Guatemala have the most popular programs, but Child &amp Family also hosts programs with Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, China and Vietnam.

Miller and her husband, David, decided on Guatemala's program due to the availability of male children the chances of getting a boy are sooner there than in other countries.

''The main factor is that children (in Guatemala) live in a foster home right after birth, instead of an orphanage,'' Miller said.

The process of adopting a child from abroad takes nine months to a year to complete, Whitaker said.

, executive director of World Child, said adoptions have soared over the past five to 10 years.

"There has been a phenomenal increase,'' she said, noting that the rate of adoption is ''three to four times what it used to be.''

IF YOU GO

ADOPTION MEETING

What: Informational meeting by Child &amp Family Adoption.

When: 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Where: Meeting room, Huguenot Historical Society, 18 Broadhead Ave., New Paltz.

Information: Call (845) 255-4310 or visit the national World Child Web site at www.worldchild.org/ home.htm