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International adoption - as easy and as American as apple pie?!?

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Found on a blog, a proud friend wanted to announce her friend (who runs a non-profit adoption agency in Something's rotten in the State of Pennsylvania) is opening a new adoption program.  I guess in her excitement, the blogging friend wanted to include the message written by the Adoptive Mother jump-starting two new programs for her private business entity.

I am starting a program in Serbia and Montenegro . Below I have outlined how the program works…according to the facilitator with some English cleaned up. I am wondering if you know of anyone who may be interested ….if they already have a home study completed for another country, that would be even better in that they would be that much further ahead. It appears these first adoptions may be able to be done rather quickly. The stay would be two weeks…

The "friend" continues to explain the program is so new, the following info provided by the adoption facilitator is not posted on the website yet.  [Sure enough, the following is NOT on the website.]

Without naming names, or including any links, I'd like to know what other think about the following highlighted features in this "new adoption program", in Serbia and Montenegro.

  • These two countries are not part of Hague convention, and adoption is not with court process.
  • In both countries adoption is an administrative decision, and all the adoption papers must to be submitted for approval to the Ministry of Labor and Social Department, this institution has an office in each territory.
  • It is not necessarily for families to travel too much in the country as all adoption procedures can be completed in the territory where the child is resident.
  • The application for adoption is approved by the local authorities (social department) waiting period of time cannot be longer than two months; the family can get referral about the child after that.
  • After the adoptive parents accept the child, Ministry of Labor will approve the adoption in a special meeting, where the family need to be present too, the name of this meeting is “Ceremony of Adoption”, and the schedule of this meeting is made no more than one week from the date when the Ministry of Labor approved the adoption.
  • After this official meeting, the local authorities will make all adoption papers; they change the biological parent’s names with adoptive parent’s names, the only condition that Serbian adoption law has is about child first name that cannot be changed, but if adoptive family wish that can do it in USA, in Montenegro is allow to be change too.
  • The local authorities will issue an adoption decree that includes child’s history and adoption details, new birth certificate and passport.
  • All adoption papers translate in English language the family go to US Embassy for child visas, issued at the US Embassy in Belgrade.
  • This is the entire adoption process.
  • The families has must application for adoption with color copy of their US passport and POA for facilitator to get registration approval first, they will come after the approval is made , and after they accept the referral of child sent by facilitator.
  • The age of children’s that can be adopted by the foreign families is from 1 year up to 18 years old, with some special approval from authorities can be less than 1 year, but not younger than 3 months old.
  • Adoptive parents must not be more than 45 years older than child adopted, but can be more than that with a special approval from Ministry of Labor.
  • The age of adopted child will be decided by US adoptive families only.
  • Single persons can adopt, with special approval of some authorities in Serbia, but not allowed in Montenegro.
  • Adoption requirements: Adoption application, Home Study, A short adoptive family biography (one page), Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Medical Certificate, Police Certificate, Work certificate with details about: income and home, Passport color copy, BCIS Approval, Passport photos of adoptive parents.
  • The program fees is 14 thousand dollars.
  • Sometimes a child is less than one year but not younger that three months old.
  • The adoption agencies doesn’t work here for now, so we can have a lot of children’s available, I don’t know for how long time will be like this but I am sure one or two more years we can do adoption without too much competition.
  • I can start work there with any family that you may have ready for adoption and are in waiting list for another country, I can do registration and referral with HS and BCIS approved for another country, with condition that when family will travel here to bring with them name of country changed documents.

Registration fee is $100, and lucky for interested buyers, the Amother has much experience with adoptions from Ukraine and Guatemala (which she writes on her website,  "We are currently working with Guatemala and soon we'll be launching programs in other countries. We are proud of our Humanitarian Aid Program that we have through our non-profit corporation to support orphanages and improve the lives of those children left behind. As a non-profit organization, any contribution is tax deductible."

The understanding is, as stated by the Amother/agency owner on her website, all these children are orphaned and in desperate need of their forever American families.

I'd love PPL readers to offer their opinions/comments if they learned such an adoption program was now available, boasting such rock-bottom prices.  For instance, what do others see/think when they learn a foreign adoption "facilitator" is more than eager to do business with an American who knows a little-bit about the way adoptions were done in Guatemala or are done in Ukraine?

[NOT SO SUBTLE HINTPAP must carry cash when traveling.] 

by Kerry on Thursday, 03 March 2011