"The Beckers have been keeping friends and family updated by a website, as they've waited for the end of a 44-day-long Columbian court workers' strike that has prevented them from getting the judge's signature they need to bring [their son] home to Minnetonka."

Labels: international

"A mere 277 Czech kids have been adopted by foreign families since 2000, when the Czech Republic ratified a Hague convention on adoption and child protection. These children, predominantly of Roma origin, often find their new homes in Denmark, Germany or Italy."

Labels: foreign_adoption, international

"Joel Neikirk said the world already had a lot of orphans, and instead of bringing another child into the world, they would take care of one from a Third World country. Neikirk said he had always wanted to adopt because he had been adopted."

Labels: international

"She wrote to the Croatian Ambassador, but embassy officials told her she couldn't adopt Mishi because the countries had no adoption agreement. So she contacted the Rijeka hospital, where bosses welcomed her dream - and persuaded government officials to authorize the adoption."

Labels: international, obstacles

"The guideline, jointly issued by five ministries and made public on Monday, allows people to register their illegally adopted children without fear of punishment... The legal rights of these children are not currently guaranteed, such as permanent residence of a city, schooling, and inheritance."

Labels: China, international

"The six-month investigation of 300 cases unearthed disturbing situations, including hospitals sending babies to orphanages for overseas adoption in the wake of parents being unable to pay medical bills for the birth. Health officials also got financial inducement. In one case a grandmother sent a baby girl for adoption without the knowledge of the parents, though in that instance the baby was reunited with her mother."

Labels: corruption, international, Vietnam

"Activists are concerned that the lucrative business of inter-country adoption of Nepalese children - with clients from Europe and the USA willing to spend as much as $25,000 per child - increases the risk of abduction, trafficking and the illegal sale of children by children's homes."

Labels: activists, international, Nepal

"Since 2003, with the Government's 68/202/ND-CP decree coming into force, a number of agreements on child adoption with other countries have been signed and an International Adoption Department under the Ministry of Justice has been set up."

Labels: international, protection, Vietnam

"[Jackie] helped found the International Child Foundation in 2003. The non-profit group facilitates about 20 international adoptions a year of children from countries including Haiti, Guatemala, China, and Khazakstan."

Labels: advocacy, international, non-profit

"On the day [Karla] arrived in Vietnam - Oct. 25 - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that because of 'growing concerns about irregularities in the methods used to identify children for adoption in Vietnam and the resulting difficulties in classifying those children as orphans,' a field office in Ho Chi Minh City now would decide all I-600s, which is a form that classifies an orphan as an immediate relative and expedites the visa process."

Labels: frustrations, international

"On the day [Karla] arrived in Vietnam, Oct. 25, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Ho Chi Minh City announced that because of 'growing concerns about irregularities in the methods used to identify children for adoption in Vietnam and the resulting difficulties in classifying those children as orphans,' the local USCIS office would need to verify the status of any orphan up for adoption to the U.S."

Labels: adoption_process, immigration, international

"In its nine-page report, the US Embassy said some American adoption agencies paid orphanage officials as much as US$10,000 per referral, while others took them on shopping sprees and junkets to the US in return for a flow of babies. It said questions arose after routine investigations turned up widespread inconsistencies in adoption paperwork."

Labels: bans, international, orphanages

"The uncertainty has fueled rumors and speculation within the tight-knit community of Americans who have adopted from China or hope to do so. Some believe the longer waits are part of a temporary Chinese effort to scale back international adoptions ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August. Others wonder if China may be phasing out foreign adoptions almost entirely."

Labels: China, international

"For most adoptive families the preservation of the first language is not a major priority: on arrival, the main concerns are about learning English, the child's health, attachment, initial adjustment, education, and remediation (if needed). There is no place here for preserving native language as the first-order priority."

Labels: cultures, international, languages

"The convention outlines the process by which a child becomes eligible for adoption and also outlines the processes whereby a family is deemed eligible to adopt a child. This protects children because it ensures that every attempt has been made to keep the child in his or her birth family and birth country. It protects adoptive families, who can be confident that any child they are considering for adoption has been previously designated as eligible for adoption."

Labels: inter-country_adoption, international, protection

"At least one human rights group in Republic of Congo has been calling for action on suspected child trafficking in the country since August. The head of that group, Loamba Moke, said he was glad the government was taking action to assure the safety of adopted children, but called for tougher laws in the prosecution of child trafficking networks."

Labels: governments, international

"Twenty-one entry visas for children have been rejected in the last two years, according to the State Department. More than half the denials have come since last October, prompting complaints that the department is singling out individual cases to embarrass the Vietnamese government into changing its adoption process."

Labels: inter-country_adoption, international, state_department

"Part reunion and part support, the event is the largest of several that the group holds each year, chances for parents to get together, share stories and enjoy their children. For the kids, it's also an opportunity to interact with people who look like them - and who don't ask the awkward questions that the outside world sometimes does."

Labels: communication, international, support

"[Caroline] Mercary said the ruling effectively prohibits France from refusing adoption requests on sexual orientation grounds."

Labels: court, descrimination, international

"The new adoption ads were distributed to more than 28,000 media outlets nationwide on Wednesday, December 12 through donated media space. The multi-media program includes Spanish-language television, radio, and print public service announcement (PSAs) issuing a national call-to-action in the messaging itself."

Labels: Hispanic, international, Spanish

"The new law, passed last month, requires the creation of a centralized government authority to oversee adoptions and mandates that any private orphanages, such as those run by charities, be registered."

Labels: international, laws

"Brodine said she and her husband chose to adopt from Vietnam when they heard of a new program through Dillon International, Inc... Although the adoption was officially recognized in Vietnam after the Giving and Receiving Ceremony, Phoebe won't be able to apply for U.S. citizenship until after three post-placement visits by Dillon International officials."

Labels: international

"Today is a historic day for the country, because the foundations have been laid for putting an end to the theft of children to place them in adoption', said parliamentary Deputy Edgard Alfredo Rodriquez of the centre-left National Union of Hope (UNE), after the law was approved by more than two-thirds of the legislators."

Labels: adoption_process, international, kidnapping

Labels: foreign_adoption, international

"[Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Bartholet] said China and Russia reflected a trend in which countries opened themselves up to international adoption, then scaled back."

Labels: foreign_adoption, international, rules

"Deciding whether or not to initiate the search is not easy. While there are a multitude of heartwarming stories, there are also others, where alcoholism was rampant in the family or where the birth mother abused the child."

Labels: birth_parents, international, services

"I don't think the media is very balanced. They tend to show sensationalized stories and worst of all, they never seem to devote enough time to really understand the dynamics. But when a reporter is given two days to pump out a piece, what can we expect to happen?"

Labels: adoption_policy, international, laws

"The French [citizens] are part of a group of 16 Europeans, including a seven-member Spanish flight crew, detained Thursday on suspicion of trying to smuggle the children out of Chad with the aim of adoption."

Labels: international

"I am all for packing light... and especially when you're traveling to adopt a child, I think you should bring everything that you need. While it is true... that you can often find what you need when you arrive, you don't want to have to spend your first few hours or days with your child in a store in a new place trying to find diapers, formula, lotion or dish soap."

Labels: international, stress, traveling

"Four P.E.I. children have been adopted under China's Waiting Child Program... The program arranges the adoption from China of children with minor medical needs... but the P.E.I government now believes it is illegal for the province to allow agencies to match children and families, as was done previously."

Labels: Canada, China, international

"The U.S. is one of just six nations that allow its citizens to adopt a Chinese child while living in China. Other countries are concerned about the lack of control and oversight they have over their far-flung citizens, but American expats seeking to adopt follow the same well-defined adoption process that is required of families living in the U.S."

Labels: China, expatriates, international

"Diplomatic officials said the move left plans by some 358 foreign families to adopt children from the Himalayan country up in the air. 'It's a very emotional problem and it's becoming a humanitarian issue for these families,' French Ambassador Gilles-Henry Garault told AFP."

Labels: adoption_policy, adoption_procedures, international

"TB rates among the children in the American study ranged from nearly 15 percent in adoptees from Eastern Europe, 14 percent from Russian and 12 percent from Korea to between 12.5 percent and 11 percent in India, China and South America, 8.3 percent in Central America and the Caribbean and 2.8 percent in Southeast Asia."

Labels: health, international, tuberculosis

"'They need to understand that race and ethnicity still matter,' [Judy] Stigger says. 'Love is not going to be enough. Where your child came from is part of them, whether that's a neighborhood in Chicago or an orphanage in China.'"

Labels: cultures, international, parenting

"Most international adoptees are younger than five years of age and frequently come from resource-poor countries where tuberculosis is common and pre-natal screenings for infectious diseases are rare, say Richard Long, MD, professor in Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Alberta and lead author of the study."

Labels: disease, health, international

"The world of international adoption is evolving, said Mary Kate Schneider, director of adoption for the Family and Children's Agency in Norwalk [Connecticut]. 'We try and tell families from Day 1 and on that... time frames can change,' Schneider said. 'I think in the end, each country is trying to have these regulations in place so we can secure the best possible adoption for their children.'"

Labels: adoption costs, adoption_procedures, international

"'We believe this to be a substantial step in the direction of the stability of Russian adoption,' reads a statement on the web site of the International Assistance Group, one of the agencies that was reaccredited. The statement appears along with a copy of the agency's new accreditation document from the Education and Science Ministry, dated June 27."

Labels: adoption_agencies, international, Russia

"A prime example of severe adoption stress was created for families when Romania closed its doors to international adoptions. When this occurred, hundreds of families were caught in the pipeline, and their children were condemned to living in an institutional care environment despite the fact that there was a loving family somewhere in the world that had already developed a bond with them."

Labels: adoption_procedures, international, stress

"...here are some tips on finding the right adoption program for your family. Decide what age and gender child you are hoping for. Determine what your 'adoption budget' will be, and what you can and cannot afford in regards to adoption fees. Determine how long you can manage to travel..."

Labels: domestic_adoptions, international, tips

"'Anytime you can give a child a better life, I'm all for that,' [Roy] Shoulders said. 'I'm not opposed to international adoptions; I don't have any qualms with it. But because of the need in this country, I would love for us to take care of our own first.'"

Labels: awareness, domestic_adoptions, international

"She said previously, persons who wanted to overlook the procedures used to file adoption matters in High Court stations outside Nairobi where they would find judges who were overwhelmed by other judicial work and managed to easily obtain orders, especially in cases of international adoption."

Labels: Africa, international, rules

"'Every country has its own way of defining health, so we try to interpret it and tell the families what's going on,' said Inshirah Farhoud, a Pediatric Practitioner at the clinic."

Labels: adoption_clinics, international, medical_records

"Ethiopia, with a population of 76 million, has an estimated 5 million orphans, according to aid organizations. Many African nations have outlawed or impeded the adoption of their children by foreigners. Ethiopia has welcomed American and European families who are willing to provide homes for children who have lost both parents to AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis or starvation, or who come from families too destitute to feed and clothe them."

Labels: ethiopia, inter-country_adoption, international

"There are some big differences between domestic and international adoption. Bill says there is a lot more paperwork adopting overseas. 'I mean, they send us a tomb filled with paperwork that has to be done over 6 or 8 month period. And everything is time sensitive, too.'"

Labels: domestic_adoptions, international, overseas

Labels: adoption_agencies, international, Russia

"Although the Shaws' work focuses on Chinese adoptions, Geoff hopes that in time he will be able to expand the work of the organization and provide support to people hoping to adopt from other parts of the world."

Labels: China, international, support