Which countries are Americans adopting from now? How long will you have to wait? Sometimes it feels as if you need a degree in international relations to keep up with it all. Here’s the latest. . .
In general, adoptions are running smoothly in many countries, including Russia (although quite expensive), Ethiopia, and South Korea. However, waiting times in some countries have increased. For more details, go to the country charts at creatingafamily.org.
But the biggest news in international adoptions is the expansion of special-needs adoption programs. The term “special needs” is an inexact description at best, and downright misleading at worst. Perhaps a better term would be “waiting children.” These are children who have conditions that make them harder to place in their country of birth, or with parents abroad who want an AYAHAP (“as young and healthy as possible”) child.
While it’s true that some of these kids have life-altering medical conditions, waiting children also include those with correctable medical conditions such as cleft palate, club foot, or repairable heart defect; non-correctable conditions such as visible birthmark, albinism, scarring, limited vision, or missing limb; premature birth; siblings; or children over the age of 4.
China is a good example of the future of international adoptions. In recent years, AYAHAP adoptions from China have slowed to a crawl with waiting times growing to four-plus years. China’s special-needs adoptions, however, are thriving, and most families adopt within a year. Although the waiting times difference is not so great with other countries, all countries (including the United States) are actively looking for families for their waiting children, and most countries are actively expanding their programs.
The special-needs adoption process differs significantly from traditional international adoptions. With traditional adoptions, prospective parents submit their paperwork, and the country assigns a child. With special-needs adoptions, parents can often pick the child they want to adopt from a list of children with listed special needs. They can choose the gender, age, and special need that they feel best able to parent. Often there is more information on the child’s medical and life history.
Although tempting, parents should not consider special-needs adoption simply because it’s the fastest way to adopt a child. Adoption and parenting are for life. While many special needs do not interfere significantly or at all with parenting or the child’s life, that’s not true for all conditions. Parents should educate themselves about various conditions and decide ahead of time what special needs they think they can handle. Sites like rainbowkids.com provide medical information and support groups for over 50 different special needs and list children available for adoption with that condition.
For many families there is a wonderful symmetry to a special-needs adoption: a family that really needs a child finds a child that really needs a family.
A version of this article originally appeared in the Spring 2010 issue of Conceive.
