As with most adoptions, prospective adoptive parents must follow proper protocol. Completing a home study, filing required paperwork, and working with an approved adoption agency are the first steps in adopting from India. These steps are required and regulated by both the United States and the Indian government. India itself has its own guidelines and restrictions that differ from those required for domestic adoptions in the United States and other international adoptions. India is a member of the Hague Adoption Convention and adheres to the guidelines they set.

Prospective adoptive parents must be at least 25 years old, but not more than 45 years old if adopting a child aged four or younger. To adopt a child between the ages of four and eight a parent must be 29 to 50 years old. In order to adopt a child 8 years or older the parent must be between the ages of 33 and 55. The combined age of a married couple looking to adopt cannot exceed 110 years. 

Married couples hoping to adopt must prove that they have been in a stable relationship for at least two years. Same-sex couples are not authorized to adopt from India at this time. 

Prospective parents must meet income guidelines that are set by each individual adoption agency. They must prove that they are financially able to raise a child in a safe, healthy environment.

Single women adopting from India are free to adopt both girls and boys. Single men adopting are not permitted to adopt girls at this time.

Only families with fewer than four children, biological and or adoptive combined, are permitted to adopt from India. A second adoption from India will only be considered after the adoption of the first child is completed with the exception of siblings adopted simultaneously.

Prospective adoptive parents must not have any terminal or serious contagious illnesses or diseases. They must also be free of any physical or mental illness or limitation that may prevent them from properly caring for a child.

Take these guidelines into consideration when considering adopting from India and be sure to be patient with the process. All parties involved are doing their best to make sure these children end up the best situation possible. Adopting a child will be one of the greatest joys in your life. Follow the correct procedures and your new child will be in your arms before you know it.

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I was old enough that chances of getting pregnant were slim and chances of being chosen as an adoptive couple for an infant were even slimmer. Previous experience with the United States foster care system made me think twice about that route, so I started looking at other options. I searched the internet and found beautiful children needing homes in other countries! Research led me to Ukraine.

In Ukraine, we found our sons. A quiet ten-year-old with a strong will and determined strength and a stubborn five-year-old who wanted a Mom and Pop more than anything came home with us. I was right. They turned my world around.

Where I had been focused on career and professional growth, I now focused on teaching two little boys what family was all about. Where I was worried about how my home was decorated, I now had slips of paper labeling everything. “Chair,” “lamp,” “door,” “bed” were all English words and letters they had never seen. Where I was a go-with-the-flow drop-by-any-time home, we were now sticklers for a schedule so the boys would know stability.

I was proud of the fact that I had broken a family pattern. My two biological children were well adjusted and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I loved them come hell or high water. I now was determined that these two little boys would also know that kind of love. That was a high wall to climb. We spent a lot of energy working on building strong bonds.

Those two little boys turned my world around to a wonderful place where, “You know I love you, right Mom?” means the world to me.

It’s difficult to say how international adoption changed my life. I can’t imagine my life without it. I have four children, equally important and part of my heart. Two of them were just detoured to Ukraine before they got home.

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#1: Eligibility

Indian, Non-resident Indian, and Foreign citizens are all eligible to adopt a child from/in India. Eligibility requirements are the same for all.

#2: Marital Status

Single and married can adopt in India. Single people must be at least 21 yrs. However, they can be no older than 45. Unless you are adopting an older child, then you can be up to 55 years of age. Married couples need to have a combined age no older than 90. Couples should be married for more than two years. They can have divorces in their past, but only two between them.

#3: Religion

Your religion is not relevant. There is a law under which adoption takes place, called the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956. It’s applicable to Hindus and religions similar to Hinduism. It means that no one can be excluded due to their religion.

#4: Other Children

Applicants may have up to two children already in the home, biological or adopted previously. If there is already a child in the home, you are expected to be open to adopting one of the opposite sex. If you are Hindu, you are required to adopt a child of the opposite sex than the one already in the home. You may be able to adopt two children at the same time if those two are biological siblings.

#5: Average Age & Wait Time 

The average age of a child to adopt is 18 months – 8 years old. The reason being India’s first priority is to place the children with domestic biological or adoptive families. Or Indo-American families first, to give them the opportunity to grow in-country or at least in the culture of their birth. The ages are increasing due to governmental processing times.

The overall timeframe to complete an adoption from India is generally 18-24 months and decreasing. While there are many older children available for adoption, generally at least half of the families in the India program are moving forward with a child under the age of three years.

Most of this time is just waiting for a referral. After being matched it takes 8-16 months for placement. Boys are generally placed sooner than girls.

#6: Openness

Open adoption is not a current practice in India. Rarely can an agency in India help facilitate some openness, but it is based on the individual case. If the birth parents are in contact with the agency, or if they are even interested, will determine the possibility of open adoption.

#7: Adoption Fees 

These really differ between agencies, and if you are an Indian Citizen vs. Indo-American or foreign citizen. There are application fees, home study fees, online training, service fees, background checks, fingerprinting, airfare, visas (if international) embassy fees, dossier fees, post-adoption visits, and finalizations. It can cost anywhere between $30,000 and $48,000, depending on location.

#8: Travel

India requires at least one of the adoptive parents to travel to India at least once. The average time there is 10-14 days. This includes meeting your matched child at the care center, some adjustment time, and final visa processing in New Delhi.

#9: Special Needs

Special needs can mean physical or cognitive needs that can require time, attention, and medical care. Or it could simply mean that the child matched is five years or older. Reputable agencies will be able to tell you social history, medical issues, and medical history if available, as well as non-identifying birth parent information if known, and a photo of the child.

The children available for adoption in India have ranged in age from infants to teenagers, with medical needs such as HIV, blood conditions, heart conditions, vision impairment, hearing impairment, cleft lip and palate, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, and other correctable medical conditions. Families who are of Indian heritage and have either OCI or NRI status may request to adopt healthy children. However, all foreign families must be open to adopting a child with a medical need, a sibling set, or a healthy older child.

About 47 percent of children in India are malnourished. So, all adoptive parents must understand the effects of malnutrition on the growth and development of the child.

#10: C.A.R.A

All adoptions in India are required to follow the procedure set out by the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA).

CARA primarily deals with adoptions of orphans, abandoned, and surrendered children through its associated/recognized adoption agencies.

India’s international adoption process is done in accordance with Hague Convention guidelines on intercountry adoption of children.

Most children live in government-run child care facilities that are licensed by CARA. 

Children may be orphaned in India due to poverty, disease, family or personal issues. India follows the best practices and standards according to the Hague international adoption guidelines to try to reunite the child with their biological family if at all possible, and when not possible to seek a domestic adoptive family, and then international adoptive family

India is a beautiful country with beautiful children waiting to find their forever family. I have had the opportunity myself to travel there once and travel from Mumbai, a huge city, to Pune and neighboring cities/states that are extremely rural. I was able to meet so many people and children from all backgrounds. It was an eye-opening experience for me. I had no idea of some of the living conditions and the level of poverty some people faced. To see kids walking along the street, begging for food and love, was heartbreaking!

If you are looking into adopting a child or children from this country, I hope this can help you get started on your journey.

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You may need to investigate more than one country to see which is the best fit for you in terms of your family and the country’s requirements. The Hague Convention, established in 2008, standardized the process somewhat amongst countries and established certain countries that are designated by the US government as being in compliance. The Hague Convention not only established consistency for requirements made of adoptive parents, but it also established consistency for the care of children being adopted into the US in their native country and helped ensure that adoptions from those countries are as ethical as possible. Some countries have moved in and out of Hague Compliance, and the list of countries that are Hague countries is generally in flux. To best determine which country will be the best fit for your family, make sure you are working with an agency in the US that has a lot of international adoption experience. 

International adoption is a wonderful way to strengthen your forever family and bring more love into your life. Although the process and requirements can seem daunting, don’t give up hope. You can find help and resources. Learn more about international adoption today and learn what your next step is. Before you know it you’ll be welcoming the next piece of your forever family into your home.

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1. You must have a source or placing agency. This is an agency that is Hague Accredited (for most countries) that is “licensed” to facilitate adoptions out of specific countries. There are many wonderful placing agencies throughout the country. A source or placing agency is a requirement as you can no longer proceed with independent international adoptions.
2. You may also need to have a home study/post placement agency. So you have found your source agency, but there is one problem: you live in one state and the source agency is located in a different state and is not able to provide your home study and post placement services for you. This is really not a problem. There are many agencies who are able to provide these for you (I call them the bookend agencies). They sign an agreement with your source agency and you are on your way. 
3. There is a lot of paperwork. Be ready. You will have paperwork that your home study agency requires you to fill out (if you have one). You will have paperwork that your source agency requires you to fill out. You will have paperwork that you need to complete for immigration. You will have paperwork that you need to complete for your dossier (the packet that is sent to the country on your behalf). The best advice I can give is to stay organized. Get binders, folders, boxes, etc. whatever you find the easiest. Make sure that you keep copies of everything for yourself. 
4. You will need to work with USCIS (the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). USCIS will give you the initial okay to adopt a child from whatever country you are planning to adopt from. You will then have to file secondary paperwork once you are referred a child to have approval to adopt that specific child and bring them to the United States.
5. You will wait. Waiting is the name of the game in adoption. There is no way around it. Some countries there is very little communication until the day you receive your referral. While this can be frustrating, it is part of the process and something that it is important to mentally prepare yourself for before you begin.
6. You will need to travel to your child’s country. You will need to travel to the child’s country of origin to pick up and bring your child home. Some exceptions can be made with some countries where only one parent needs to travel, but for the most part, it is expected that both adopting parents (if a married couple) will be traveling. Take that time to soak up your experiences in that country. Buy artwork, knick-knacks, music, or other things that you can have in your home to celebrate your child’s culture.
7. You will need post-adoption supervision. The process does not end once the child is home. Every country will require a certain number of post-adoption visits by a social worker. Use these visits to share about the triumphs but also to be honest about the challenges. Your social worker is there to be a support to you and he/she is not a mind reader and cannot give assistance or guidance unless you are open about things.
8. International Adoption will change your life. Don’t get too bogged down in the processes, bureaucracy, etc. You are doing this for a child and for your family. While the road may have bumps in it you are forever changing a child’s life and every step along the way is well worth it to get to the day when you are able draw that child into a hug.

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Malawi

Adopting from Malawi is affordable for an international adoption (between $28,000 and $32,000) and the in-country travel time is less than four weeks. Children between eighteen months and fifteen years old can be adopted. Most orphans have been abandoned due to poverty and social problems. Families from the U.S. can provide these children with an optimistic future that they would not have had otherwise. Pop singer Madonna adopted two five-year-old twin girls from Malawi in 2017. 

South Korea

Children available for adoption in South Korea are between 1 and 6 years old at placement, with some minor, treatable special needs. Two trips to the country are required, but these are each only five to seven days in length. Since South Korea is a modern country, there are lots of American restaurants and comforts available, although you may want to sample some local cuisine of your child’s birth nation. Eligible Americans are between 25 and 40 years of age, with no more than one divorce in each prospective parent’s past. 

Haiti

Married couples can adopt from Haiti if they are over 30 and have been married for over five years, singles can adopt if they are between 35 and 49 years old. Adoptable children are between 6 months and 16 years old, siblings groups are also available. Unrelated children may also be adopted at the same time in Haiti on a case-by-case basis. The first trip a prospective parent takes to Haiti is for familiarization, and is fifteen days long. The second trip, to adopt the child, is about a week in length. 

Ukraine

The costs for adoption in Ukraine are reasonable, from $30,000 to $36,000 a year. Children available for adoption are usually over 5 years old and in sibling groups typically of three or more. There are also children 14 months old and older with special needs who are ready to be adopted. To be eligible to adopt in Ukraine, you need to be married and between 15 and 45 years older than the child you are adopting. Parents completing adoptions travel twice: the first time between four and six weeks to bond with their child, and the second time for a week to ten days to pick up their child.

Burundi

While the size of this African country is miniature compared to others, Burundi has one of the highest birthrates in the world. Prospective parents can adopt healthy boys and girls at ages 18 months old and older, although all potential adoptive parents must be open to adopting children over 5 years old. Sibling groups of over two or more children are available, and adoptions of one or more unrelated children at the same time is permitted. In order to adopt from Burundi, you must be at least 30 years old and married for at least five years.

China

The costs of adopting from China are reasonable for an international adoption; it is around $35,000 including travel and in-country expenses. Children ages 1 to 13 are ready to be adopted. While all are said to have some type of developmental need, more than half of these are minor and correctable (such as a cleft palate or orthopedic issues). Married American couples between 30 and 49 years old may adopt, and single women over 30 are also eligible.

India

If you wish to adopt from India, you need to be married for at least two years and the parent of less than two children unless you are interested in adopting a child with special needs. Children over the age of 2, and more females than males, are available. India requires only one trip that is seven to ten days in length. Costs are usually between $28,000 and $35,000.

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It’s the great barrier-breaker, dissolver of differences. It’s also the great culture-keeper, self-identifier. It’s a language common to all humanity, yet uniquely identifiable from culture to culture. In many countries, music is one of the most important aspects of cultural identity.

If you are the parent(s) of an internationally adopted child, music is a powerful way of keeping your child’s birth culture alive. It’s likely that your child’s sense of self—personality, identity—was at least partially in place before you came along. Acknowledging that—and fostering a strong sense of self through music—can help ensure a successful transition for him or her.

When you think about your own life, how do you envision it? Many of us recount our lives in the form of a story. Including music from your child’s home culture is a vital way to value and honor your child’s background—his or her unique, “very own” story.

Composer Hans Zimmer said, in a 2017 interview, “A world without music would be unimaginable, a huge chunk of the social communication mechanism would be gone . . . . Music tells a part of our story. That’s why it’s so important.” 

Music is a tremendous source of comfort and familiarity for your child (even if only at the deepest of cellular levels) during a time of great transition, necessary disruption of routine, and adjustment to a new way of life with one’s forever family.

When I became my son’s mother, I began playing a CD of mixed international music every night. I did this partly because, at 9.5 months of age, he displayed visible signs of physical grieving. The songs helped soothe him to sleep. To this day, at age 8, he requests that music—which includes some Korean lullabies. “It relaxes me,” he says. Although I’ll never know for sure, I hope that playing that music helped him adjust to his new life with us. Maybe the music struck a familiar chord deep within him (perhaps recalling the sounds of everyday life with his foster family in Seoul)—reassured him that he was safe and loved, and has been from the very beginning. 

So, the next question is, “How do I do this? How do I include music to celebrate my child’s culture?” Here are just a few tips to get you started:

1. Check out music albums that celebrate various cultures. Some great places to start are Putumayo World Music and UNESCO’s Collection of Traditional Music. Or sign up for a service like Pandora or Spotify or Amazon Prime Music, and search on the country of your choice. Many of our friends routinely listen to KPOP (Korean pop layered on top of traditional Korean melodies).
2. Come to Washington, DC, and tour the embassy of your child’s birth country. (Admittedly, the ease in which you can do this depends on where you live.) You’ll definitely get a taste of the sounds of your child’s birth country.
3. Look around your community for cultural celebrations specific to your child’s birth country—and attend them as a family. The food, ceremonies, customs—and, yes, music—all figure prominently in the culture. And that culture is now a part of the very fabric of your family! Our adoption agency hosts its annual Adoption Celebration every November. We watch dancers and drummers move to the traditional music of South Korea, and we listen to the rhythms of West Africa via an energetic djembe drumming session. Throughout the day, music is playing, and cultures are celebrated.
4. Join some in-person adoption groups that contain families who have adopted children from your child’s country. Ask your caseworker for leads. That’s how we found our Korean adoption playgroup. You can find virtual adoption groups, as well. Adoption.com offers some great online resources (by country/region) and forums where you can connect with fellow adoptive families. There’s a whole web page devoted to connecting community members!

Becoming part of an international Korean adoption community was the best decision that my husband and I made. Our son is growing up to be a confident Korean-American child who identifies strongly with South Korea and sees it as an important part of his story (through songs and other means). As a proud American citizen, he is the child of two parents who help him cherish and celebrate the rich, beautiful culture of South Korea—the country that brought the three of us together in the first place. And music is an important part of that togetherness.

Regardless of how you do it, the simple act of listening to the music is a great way to honor the country where your child’s story first began. Even if we don’t understand all the words in those KPOP songs or Korean lullabies, these are the songs that tell his story—the music is sending a message to our son from the country that first cradled him: “You will always be part of me. Some of your very identity rests here, in these songs, in this place. You were born of me; I remain in you.”

Longfellow was right: Music really is the “universal language of mankind.” The songs tell the story—and what a wonderful story it is. Don’t let those songs slip away.

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A total of 78,257 children were adopted by Americans from 1999-2016.

Overall, China has adopted out over 267,000 children in that same time frame – over a quarter of a million children. That means that almost 1/3 of the children who came home from China came home to America. 

Girls were adopted by an overwhelming majority over boys.

Mostly because of the one-child policy that led to many families abandoning baby girls in favor of trying for the coveted son, girls have been available for adoption since the beginning of international adoption. The number of healthy baby girls was what led many families to China in the early years of the program. Recently, again because of changes in governmental policy, the number of healthy girls has all but disappeared, and the vast majority of adoptions out of China are of children with special needs–both boys and girls. However, the number of girls who have been adopted still out largely outnumbers boys, 86% to 14%.

Most children adopted from China have been between the ages of 1-2 years old.

Similar to the reasons behind why girls have been adopted more than boys, the age of children adopted from China also relates back to the one-child policy. Most healthy girls were abandoned as newborns or infants, and so were adopted between the ages of one and two. There have been 38,892. The smallest group of children adopted (736) have been over the age of 13.

Adoption from China peaked in the year 2005 with an adoption of 7,905 children from China to America.

The number of adoptions from China slowly increased until 2005 and has slowly decreased ever since. The latest year for which there is a statistic is 2016, and 2,231 children came home to America that year, over 5,500 less children than just eleven years prior.

China is the number one country for international adoption.

From 2009-2016, China was the first choice of Americans looking to adopt internationally with 2,231 children coming home. Behind China in descending order in the year 2016 were DR Congo (359), Ukraine (303), South Korea (260), and Bulgaria (201).

It cost less to adopt from China than anywhere else internationally.

As of 2013, the latest year for which there is such a statistic, it costs the least to adopt a child from China when compared to Ethiopia, South Korea, and Ukraine. As with all costs, they vary greatly from agency to agency and depend on factors such as when you travel, how many children you’re adopting at one time, etc.

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4. While China has reigned as the top country to adopt from for the past couple years, hitting its peak in 2005 with almost 8,000 completed adoptions, it is suspected that the country will fall from the number one spot after the new restrictions on adoptive families were passed in 2017. (travel.state.gov)

5. As of 2016, it has been estimated that there are at least 140 million orphans worldwide. (unicef.org)

Those numbers can not only be shocking and eye opening, but they can really shed light onto the growing problem within the international adoption community – each year, there is a growing orphan population but a shrinking adoptive family population. Hopefully, things can turn around and those families that have been considering adoption will step out in faith and pursue adoption. Every child needs a family, no matter where they are from.

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