Agencies for International Adoption?

Question

I have gone through lists and lists of agencies. I have contacted several of them. I've searched the net and read about everything I could find. Now.. I would like to know what experiences everyone has had with their agency. Good or Bad. Which agencies do you recommend? Why?

There are a lot of changes to regulations and rules in International Adoption,So if you have adopted recently that would be great! Thanks :o)

Answer 1

We used Children's Hope International (http://www.childrenshopeint.org/ for more info) and had an awesome experience.  We also have connections with Lifeline Adoptions (http://www.lifelineadoption.org/template... for more info) and the folks there are top notch, too.  I've heard great things about Commonwealth Adoptions and Bethany Christian Services as well.

I think it would be easier to figure out which country you want to adopt from & then choose from the agencies with programs in that country.  You can go to http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/... to figure out which country you feel drawn to and fit the requirements of.

After you choose your country, you can Google for the agencies with programs there (Google something like "international adoption agency" and the country name to find which agencies work with them).

Request information packets from the agencies you found.  We began a spreadsheet to track things like the costs of all the various steps, travel costs, typical time in-country, typical waiting time (this is constantly changing no matter which country you adopt from), what pre-adoption & post-adoption services they provide, etc.  All the information that will go into you making a sound decision.

From there make a list of about five of your "short list" agencies (the topi 5).  Make an appointment to "interview" them via phone with the person who is the coordinator for your country of choice.  Ask that person all the other questions you might have or that might have come up during your information gathering stage.  Ask for references.  Call the references & ask tough questions (how long was their wait, how long in country, were there any surprises -- good or bad --, is there anything they'd change if they had to do it over, was there anything negative about working with that agency, would they use that agency again if they adopted in the future & why or why not?

After you check the references they give you, go on the internet & find others who've used the agency who aren't on the reference list & ask them the same questions.  Look for people who've used them within the last year or so, preferably.

Contact the Better Business Bureau and see if they have any complaints & how they were or were not resolved.

From there you should have a gut feeling on which agency you feel most comfortable working with.  Go through the process from there.

Answer 2

Great Wall of China Adoption Agency, http://www.gwca.org/  if you are looking into adopting from China. We have so many friends that have adopted through them, and we are working with them right now. The wait is long now for China though. We have a friend that has used http://www.eaci.com/  for one completed adoption and is now working on her second adoption with them. She loves them! Good luck!!!

Answer 3

We used Adoptions from the Heart for a domestic (US) adoption, but we know several families who adopted internationally thru them (Korea, Guatemala, and China).  Everyone has had great experiences with the agency, and I personally highly recommend them.

Good luck to you.

Answer 4

i would recommend HOPE for children, i recently adopted from china, and i got  great help for everything, for first- time adopters they offer an orientation, help with lotus travel, and all of our travel needs. they are a really great organization. here is the website, www.hopeforchildren.org , best wishes for you and the child you are going to adopt! best wishes!

Answer 5

My wife and I adopted a little girl from China in 2004.  We are now in the process of waiting to go get our second daughter from China.  We've had two experiences with two agencies.  The best experience (and the one we're using for both adoptions) is Great Wall Chinese Adoption headquartered in Texas.  Snow Wu knows the Chinese system inside and out.  Our first experience started off with Children's Hope.  Bad experiences.  Not only did they seem to enjoy taking our money, they strung us along for six months before saying they couldn't help us; we would not be able to adopt from really any international source.  Since our daughter is from China.... guess they got that wrong.

Answer 6

My wife and I adopted from China thru America World Adoption Association. www.awaa.org

They are awesome and very helpful and good at communicating with you throughout the whole process!

They are also very honest in regards to the layout of the expenses necessary for adopting from each of the countries they have programs in.

We liked them so much that we are using them again to adopt baby #2!

Hope this helps!

Answer 7

We used World Association for Children and Parents (WACAP) in Renton Washington, even though we live across the country on the East Coast. We used WACAP twice, both times to adopt from China. I recommend them highly.

Good luck!