Orphanages in other countries?

Question

I'm curious about adoption from another country.. from what I understand, there are countries where there are many orphanages.. Does anyone know what the process of adopting from an orphanage is?? What are these children's situations? Are they "orphans"

Is this an ethical type of adoption?

What are the financial considerations???

I'm just trying to learn more about all kinds of adoptions..

Answer 1

Well I don't know which country has the higher rate of orphans.  I think of Russia & China right off the bat.  I can only speak from my personal experience but I know that in Korea a lot of the children in the orphanages where dropped off there by their own parents who needed a temporary solution until they could get back on their feet & then are suppose to come back & get their children.

In my case I was found behind a train station when I was one & taken to the orphanage for the next four years.  I believe the place that I was at was for internation adoption purposes.  Yes, my parents had to go thro- an adoption agency.  I truly believe tho- that the state an orphanage is in greatly varies from city to city/country to country & if there is anybody they need to impress, be it a family or inspection.

Answer 2

There are as many different scenarios as there are countries with international programs.  With the exception of Guatemala, South Korea and in a few cases, China, I believe about every other country with an international program has children in orphanages.  The aforementioned countries tend to place children in foster families while the adoption is being processed.

The process for adopting internationally is to go through a licensed, reputable agency.  Private adoptions can happen, but I would advise against it.  There are too many pitfalls in the process to not go through someone with years of experience.  

The orphans' situations are also varied.  Some will have been abandoned.  Some will have been relinquished to the care of the orphanage by the family.  Some will have been found wandering the streets and authorities have been unable to find any surviving family.  

There's another scenario, that isn't uncommon in West Africa (among other places). In countries where there is a lot of war and famine, children will either be found on the streets with no adult taking responsibility for them (having been either separated during conflict or the adults with them killed) or the children were relinquished to the orphanage for safety, with the parents/family intending to come back.  Orphanage compounds often have armed guards, even now, which is something that your average family does not have.  Anyway, there are some unscrupulous orphanage "directors" who refuse to then return the children back to their families because the aid given to the orphages by UNICEF and other organizations is based on the number of children.  They keep the numbers high to get more aid, then sell the foodstuffs on the black market for profit.  This mistakingly gets lumped in with adoption, but it is an entirely separate issue than adoption.  These orphanage directors don't want the children adopted any more than they want them returned to their families.  They want to profit off the UNICEF aid given to them.  None of it goes to the children; they are often in deplorable conditions.  But until the fighting stops and the governments get more stabilized, there is not much that can legally be done, at the local level.  As the regions become more peaceful, the governments step in and often shut down these orphanages.  And it gets mistakingly reported as clamping down on international adoption corruption, when it has nothing to do with international adoption.

International adoption can be done legally and ethically, but it really is the responsibility of the parents to check out the agency used.  Not all international adoption agencies are licensed in the US.  In fact, the agency we used for our adoption is the ONLY licensed agency that did adoptions from that country. (I think another one is getting their license, they might have by now.)  I can't quite wrap my mind around why someone would use an unlicensed agency, but it happens.  

Most children available for adoption in an orphanage are older, school age children.  Infants/toddlers are very rare in most countries.  Beware of agencies that have "birthing centers" and promise a 9 month waiting period for an infant, for they are often out soliciting young mothers to relinquish their children for adoption.  I just can't stress enough to do your research!  Check references!  Check the Better Business Bureau!  

I'd be happy to offer more information, if you have other questions.  Feel free to email me.

ETA: I am speaking more toward African adoptions, as that is where I am most familiar.

Answer 3

In general, you cannot directly adopt a child from an orphanage in a foreign country.  You need to go through an adoption agency, facilitator, or attorney.

Some of the children in these orphanages are indeed "orphans" in the true sense of the word.....both parents are dead.  Others are there because their families could not care for them due to extreme poverty.  Still others were abandoned and brought to the orphanage by someone who found them.

I visited two different orphanages on my trips to China to bring home my daughters.  The quality of care these children received was good, considering the circumstances.    There were not many caregivers per child, but the rooms were clean (if a little cold!) and the children were decently fed, and given toys to play with.    

Is adopting these children "ethical"?  I would say yes, because if they are not adopted, it is possible that they will never have families.  If they are not adopted, their future is bleak.....they will be minimally educated, turned out into the street when they are older, and may end up as prostitutes or street people.

There is a girl in one of the orphanages in China that I write to each month.  She was a friend of my oldest daughter when she lived there.  This young lady is in a wheelchair because she had polio as a child.  If I had learned about her when she was younger, I would have tried to bring her home.  Unfortunately, China does not permit children over 14 to be adopted.  This girl is now 25 years old, and she will remain in the orphanage for the rest of her life, as a caretaker to the younger children.

Answer 4

Russia and Romania come to mind first with regards to orphanages.  These children are wards of the country and are mostly in pretty bad shape.  The chidren range in all ages.  

For the process and to see if those countries (or any countries) are currently open for international adoptions or not please go to the Department of State website:  http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/... ...  I find the information on there is official and unbiased.

Answer 5

Many countries have orphanges and yes they are orphans.  China, my lil sis's home country, has both Foster care and orphanages.   My little sister was in an orphanage where the older children took care of the younger ones.  Haiti, Romania, Russia, pretty much alot do.

Answer 6

As far as I know, countries that allow international adoption have either foster care systems or orphanages. But there are different kind of orphanages. Some orphanages are set up as processing homes for children to leave the country.

“Is this an ethical type of adoption?”  

You can never rest easy saying something like “my adoption was ethical because I went to an orphanage in a poor country”.  Every case is different. Every country has both ethical and unethical cases. Every country has mothers being coerced by someone, corrupt officials, heartless profiteers.  Every country also has children in genuine, desperate need for a home. It’s your job to do the best you can to navigate all that.



Some things to think about:

How did the children get to the orphanage?  Are children just listed as ‘abandoned’?  Do family members bring them directly – possibly solicited?  Are children accepted who are brought in by agents – people who receive a fee?  Does the government of that country process relinquishments through their court system, investigate, and then assign a child to an orphanage?  Some countries allow you to meet the children’s extended family, making trafficking less likely. Other countries do dna testing to be sure that the person who’s giving consent to the adoption really is biologically related.

What kind of children are in care at the orphanage?  If there are older children who have been there for a long time, and children with serious medical issues, that’s better than a place with a revolving door for infants & toddlers.

“Are they orphans?”

The children are for the most part legally classified as orphans, but that’s not nearly the same as being a true orphan.  It only means that the child has been abandoned or legally relinquished in their country.  My oldest son still has his mother, she won’t tell us about his father (hated him). My other two children still have their father and older siblings at home.

Adoptive parents need to remember that they are creating a market.  To ask for a healthy infant girl, as quickly as possible, is to set up a demand that sadly, people will try to fill.  When we adopted from Ethiopia, I met a lot of parents who ‘just wanted to save an AIDs orphan’  but that’s not all they wanted. They wanted babies.  When parents die from AIDs, they leave behind children of all ages, not just newborns. (Not to say that for some families infant adoption is fine & actually best, but just research your agency & make it known that you’re concerned about ethics & willing to WAIT).

Your other questions – you would go through a licensed agency. Contact a few. Check out Yahoo Groups for info comparing agencies & countries.  Financial considerations – boy can that vary.  Just keep in mind there’s the Adoption Tax Credit, which I think is around 11K per child now.

Answer 7

Most orphanages, interestingly enough, do not place the children for adoption.  That is because their funding comes from providing a place for these children to live and go to school.  These are usually very separate from other orphanages who are connected to specific adoption agencies, or those that place children directly to adoptive parents.  So when you Google "orphanages" most that appear will no be those that place children for adoption, but rather those that ask for donations to sponsor a chil to stay there.  Beware:  There are some organizations that are scams out for the money and do little to help children.  Do your homework and research and proceed carefully.

The best way to find an orphanage that places children directly with an adoptive family, through an attorney, or also works with an agency, is to network with other adoptive families who have worked successfully with that orphanage.

Network online with other families by going to the adoption forums -- you can find many at abcadoptions.com, adoption.org, or adoptivefamilies.com.  This will be you best and most reliable resource.  Many South American countries have orphanages that work directly with families wanting to adopt.  Good luck to you!

Answer 8

While my guyfriend and I haven't decided whether adoption is the way we want to go, I do know from where I would be adopting (former USSR).  Since the child would come from the orphanage in the village where my mom's coworker originated from, I'd know a lot about the child and possibly even the mother.  In this village, it is poverty that generally forces a mother to chose to bring her baby to an orphanage.  I would also be adopting a toddler, not an infant.

Is this type of adoption ethical?  Is it better for a child to be raised in a family or an institution?  I have a pretty clear answer to that.  Also, we both agreed that if we go this route, we would select a child who needs medical care not available to orphans in their home country.   This type of child is unlikely to be adopted at home.  As far as costs, it varies, but roughly $18,000 - 25,000 not including your travel costs.

Answer 9

Pretty much any country that is considered developing  has orphanages.  Kids are there for many reasons.  In some places like Guatemla parents can't afford another child and birth control  is not readily available. So when they have another child they give up the new baby to the orphanage.  In India and China girls are not valued and they give the girls to orphanages to raise hoping to get a boy.  The list goes on and on. The process depends on your state and the agency you go through.  You need to have a passport  because you have to go there to get the child.  Some places like Russia and Korea don't let you adopt if  you aren't married or if you are young.  Others don't have that stipulation. It is very expensive to adopt internationally.  You often times have to go twice to the country again it depends on the country.  

As far as the ethical status of it depends on the agency and country. If I were to go I would go to China because I believe the children are really given up and not taken from their homes. Which has been an allegation in some of the countries

Answer 10

Hi Shelly! Your question is complicated, or rather the answer to it is.  I'll try to give you the run down.  

The type of care in different countries really varies, and the reasons babies and children are in orphanages or foster care really varies.  Also, the quality of care can really vary in different countries.  There are some countries, like Ethiopia, where many of the children are "true" orphans, meaning both of their biological parents are deceased.  (usually they are AIDS orphans.)  In most cases, children adopted internationally are not "true" orphans.  But, they do have to meet the definition of orphan as defined by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service.  In China, babies are abandoned, and the U.S. accepts China's procedure for attempting to find biological parents.  In other countries, parents must be proven to have relinguished rights, and usually children are relinquished because of extreme poverty.  It's hard to be sure, just as it is in domestic adoption, that this is always done ethically.  If you are interested in a particular country program, research the process thoroughly.  Feel free to email me if you have specific questions about a specific program.  Right now, Guatemala is having a lot of problems with ethics violations.  The Vietnam and Cambodia program have both had long periods of time where the program has been closed due to baby selling.  

In Taiwan, our daughter's birth country, babies are relinguished usually for a combination of similar reasons as in the U.S. - financial reasons, young age, stigma against unwed mothers (more than in the U.S.), etc.  This wasn't exactly the situation with my daughter's birthfamily, but it is typical.  A birth mother cannot make an adoption plan until the baby is 1 month old, then she can choose adoptive parents, then there is a court process for relinguishing parental rights and approving the adoptive parents, and then she can meet the adoptive parent and have a semi-open adoption.  We found it to be one of the best international programs we could find, ethically.  Can one ever be sure that there is never anything unethical.  No.  But, I at least know that my child's birthfamily was treated well and will know how their child is doing.

A GREAT place to learn more about issues in international adoption is informedadoptions.com.  

Take care!