What sorts of issues in adopting a slightly older African child 7-8 years old?

Question

What sorts of issues in adopting a slightly older African child 7-8 years old?

Answer 1

I can think of a few, although all cases may vary and I'm just going on psychology classes and anecdotes.

1. If you're not African, then there may be some problems as to whether you should try to raise the child with a 'African' cultural identity or not. Even if you're African-American, there may be issues of this sort.

2. Older children sometimes have more "issues" because they are old enough to know things that can cause them trauma or hurt. It is also possible that they might have been abused. Children who are insecure or have been hurt "may", note emphasis, "act out" in order to get attention to feel more secure.

3. If you're talking about adopting an African child from Africa from the U.S, there may be a lot of red-tape.

4. Sometimes, the problem comes up of "do you have him/her call you "Mom" and "Dad"?" or "How much do we tell the kid?".

Those are all that I can think of or have heard of. But I do think that no matter what, raising a kid will have all sorts of issues.

Answer 2

My question would be are you a relative or someone that has worked with this child? If not, why would you not adopt an older child in your own county or state? There are so many children, everywhere, that need a home and love, it seems sad to think that you would go to another country to adopt when there are probably 1000 or more within your own area.

Issues I can think of are, language barriers, cultural differences, dietary problems, inaccurate health records, and cost associated with getting the child into the country and legally completing the records.

Answer 3

Based on your other questions, it sounds like you're considering an Ethiopian adoption.  A school age child from Ethiopia will probably speak little to no English.  I'd recommend you start learning Amharic.  There are lots of resources out there geared toward learning about Ethiopian culture (much more than about Liberian culture, I can say that!)  Start reading!  

You can probably expect some mild to moderate medical conditions, intestinal parasites is pretty well a given.  But hepatitis is also not uncommon.  I'm not sure about malaria in Ethiopia, but it's very common in other parts of Africa.  

Adjustment wise, you'll need to be prepared for about every issue that faces older child adoption anywhere else, plus dealing with the culture/language barrier.  There's risk for PTSD, sexual abuse, attachment disorders, etc.  

Our African born children have adjusted very well.... secure enough to squabble, test limits and I've even been the recipiant of the patented pre-teen eyeroll and "Mom, you are -SO- embarassing!"

Best of luck to you!

ETA: Sorry, forgot to clarify.  We adopted two school age siblings from Liberia.