International Adoption

As part of your homestudy you must make decisions on your international adoption.  These are documented in your homestudy.  The two main things you have to make a decision about is the country and the age.

Country-There are many factors in play when deciding which country to go with.  You can go with a country that your family may roots with, a country you visited or a country that has a stable program and you are comfortable with their wait times and requirements.  We choose the last option and you I recommend you should too.  As you do research you will start to realize, as I am writing this, that there are very few options out there.  In fact, I would say there is only 1 good option right now and that's Russia.

I know what you are thinking-Can't I just go to China and get a girl?  The answer is yes.  Get ready to wait for potentially 7 years.  Vietnam - 3 year wait.  What about a country that has endured a lot of problems like Haiti - 3 year wait.  It's bleak out there.  For any country based on the wait times, your baby doesn't even exist right now.  It's crazy as I am sure there are plenty of orphanages out there with children, but the countries seem to make things difficult for international adoption.  They have issues with foreigners coming in and taking their babies. 
Although each country is different, generally these are some of the requirements you will encounter: under 45, married 2+ years, some allow same sex or single parents.  The only other program I considered was one in Albania.  There wait time is 2-3 years and its a small program.  Their program basis is a little different as they make sure you would be someone the country would consider a suitable candidate before they take you on to help.  Other programs, you do the work, don't have a glaring issue (ie criminal records) and pay the money, in time you should get a child.

Age - what age do you want?  Everyone wants a baby.  You are not getting a baby anywhere!  Get it out of your head right now.  In most countries the child has to be in the system for several months and most places won't allow a child to be adopted until 8 months.  Plus, by the time you finish everything and come home, you can add a few more months or several more months to that age.  You have to understand what you are willing to live with.  Your chancing greatly increase if you are more flexible with age, specifically in Russia they recommend you put up to 2 1/2 - 3 years old.  The benefit of having an older kid is they will be more information on their medical history.  Kids are resilient, more so than adults.  Getting a child that may be older will not necessarily come with all obstacles because of the language and culture barrier when you bring them home to Canada.  At first, I wanted a younger kid as much as possible, but I think I would've been more open to an older child.  In our training, another couple had a video of him communicating with 3 year olds in Russia.  He was waiving and saying hi and the kids were smiling say hi back.  Then he said "wow, you guys are smart".  One kid responded "Me Smart."  The kids seemed very happy and friendly to the Canadian adopting.  Made me realize how happy these kids are and receptive they were with a new language. 

Once you make these decisions and your homestudy is done you need two canadian approvals.  You have to get appproval to adopt a child, and you have to go sponsor your future child through immigration.  Then you place your file with the agency, who will then get approval from the country of your choosing.

Current update: still waiting.