Adoption- where to begin.

I am not sure if this is in the right area, please feel free to move this post moderators if you feel so inclined.

My husband and I would like to adopt here in the Dominican. We realize that as we have only been married for four years that we will have to wait another year before we can begin any process. I have read plenty both on this forum and other resources on the process, and yes, we know it is not easy. Our reasons for wanting to adopt here are complex to say the least. We have a lot of love to give, and because we spend a lot of time here we believe we could be a great family for a child from here, as I believe it is very important to allow a child an understanding of where they come from as well as give them a good family. I have a son from another marriage who is now a young man and he is mixed race. When he found out my husband and I were trying to have another child and then found out it was an impossibility he mentioned why don't we try to adopt in the Dominican. He is a very special child himself, as he has autism and other developmental disabilities and he would love a little brother or sister who also had what he calls a brown face.

After much thought my husband and I decided if it was a possibility that we would try to pursue this. Because my first son is now a teenager, we would prefer a child that was not a baby, not only because it would suit our family well, but because those children are the least likely to get adopted.

The problem isn't the money or the ability to fulfill the requirements, we just don't really know where to begin to find this special child. I know it isn't easy here due to the fact that a lot of the children who are in orphanages really aren't completely without a family.

Has anyone on here adopted from here and would have any idea of where to begin?

I don't want any responses about how hard it will be to take a child who is around six (the age I was hoping for) and incorporate them into our family. We realize that this journey will have its difficulties and require a lot of resources and support, thank God we are Canadian and our country has a lot of resources for adopting parents.

Any ideas where to begin? Like I said before I still have a year before I will have the marriage requiremnt down, but I would like to begin to research.

Also, we can't adopt from Haiti, which I would have in a heart beat, but the requirement there is ten years for marriage.

Thank yo for all the responses. I am more than aware of how difficult it can be. I have spoken to my lawyer at Guzman here in Bavaro and was given a break down of the process. It seems as though the difficulty begins in finding a child who will have the family sign off and then just goes from there. I have been told it is possible. We have the means, we have the references having raised a special needs child already (quite well in fact) We own a home here and a home in Toronto. We are still putting together the money, which is very important.

What I really want to know is, where do I find the child? We are not picky on a boy or a girl, or age as long as they are under ten. We know babies are hard to come by anywhere. Anyone know how I would go about finding a child that needs some parents?

jackichan said:

I would recommend the kid i was trying to adopt. He's honest, very genuine, truthful but he's dark skinned, he don't have the "brown" face you searching, He's above 10 and lives in SD area.

Are you legal residents? Maybe that's a good starting point

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We aren't at all picky on what the child looks like. My son is mixed race and he would love a brother or sister that looked like him, thats what he calls all shades of non white children; brown faces, for him thats anyone from cola to coffee, but I digress, that is not the important thing. The important thing is that the child need a good family, we can even handle some special needs ( we assume that any child that hasn't had much in the way of a family is going to have some special needs regardless of anything else.)

We are hoping to have our residency application in soon. We still have a year and a month before we can legally start looking into the process.

I am just wondering if you couldn't adopt the youngster, why would we be able to?

The other option of just being a long term "foster" family appeals to me as well. I have to wait until my son is older though, as he is living with his father while I am here in the wintertime, and he is not old enough to fly back and fourth from Canada to here if I was to be here long term.

I would be so afraid though that in that situation someone would just take the child back once we were attached and then I would forever worry, or that the family would be forever asking for this that and the other thing.

I have also heard that although some children are orphans, here they are rarely adoptable due to family still being available, which from what I am hearing on here is probably true.

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses. We are going to begin with our residency next year and hopefully with a lot of prayers and some luck we will end up on the right path. Once my son is done his schooling in Canada in a few years moving here full time is part of our goals, and if adoption proves too difficult we may just take one of the other available avenues, thank you again for giving me some insight into those other options. Having a child to love and to give a good life to is the number one goal.

I've been a long time lurker here on DR1, and I think you guys have a great community with loads of information. Wish us luck!