Adopting A Child From Thailand

[canuckamuck]

A friend of mine would like some information about adopting a child from Thailand. They do not live in Thailand but they would like to know if it is possible. Is there any good sources of information online? Or, does anyone here have any experience with this?

If this is the wrong forum, feel free to move it for me.

[simcity]

Read before it is no possible, thai people will not let a thai child going out the country.

perhaps i am wrong !

[surangw]

a lot of work, money and aggravation, but possible

( our daughter has been here in USA 14+ years now)

lots of choices here

http://www.neiu.edu/~rghiggin/Thaiadopt/agencies.html

but usa part is a pain and dealing with bcis is a real joke

[ohiodad]

a lot of work, money and aggravation, but possible

( our daughter has been here in USA 14+ years now)

lots of choices here

http://www.neiu.edu/~rghiggin/Thaiadopt/agencies.html

but usa part is a pain and dealing with bcis is a real joke

The link from sirangw is an excellent place to start. I don't know if your friend is in the US, but we adopted a 10 year old girl from Thailand in 2008 through Holt International, http://www.holtinternational.org/thailand/. I personally know two other families who went through the same agency and came home from Thailand with a child. (We also went through this agency twice before to adopt children from China. They are a really classy organization.)

The paperwork chase is intrusive and dealing with social workers is truly annoying. It may be the case that the process is intended to weed out those families who are not properly motivated to go through with it.

As I mentioned, we have done this three times. Each one had its own bureacratic hassles, but we kept our patience and our eyes on the prize. We have become immersed in Chinese and Thai cultures and have become better people for it.

I am happy to describe our experiences in more detail. I wish your friend the best of luck.

[spongeman]

What country is your friend from.

I know a few people over here who have adopted children.

[7by7]

Moved to Family and children

[Mario2008]

Adoption is possible, but has to comply with both Thai and the law of your own country. The best point to start is an adoption agency in your own country, as you will require a lot of paperwork from them.

Some more information about adopting in Thailand can be found here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/redirect.php...2Fadoption.html

[canuckamuck]

Thanks you for the replies, I will investigate all of the links.

Spongeman, my friends are Canadians, as am I.

[spongeman]

Thanks you for the replies, I will investigate all of the links.

Spongeman, my friends are Canadians, as am I.

As others have said you would need to satisfy the criteria set down by your own competent authorities.

Ireland is very strict in this regard, but there are adoption groups where you can get advice from people who have done it. There should be some in Canada as well.

[elektrified]

It is possible. I have met several foreigners; Germans, Canadians, etc. that have adopted children from an orphanage right next to where I live in Chiang Mai. They do however, have to go through a process; interviews by a psychologist and the police in Bangkok, among other steps.

[Goinghomesoon]

Hey Canuckamuck. You say your friends do not live in Thailand? Unfortunately the Thai Dept of Social Welfare DSDW has announced that they will not be accepting any new adoption applications in 2010 for families living outside Thailand. Americans seem to be the only ones not yet affected (or not yet notified of the shutdown) as they have a slightly different system in place with the Thais than other nationalities.

Expats that applied to DSDW in Bangkok in the latter half of 2009 were being told it would be at least 18 months until they would be matched with a child. Now they are being told it will be at least 2 - 2.5 years.

Apparently DSDW have hundreds of applications at their offices waiting to be processed. Rumour is that they started seeing a large influx of applications over the past couple of years as adoption from other countries (such as China) has become more restrictive and the waiting-times for those countries has increased dramatically. Also adoption from Thailand is free and for those of us applying locally thru DSDW we pay nothing, except any donation you might wish to make in cash or goods to the orphanage when you eventually receive a child. For those applying from overseas there are costs - sometimes substantial - for the various assessments and paperwork that needs to be prepared back home before the file can be sent to Thailand.

It isn't yet clear whether DSDW will also stop accepting applications from expat families living in Thailand - I'm about to find out next week as I have to go into their office on business and will make it a point to ask.

Worth noting here that I am specifically talking about orphanage/foster-care adoptions. This is an adoption where the Thai Government allocates you a child that you do not already know. Noone has mentioned any effect on the adoption of relatives or step-children which I guess will continue as normal.

[canuckamuck]

goinghomesoon, thank you for that.

I wonder what the options are for children that are known to the couple and in the hands of a guardian but not a relative or stepchild?

[surayu]

[Mario2008]

goinghomesoon, thank you for that.

I wonder what the options are for children that are known to the couple and in the hands of a guardian but not a relative or stepchild?

They should try it anyway. They found out it would be hard, but that doesn't mean impossible. It just means they should have a very good story to tell as to why they want to adopt. As said, more information could be found from an internet forum for adoption parents in Canada.

[canuckamuck]

Thanks Mario

[europeanmom]

Hi!

If the family lives abroad they have to use local agencies (like Save the children or social welfare organisations) when adopting children from Thailand.At first the home study have to be made by social workers, it usually takes at least for a year (depens of country) and after that is done they can submit adoption application to Thailand. These days the process takes years and at this year Thailand don't take anymore applications, at least if the family wish for a healthy child.

As an expat family they can adopt in Thailand without foreign agencies but they still have to do the paperwork for an international adoption, and I can tell, it is much more difficult to do without a support from an agency!

We are in a private adoption process, it means we want to adopt a baby we know (not from orphanage). I don't recommend it to anyone unless they are very sure they can handle a lots of pressure and uncertain times. In our case we have an experience of an international adoption before. It helps a little when You know how things should go (but they don't always go as You think they should).