My husband and I are hoping to adopt at some point in the future and researching our options. Does anyone know of a US licensed Social Worker in Thailand, preferably near Chiang Mai, who can perform a homestudy? We're unsure yet if we wish to adopt from Thailand or another country, or if it would be best to spend one year in the US and complete an adoption there before returning to Thailand. If anyone has experience or insight I would greatly appreciate it!

Congratulations on your decision to consider adopting a child. There is no greater joy in life than seeing the smile of your child.

If you haven't yet contacted the US Embassy, you should do so before you do anything else. The staff there are extremely helpful. I'm not sure if they have a list of US licensed Social Workers in Chiang Mai though, but they will definitely give you information on who you can contact in Thailand, and you may be able to work from there.

A trip to Bangkok is a very small inconvenience when viewed in the context of what you are going to have to go through to process an international adoption. At the very least, you should drop the embassy an email and ask your question. They generally give canned responses that say "make an appointment and talk to us about this", but a human does actually read the question, so if your question is easy you may get some preliminary information without even making the trip.

As for adopting from Thailand, last I heard international adoptions of Thai children by Americans had been suspended because the waiting lists were too long. The Thai agencies were only processing requests if you had a relationship to the child through marriage. There were some exceptions if you were willing to accept older children or children with serious medical problems. This may have changed though, so I would definitely ask before assuming anything.

Congratulations on your decision to consider adopting a child. There is no greater joy in life than seeing the smile of your child.

If you haven't yet contacted the US Embassy, you should do so before you do anything else. The staff there are extremely helpful. I'm not sure if they have a list of US licensed Social Workers in Chiang Mai though, but they will definitely give you information on who you can contact in Thailand, and you may be able to work from there.

A trip to Bangkok is a very small inconvenience when viewed in the context of what you are going to have to go through to process an international adoption. At the very least, you should drop the embassy an email and ask your question. They generally give canned responses that say "make an appointment and talk to us about this", but a human does actually read the question, so if your question is easy you may get some preliminary information without even making the trip.

As for adopting from Thailand, last I heard international adoptions of Thai children by Americans had been suspended because the waiting lists were too long. The Thai agencies were only processing requests if you had a relationship to the child through marriage. There were some exceptions if you were willing to accept older children or children with serious medical problems. This may have changed though, so I would definitely ask before assuming anything.

Thank you very much for the information. I hadn't thought of contacting the US embassy, but that is an excellent idea. We're definitely open to older children and medical special needs as I have six adopted siblings, several of whom were older when they were adopted, and many of whom had special needs. Thanks again for your help!