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International Adoption: US (Please note: due to the Hague Convention, this option is no longer available to Canadians). When most people think of international adoption they immediately think of faraway places like China, Russia and Romania. They don't think of the US. Perhaps that's because geographically and culturally we're so similar to one another. In fact, it's for these reasons -- our geographical and cultural proximitiies -- that so many Canadians take their adoption search south of the border. The other advantage to going through the US is that
the pool of children is larger. Unlike in overseas adoptions, where most
of the children are already a few months old, in the US there are also
plenty of healthy newborns. You can search for them through an agency,
or you can conduct your own search through the Internet or newspaper classifieds. The Process As for the steps involved, count on, at the very minimum,
going through the following: 
There are three main ways to find a child in the US:
Conducting Your Own Search Classified ads are another effective search tool,
provided you target your audience carefully. Campus and community newspapers
are probably your best bet. The ad can be very simple: "Loving Canadian
couple Interested in adopting a child" plus your first name, and
a number to call. But check first with your licensee or the state's adoption
experts. In some states, advertising of this kind is prohibited. Agencies Facilitators Before you sign up with any adoption professional
in the US, make sure that you know what you're getting into. The approach
to adoption south of the border is very different from what it is in Canada.
At the very least, make sure that the agency or individual you're dealing
with is licensed. The differences between one adoption professional and
the next are striking. Timeline
The Costs If, for example, your birth mother doesn't have a
car and decides she no longer wants to take public transportation to visit
her doctor, she could ask you to rent her a car for the duration of her
pregnancy. Needless to say, expenses like this have a way of adding up
in no time. That's the least of it. Most of the woman you'll be dealing
with come from lower income families and consequently lack adequate health
insurance.
Often it's not their fault so much as the fault of their so-called "adoption professionals" . Instead of taking the time to educate a prospective birth mother about the repercussions of her life-altering decision, they'll take short cuts, leaving the pregnant woman ambivalent, confused and ultimately unprepared to make an informed decision. Where the prospective birth mother lives will also have an effect on the overall costs. The further away she lives, the higher the travelling costs and the more you'll need for lodging. And finally, there's the legal and administrative
costs. They'll vary according to the professionals you choose and the
amount of time it takes to process your file. At the very least, you'll
need to find a adoption practitioner and lawyer in the state where the
birth mother lives. As in Canada, you'll be expected to cover the counselling
costs of both prospective birth parents, whether they go through with
the adoption or not. Searching for a child in the US has one big advantage over searching for one in Canada: in the US there's more people and, by extension, a larger pool of potential birth mothers and children. Some agencies will go so far as to promise you a healthy newborn in less than a year and, if you're open to a biracial child, maybe even sooner. Whether they deliver on their promise is another matter. The other advantages are that you have the choice
of conducting your search yourself and, if the adoption is open, you'll
know the medical and social history of your child's parents. You'll also
know about your child's heritage and origins, so that when s/he grows
up and starts asking questions you'll have the answers. For waiting parents
who are concerned about their baby's health, age and race, US adoption
offers certain assurances that overseas adoptions can't. Disadvantages
Ten Common
Mistakes Adoptive Parents Make When Adopting from the US
Adoptive Parents | Birth Parents | Adopting in Canada | Waiting Parents Registry | Our Services | Discuss Adoption Contact Us: info@canadaadopts.com |
As
the recent "Internet Babies" story illustrated, the laws in
the US vary greatly from one state to the next. Some states are tightly
regulated, whereas in others there are hardly any controls at all. So
if you think that New York moments happen only in New York, think again.
One minute you may be on top of the world, and the next one you won't
know what hit you. Unfortunately, too often in the US a child's welfare
takes a back seat to an agency's business considerations. 
