Adopting from Where?

As many our friends have found out about our plans to adopt from Bulgaria, we have got many comments like: "I am not sure where Bulgaria is at..."  To be honest, before we looked into adoption, I didn't know much about Bulgaria either. I still have a lot to learn.

I thought I would do a post on Bulgaria just for fun!

Bulgaria is located here:

 

Country Facts:

•  The official language is Bulgarian and the Cyrillic alphabet is used. 
• Ethnicity: Bulgarian - 85%, Turkish - 9%, Roma - 5%, forty other ethnic groups make up the remaining 1%
• Population: over 7 Million
• Number of children living in orphanages: around 8,000
• Number of children adopted from Bulgaria to USA in 2011: 75

The Children:

Aren't they beautiful!  I love the dark hair and eyes, and the olive skin!

In Bulgaria, children may be in orphanages for several reasons.  They may be true orphans - one or both parents may have died. Sometimes a single mother, being unable to parent her child/children due to poverty, the mother's young age, or other reasons, will abandon her child and leave him/her at an orphanage.  Children may be available for adoption after having been removed from the home due to neglect or abuse.

Every child’s story is unique.  Every child has a story of loss.  Every child is in need of permanent loving parents and a home.

Children available for international adoption are between ages 1-15 (with most at least 3 years of age).  Special needs and healthy children are available. About half of the children in orphanages come from the Roma ethnicity (although Roma are only 5% of the total population). Bulgaria first tries to place children with Bulgarian families before they are available for international adoption.  Because of prejudice against the Roma, most Bulgarians due not want to adopt Roma children.  Therefore, most likely, we will be adopting Bulgarian children of Roma ethnicity.


More Info:

To find out more about why we chose to adopt from Bulgaria, click the "Why" tab and scroll to the bottom half of the page.