November is National Adoption Month. You may be wondering, "If we adopt, how long will it take?" The adoption time table varies greatly between domestic newborn, domestic foster care and international adoption. Times also depend much upon the characteristics you are seeking in a child. For international adoption, waiting children, older children, special needs children and boys are much faster to adopt than young, healthy girls.
Adoptive Families Magazine surveyed over 1,500 families who adopted in 2010-2011 to find out how long there adoptions took.
| U.S. Newborn Adoption Average time from preparation of portfolio to match with birthmother (includes time spent in false starts):
Time between birth and legal finalization:
"We were open to any gender and any race so we were able to be matched quickly." "The adoption was contested by the birthfather, so that made the process take longer. There were also delays from the birthmother's being hospitalized for an illness." "Our domestic adoption progressed VERY quickly. We submitted our dossier to our attorney on December 17, were matched to a birth mom on December 20, our son was born on December 27, and we brought him 'home' to our hotel on December 29. It was a 12-day process from paperwork submission to holding our new son." "We waited almost two years. The agency had an in-depth educational process which broadened our understanding of adoption and open adoption. They had many services available to us while we waited. I can't imagine not having that support and education." "Our baby was placed with us at four days old, but he was premature, so he was in the NICU for almost five weeks before he could come home." "We experienced four failed attempts, including one in which the baby was with us for seven days. We took several months 'off' after each false start, and then it took several months each time to find the new match." "Our child was relinquished by his birth mother at six months of age, then placed in foster care for three months while legal paperwork was completed. So, our timeline is a bit unique." |
| U.S. Foster AdoptionAdoptions in FY 2009: 55,684 Average time from foster certification to placement of child ultimately adopted:
Time from placement to finalization:
"We had our foster daughter for the six months they require you to have them in your home before you are allowed to adopt. As soon as we were allowed and approved by DCFS to apply for an adoption date, we did." "Working with government agencies take a very long time. They forgot our completed homestudy and adoption contact on someone's desk and it expired. Then it had to be completed again. Frustrating, to say the least!" "My son was in the system as legally free for adoption - so things moved quickly." "you have to go through the legal process of terminating parental rights. In our case, we had to also serve notice to unknown fathers in the newspaper. Once all that is completed, adoption usually goes pretty fast." "We had to try to reunify the child with his parents. This is the goal of foster parenting. If you go into it with the thought of adoption you will be disappointed. You have to go through all the steps with the social worker and the parents knowing that, if they are not successful, parental rights can be terminated. You also have to have the right judge who drives his/her own schedule, the social worker, and the parents. Our judge held everyone accountable, called them to court when he wanted the paperwork done, and just did not let the clock tick." |
| China AdoptionAdoptions to the U.S. in 2011: 2,587 including traditional and waiting child programs TRADITIONAL PROGRAM Average time from completion of dossier to referral:
Time from referral until child came home:
WAITING CHILD PROGRAM Average time from completion of dossier to referral:
Time from referral until child came home:
"China slowed down a lot after our dossier was logged in." "Once we switched to the special needs program it was much faster than we expected. Our agency told us seven to eight months to referral. We waited less than two months from our switch to referral." "We identified our child from a waiting child list before our homestudy was complete. There were complications getting the homestudy completed within our state, so that lengthened our wait from referral to bringing our son home." "We spent longer than two weeks in country because we wanted to visit the foster home that our son had spent two years of his life in." |
| Ethiopia AdoptionAdoptions to the U.S. in 2011: 1,732 Average time from completion of dossier to referral:
Time from referral until child came home:
"Our process got 'stuck' in the requirement changes that were taking place in Ethiopia in 2010 and 2011." "We chose to stay between court and embassy in country. It was supposed to be six to eight weeks, but it ended up being five months." "We adopted an older 'waiting child,' so we did not have to wait for a referral." "Our agency forged a relationship with a new orphanage while we were in process. Because our agency had access to a new population of children who were waiting for parents, our wait was much shorter than expected. The wait has increased dramatically since." "Our adoption went relatively quickly because we adopted when Ethiopia required only one trip and before the wait time for approval letters began to increase." "We were caught in the rainy season!" |
| Russia AdoptionAdoptions to the U.S. in 2011: 962 Average time from completion of dossier to referral:
Time from referral until child came home:
"I adopted from a Russian region known for its unsympathetic judge. Delays were due to international scandal, local elections (which seemed frequent), hypercritical dossier requirements, and the judge's frequent absences due to vacation and holidays." "Great agency with long track record = fast, healthy referral and quick process." "Our dossier was submitted to Russia in June of 2009. In April of 2010, the Tory Hansen 'scandal' broke (a woman who adopted a boy from Russia sent him back on a plane by himself), and this, of course, damaged U.S./Russian relations and showed down our process. This was an extremely stressful time, but, thankfully, while adoptions slowed in the Vladivostok region, they did not cease." "We requested a boy age zero to three. Our agency said that they love people who want boys and that we would wait about four to six weeks. We received our referral before our dossier was even complete! Our court date came just after they had changed the law to increase the waiting period from 10 to 30 days. Other than that, everything was pretty quick." |
| South Korea AdoptionAdoptions to the U.S. in 2011: 736 Average time from completion of dossier to referral:
Time from referral until child came home:
"South Korea is decreasing the number of emigration permits (EPs) that are approved each year -- we got caught up in that wait." "We worked with very experienced agencies both here in the U.S. and in South Korea. They processed everything as efficiently as possible." "We were waiting for the referral of a female, so it took longer than average. Also, the quota lengthened our wait, and has now extended the wait even longer than ours was." |
| Ukraine AdoptionAdoptions to the U.S. in 2011: 640 Average time from completion of dossier to referral:
Time from referral until child came home:
"You receive your referral in country. Then you need to request your court date. After court, there is a 10-day waiting period before the adoption is final." "Our adoption was fairly quick for Ukraine. We knew it would be about six weeks from beginning to end. We are very pleased with the process and the outcome of our adoption." "We had a failed adoption attempt and were matched with another child. I stayed in country for eight weeks. My husband went home, returned for court, and then went home again. If we hadn't faced this wrinkle I would have been there for about five weeks and my husband would have gone home after three." |
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