Look no further! Adoption Families Magazine recently launched their new online community! It is filled with all sorts of information concerning adoption. International, domestic, birthparents, the paperchase, finances, anything you can think of. I recently joined and have been quite impressed with the layout and easy way to navigate the site. Click here to see the homepage and learn more about the community.

I came across this article which predicts that South Korea will stop all international adoptions by the year 2012. It is currently the longest running international adoption program in the world having placed over 160,000 adoptees in 14 western countries. To read more about the possible shut down, click here.

Click here to see the 2008 results for Visa’s issued to children entering the United States.

For those of you who are interested in Foster Care, I highly recommend reading Another Place At The Table. Kathy Harrison gives an honest, real life experience perspective on what it is like to be a foster parent. She talks about the financial aspect, dealing with birth parents, DSS and numerous other situations. I have a lot of respect for her and her family. It was a book that I could not put down. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. If you have ever read it, please feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Adoption Alert

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues



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May 13, 2009


Adoptions of Abandoned Children Halted by Ethiopian Court:
The Ethiopian First Instance Court has temporarily stopped accepting cases involving abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa, citing concern over a recent increase in the number of abandoned children being brought for adoption. The number of abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa has grown dramatically in recent months and Ethiopian authorities have become aware of possible cases of unethical practices associated with some of them.

Currently neither MOWA nor the First Instance Court are accepting any abandonment case from any orphanages in Addis Ababa pending an inquiry. 

Please continue to monitor adoption.state.gov for updated information on Ethiopia.

I came across this posting on an adoption forum and wanted to pass it along. It comes from Oklahoma where some changes are taking place in their legal system to help protect adoptive parents, adopted children, biological parents, attorneys and judges from being taken advantage of. Please read below:

“HB 2174 requires public reporting of adoption expenses to allow judges and the public to see the actual costs attorneys charge in adoptions. It also requires that only one prospective adoptive family at a time be billed for a birth mother’s expenses and that all adoptions must be conducted in one of four locations – the home county of the birth mother; the home county of the adoptive parents; or in Oklahoma or Tulsa counties.

It takes effect Nov. 1.

The bill is designed to stop attorneys from shopping for judges who don’t ask too many questions about the fees attorneys charge for adoptions and to prevent attorneys from having families bid against each other to adopt a child, said Rep. Jason Nelson, the author of the measure.

“For too long, Oklahoma has been known as a state that does not protect adoptive parents, adoptive children or birth mothers,” Nelson, R-Oklahoma City, said when the bill cleared the Legislature and was sent to the governor.

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater has said it is difficult to file charges against attorneys who charge excessive fees. Adoptive parents and those who seek to adopt a child are embarrassed to file complaints or don’t want to hurt their chance of adopting another child, he said.

The Department of Human Services has a code that adoption agencies must follow, but there has been no oversight of attorneys involved in adoptions.

A May 2006 multicounty grand jury report found that some adoptive parents have been forced to pay for vehicles, car parts, traffic tickets, television sets and other items which were masked as adoption costs.

The haphazard regulation of adoption expenses has created an atmosphere in which some women and their attorneys effectively sold children, the report states.”

Lynne

http://www.americanadoptioncongress.org
Midwest Regional Director

As we all know, the adoption tax credit is set to expire in December 2010. Now is the time to act! Unless Congress votes to continue the tax credit, we will loose the tax credit altogether, except for those adopting a special needs child. The tax credit has made it possible for thousands of families to adopt and we want to continue this for as long as possible. There are still 16 states that do not support this bill! Hard to believe. Rainbow Kids recently posted an article that address what you can do to help support this bill. It also lists the states that currently do not support this bill. Click here to read the article. I encourage you to pass this on to all your friends and family so that they too can help keep the adoption tax credit alive!

With the downslide of the economy, adoption is suffering. The need for adoptive parents still remains. But it is no secret that adoption can be an expensive process. However, there still remains over 129,000 children in foster care who are in need of loving families. Adopting from the foster care system is a wonderful option and also very realistic financially.  The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption reports that more than 129,000 children in foster care are now available for adoption. Most foster care adoptions are completed for less than $2,500 – considerably less than most private adoptions. If a family qualifies, the entire adoption could be paid for with grants or state adoption subsidies. Perhaps this is an option you could consider if you are wanting to adopt a child. 

Read more: Domestic Adoption in Struggling Economy: Potential Parents Finding More Opportunities to Adopt -http://adoption.suite101.com/article.cfm/domestic_adoption_in_struggling_economy#ixzz0BubMPHMp

This information is taken from here.