Poland

ELIGIBILITY TO ADOPT: Under Polish law, there are no formal, legal restrictions on the age of prospective adoptive parents.  In practice, however, prospective adoptive parents may be up to 40 years older than the child.   Single prospective parents and non-Catholics are also permitted to adopt a child in Poland . 

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS: There are no Polish residency requirements for prospective adoptive parents.

TIME FRAME: Polish adoption procedures are complicated, time consuming, and often require professional legal guidance.  A competent lawyer may handle many of the legal formalities in Poland and help the prospective adoptive parents communicate with the proper Polish authorities before they travel to Poland for the adoption hearing.  The entire process may take a year or more.  Two trips to Poland may sometimes be necessary before all requirements are completed.

There is a 21-day appeal period between the time of the final adoption hearing and the time the court’s decision goes into legal force.  At the judge’s discretion, this appeal period may be shortened to 14 days.   In general, prospective adoptive parents can expect to stay in Poland for at least four to six weeks before they can obtain all proper documentation and a new passport for the child. 

(Note: The U.S. Embassy in Warsaw has a list of attorneys know to work in this area of law in Poland , but the Embassy may not recommend or vouch for any particular attorney.)

(All information taken from U.S. Department of State website)

http://www.travel.state.gov/family/adoption/country/country_438.html