First parents / international adoption?

wynn

With my eldest son, we weren't given a lot of information but we were persistent with asking questions on our own. We managed to interview the person who talked to our sons' mom when she brought him in. We got the name of her village and were able to find her.

With my other two children from Ethiopia we received all kinds of information with their referral. Our agency set up a meeting for us with their father (their mother had passed away). Since we adopted older children they were able to confirm for us everything that we were told.

Definitely do your research. If having that information is important to you then make sure you choose an agency that feels the same. In some countries the amount and accuracy of information you get will vary widely depending on the agency you use. Some agencies have been caught routinely doing things like falsifying paperwork, changing or omitting names from paperwork.

Jennifer L

It really does vary by country. In someplace like China, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, due to the laws of the country.

For my family's experience, we were able to meet our children's first mother and spend time with her in-country. We are able to correspond through our adoption agency.

Kazi

It really depends on the country. We adopted our daughter from China, and due to laws prohibiting unregistered children while at the same time disallowing any notion of making an adoption plan, most of the children brought to orphanages have been abandoned, making knowledge of the first parents a sad impossibility.

I have heard of some counties, like Ehiopia and South Korea, that actually do have some contact with the first family, and can often meet while in the country.

Angela R

It varies a lot depending on the country. We adopted both of our children from Korea, and were given very basic information about our boy's first-parents. (height, weight, level of education, any medical conditions, etc)

The Korean agency did list the names of both first-parents on the paper work, but unfortunetly because of the laws in the state we live in, the names had to be blacked-out. When our children are 18 they can travel to Korea and access their files and hopefully get a lot more info including names.

Randy B

We received no information when we adopted other then my daughter was the "illegitimate child of an unwed mother". Now, since we lived overseas at the time we had the opportunity to review her file, at least for the time she was in care which for her was the first 8 months of her life. We know she was surrendered at an orphanage west of New Delhi within the first 48 hours of her life and she was brought to Delhi within the month. She was there the whole time except for a trip to Bombay (Mumbai) for a few weeks when sickness went through the orphanage. But when it comes to any more personal info or historical info on her, nope, in our case there was none.

Honeybee

it does vary from country to country. In China, for example it is illegal to have more than one child or to abandon it, so many parents leave no identifying info about themselves so as not to get in trouble.

In Taiwan, the adoptions run pretty much like they do here in Open Adoptions. The birthmoms get a stack of bios and choose parents for their baby.

In China it would be impossible to get any kind of info on the birthparents whereas it is easier in places like Vietnam.

A elderly man remarried. They had a baby and his young wife died. He's VERY poor and can barely provide and care for himself, let alone a baby. He put his newborn daughter up for adoption. The American family got to meet him and his family before leaving with the baby. They were under NOOOO obligation to do it, but since he had given their family something so priceless that they sent him some extra money.

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