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Who can adopt?
- Adoptive parents must be at least 25 years old (30 years
old for China)
- Married couples or singles must be financially stable, according
to individual country and foreign program requirements
- Married couples or singles must be in good mental and physical health
- Joint applicants must be legally married
- Previous marriages acceptable
- Single parents welcome (for all programs except
Ukraine)
- No maximum age limit on most
programs. However, foreign governments generally will consider placing a
child older than an infant with parents over the age of 50. China
limits the age of both parents at 55(but if one parent is under and one
parent is over, you will still qualify).
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What if I don’t live in Iowa?
- Gift of Love works with many
families
that live outside Iowa. We will help you select an agency, in your
state, to complete your home study and post placement visits in accordance
with your state of residence and the foreign government. Additionally, we
work in close contact with out-of-state families through telephone,
e-mail and fax and we are always available.
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What is a home study?
- An in-depth evaluation of prospective adoptive parents and
their emotional and financial readiness to parent a child. This
assessment is conducted by an adoption caseworker and includes several
face to face interviews, home visits and the gathering of extensive
documentation including local and state criminal checks and state Child
Abuse Registry checks. (See "Getting Started")
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How long does the home study process take?
- Typically a home study takes between 8 to 12 weeks to complete.
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Who does a home study?
- If you live within Iowa, an adoption caseworker or Certified Adoption
Investigator will complete your home study. All individuals are trained
in issues specific to international adoption.
- If you live in SD, WI or MN, our partner agencies will complete the
home study for you.
- If you live in any other state,
Gift of Love will
assist you in finding a licensed agency to complete your home study.
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Why Adopt through an Adoption Agency?
- Most countries require adoptive families to work with a licensed
adoption agency.
- Using a licensed agency will save you time, money and the emotional
stress of having all the responsibility of completing your paperwork.
- We are legally registered to process adoptions in the foreign countries.
- An adoption agency is state-licensed and experienced in adoption matters.
It consists of professionals who know the legal procedures involved
in the adoption process – both in America and internationally.
- We communicate directly with representatives in the foreign country
who are well trained in the culture and can work expeditiously on your
adoption.
- We are committed to do everything we possibly can to make your adoption
journey a positive experience.
- We oversee the
entire adoption process in the US and in the
foreign country.
- We coordinate everything from travel reservations to court and US Embassy/Consulate
appointments.
- We work with experienced and professional social workers, interpreters,
and travel associates.
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From Which Countries Do We Adopt?
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What will an adoption cost?
- Each country has it’s own fee schedule. Please contact us to request
a detailed spreadsheet of costs of each program.
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Why are these children orphaned or abandoned?
- In Kazakhstan,
Russia and Ukraine, children are placed in government-run orphanages,
mostly as the result of poverty. Many families are not
economically able to care for additional
children and welfare and support systems are not available for them. Many children are born
to single mothers, who are also not financially stable.
- In
China, most children in the
social welfare institutes or foster care are foundlings, having been abandoned shortly
after birth. The majority are placed in welfare
institutes for a variety of reasons. The large majority of these children
are single, female infants abandoned by their birth parents for a mix
of legal, economic and cultural reasons.
- In
Vietnam, children are placed
in welfare institutes when their families can no longer support them
or if they are born to single mothers who can not, legally and culturally,
raise them on their own.
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How long does it take to adopt a child?
- Just as every child is unique, so is every adoption experience. It
really depends on the country you select to adopt from and the age and
sex of the child you would like to adopt. We generally inform families
to expect to wait between 6 to 15 months depending on the country to
which you choose to make your adoption journey.
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Can I talk to someone about adoption?
- ABSOLUTELY! Just give us a call on our toll free or local number
or email us. You can trust
Gift of Love to give you the “straight
story” about how international adoption works. We will answer all your
questions and help you to understand the international adoption process.
You are searching for the truth or you wouldn’t have come this far!
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How do we get started?
- Simply request an
application packet for review. After completing
the
Application for Adoption
or
Application for Adoption - Oversight,
a Gift of Love
representative will assist you in completing the registration forms and selecting
a country. Return the registration packet along with your first
monthly payment, and we will begin working with you on YOUR adoption journey.
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