Independent vs. Agency

There are two major types of legal foreign adoptions:

• agency-initiated adoptions,and
• parent-initiated adoptions (also known as direct or independent adoptions).

In an agency-initiated foreign adoption, prospective parents work with a U.S.­ based international adoption agency, which handles paperwork and communications and obtains the potential match of a child through a child-placing agreement or contract with a foreign source.

Once the adoptive parents have accepted the formal referral, suggestion of a child or an invitation to travel, the U.S. agency coordinates their adoption travel. The agency and its bilingual representatives take responsibility for assisting you with the child, your lodging, and obtaining the final adoption decree and the child’s passport and exit visas. They will also provide the documents required for the orphan visa by the American Consulate.

Parents do not have to travel to some countries. For example, Korea and India arrange proxy adoptions and allow for escorts to bring the child to you. The U.S. adoption agency is the guardian of the child until you adopt about six months later. Guatemala also permits adoption by proxy; when the final decree is issued, the child can be brought to you. The most obvious problem with this type of escort arrangement, however, is that the child becomes part of your family sight unseen.

In a parent-initiated, international adoption (also known as an independent or direct adoption), prospective parents obtain a home study from a licensed adoption agency or social worker. After this point, they are on their own as far as filing with the USCIS and preparing a dossier of documents for the court abroad. The adoptive parents are solely responsible for selecting and securing a foreign lawyer or agency that will, in turn, refer a child to them. They will also need to know and understand the adoption procedures in that country and how to coordinate the adoption with the U.S. immi­gration requirements.

The foreign agency, government staff or lawyer, arranges for the adoption hearing in court and tells the adoptive parents when to take their adoption trip. After that, the parents are again on their own. They must take full responsibility for the child as well as for obtaining the proper documentation for the child’s adoption, passport, and orphan visa.

While independent international adoptions are certainly possible, the risks are much higher than in agency adoptions, which are regulated by the state. In addition, many foreign countries do not allow independent adoptions. According to the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, the risks of an independent adoption include involvement in the black market; loss of confidentiality; infringements upon the child’s privacy; inadequate medical information; the possibility of outright fraud; and the lack of proper documentation of the child’s status as an orphan.

The safest way to adopt a foreign child is to involve a licensed adoption agency or social worker (if individually licensed) in your state of residence and adopt the child through an international adoption agency or public welfare department abroad.