Hello! I have a little boy and I am expecting another soon. We both desperately want a girl, so we were thinking of refugee adoption? We have been talking about this for a while and we have done some research. Whether it be African, Syrian, or Latin American refugees, race doesn´t bother us. I just want you to know that getting a girl is NOT the only reason for this adoption. We are very involved in the community, and have found it in our hearts to help heal and nurture another little one who has suffered. So far, we have been researching adoption as a whole, and not specifically refugee adoption.
Any advice from people who have experience with refugees, adoption, or even foster care?
I need all of the knowledge/help I can get! Thank you!
[name_m]Don[/name_m]'t have any firsthand advice, but a dear friend of mine is also looking into international adoption (specifically from Middle Eastern countries), and be forewarned that there is a lot of red tape, long waiting periods, and you may not always get the age/country/gender you want in the end.
Best of luck.
I have a deep wish of adopting a refugee child myself but have learned with research that it’s extremely difficult right now, especially Syrian children as the country is still in war. You see, with the war families get separated and displaced and some are lucky enough to find refugee in foreign countries so adopting a child coming from these circumstances can be VERY tricky since authorities can’t be 100% sure that a child is without a family looking for him/her. Also, from my understanding, in Syria there’s a law where adoption preference is given to families of Islamic faith, so even though I’m ethnically Lebanese (Arabic) I wouldn’t be “allowed” because I’m not Islamic… And again, with that horrible war raging on and destroying the entire country I’m not sure if the country’s department/agency specialized in families and adoptions are working per sé.
I would try and look into adoption in countries like [name_u]Jordan[/name_u] for instance with a high number of refugee camps and where they have a more organized situation, perhaps you’ll find luck there. My SO and I have decided to wait a couple of years to see if we really want to go forward with refugee adoption, I wouldn’t want to risk adopting and getting attached to a child only for him or her to have relatives searching and wanting them… I don’t know that I’d be able to sleep at night.
Good luck to you!