How the Pain of Infertility Can Lead to the Beauty of Adoption
After struggling with having their child, Kristin and her husband, Steven, felt that the Lord was calling them toward adoption. Today, they are the proud parents to a sweet little boy named Aaro, whom they adopted from India. Kristin shares advice that is Biblically grounded for couples who are hoping to expand their families but seeing no results. “Be in unity and seek HIM in your pain,” she says, encouraging couples to embrace the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit in their life. She reminds us that Jesus will have the answers and directions for the hardships that you are currently walking through.
More about adoption from India:
Adopting a child from India involves a well-defined process and certain eligibility criteria for prospective parents. At least one parent must be a U.S. citizen to adopt from India, and the program is open to heterosexual couples married for at least two years as well as single individuals, though single men are only eligible to adopt boys. Same-sex couples are not eligible for this program. Parents must be physically, mentally, and emotionally stable, without life-threatening conditions, and must be at least 25 years older than the child but no older than 55. The parents’ combined age also plays a role in determining the age of the child they are eligible to adopt, with specific age parameters set for different child age groups.
Children eligible for adoption are determined by the Hague Convention and India’s Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) criteria. The waiting children in the program range from six months to 15 years of age, including some sibling groups. Adopting more than one unrelated child at a time is not permitted, and adopting a healthy child younger than six is typically reserved for domestic adoption or families with Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card or Non-Resident Indian (NRI) status. Most children come into orphanage care due to reasons like poverty, disease, or family loss, and are of Southeast Asian Indian descent.
The adoption process involves getting I800 approval through USCIS and compiling a dossier, which the placing agency will guide prospective parents through. This dossier is then submitted to CARA for registration in the India adoption program, followed by a matching process through an online portal. The waiting period for a referral can vary from 3 to 12 months, depending on eligibility and openness to gender and medical needs. After accepting a referral, the international adoption immigration process is completed, and families typically travel to the orphanage 7-11 months later to meet the child and complete the necessary formalities.
As of March 2023, a total of 1,760 children were legally available for adoption in India. This includes 52 healthy children below 2 years of age, 331 healthy children above 2 years of age, 110 children in sibling sets, and 1,267 children categorized as those with special needs. A subset of these children are available under the Immediate Placement category, allowing for a quicker adoption process without the wait for a referral.
As of 2023, the average cost of adopting a child from India typically ranges between $25,000 to $40,000, plus additional travel expenses. This cost estimation includes fees for the adoption service provider, documentation, notarizations required for a dossier, and possibly education fees. However, it's important to check with the preferred adoption service provider for a detailed breakdown of their specific fee schedule, as costs can vary depending on various factors and services included.
