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Parental Age
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Minimum-25
Maximum- One
parent must be at least 15 years older than the
child. There is not a firm upper age limit, but
generally, parents that are 50 and older must be open to an older
child. If there is one parent that is younger than 50 and one in
their 50’s it may be possible for them to adopt a younger
child. Greater flexibility for parents adopting an older child or
child with a special needs. (See Children Available for what is
considered a special need.)
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Length of Marriage
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No country
requirement, although agencies may have a requirement.
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Divorce
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No country
requirement, although agencies may have a requirement.
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Children in Family
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Allowed,
although large families (more than 4 children in the home) are
discouraged unless considering a child with special needs or an
older child.
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Single Applicant
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Single women and
men allowed.
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Sexual Orientation
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Bulgaria does
not knowingly place with homosexuals.
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Children Available
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- Bulgarian law
has recently changed to require children to be on the national
database for 6 months, rather than 12 months, prior to being
eligible for international adoption. This has
not yet resulted in the referral of children less than 1
year. Right now, the youngest healthy
children being referred are about 18 months, although younger
children with special needs might be referred if a special needs
referral is requested by the family.
- Children with
special needs usually include boys, children age 7+, sibling
groups, and children with identified major medical needs.
I have been told that what other countries
consider to be a major medical need, such as cleft palate, is not
considered to be major enough to be a special need in
Bulgaria. If you are interested ask your agency
about the Bulgarian Special Needs Registry.
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Race/Ethnicity
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Most children are of Roma (Gypsy) ethnicity or Turkish decent, with
dark skin tones. Prospective parents are not
allowed to request ethnicity or skin tone, and must be open to all
children of any ethnicity.
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Gender
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Boys and girls;
gender can be specified. Many more boys are in need of
homes.
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Adopting more than one unrelated
child at same time
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Allowed;
although, there will be minimal, if any, discount of adoption fees
since they are treated as two separate adoptions. There may be
savings on travel costs. If the two children are
siblings, the adoption fee is reduced for the second child. Agency
may have restrictions against placing more than one unrelated child
at the same time.
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Travel in Country
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Two
trips.
- First trip:
about 5-8 days; parents visit the child in the orphanage for
several days and then complete documents accepting the referral
which will then be presented to the MOJ by their
attorney. Both parents are strongly encouraged
to go on this trip, but it is possible to adopt if only one parent
is able to go to Bulgaria and meet the child. If
only one parent travels, the referral can’t be accepted while
in Bulgaria. After returning home, both parents
must prepare and sign specified document and send them back to the
country. As with all countries, if only one
parent meets the child before the adoption is finalized, the child
will arrive in the US on a IR 4 visa, and must be re-adopted in the
US and apply for US citizenship. (For a more
detailed explanation, see page 134 of The Complete Book of
International Adoption, available at most libraries.)Second
trip: About 3 months after the first trip; only one parent needs to
travel; about 5-7 days; escort may be requested with some agencies
if absolutely necessary, but is not encouraged by
Bulgaria.
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Referral Method
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Standard. The dossier is sent
to the country to be translated: and then is submitted to the
Ministry of Justice to be reviewed. The family
is then registered (typically within 30 days) and are
“waiting for a referral”. The International Adoption
Committee in Bulgaria reviews the applications of prospective
adoptive families in the order they have been filed, and looks at
the list of children available for adoption trying to make the best
match according to each child’s needs.
Under this system, first in line does not necessarily mean first to
get a referral.
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Wait for referral (after dossier
received)
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International
adoptions are just beginning to pick up from Bulgaria, so waiting
times are guesstimates at this time.
- Healthy young
child: 18 months is the official estimate from the Ministry of
Justice, but some agencies are reporting greater and lesser times.
I have heard anywhere from 12-18
months. There is a greater need for families for
boys, so the wait may be shorter for boys. It is
expected and hoped that this time will decrease as more young
children are referred, but this has not happened yet.
- Children with
special needs (+7 child, sibling groups, major medical needs): 6+
months Referrals will be expedited for families requesting a child
on the Special Needs Registry.
- I have been
told that children approaching the age of 7 may be referred faster
since the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice tries very hard to find a
permanent home for a child before they must be moved to the older
child orphanage at age 7.
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Wait after referral
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- Parent must
travel on first trip within two months of receiving the referral,
or the referral is revoked.
- A 2-4 month
wait is usual between the first and second (pick up)
trip.
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Approximate Cost
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$20,000- $28,000 + travel
($30,00 total cost fits what I’m hearing from
parents.)
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Adequacy of medical
reports
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All information
is shared with parents, but limited information is known,
especially pre-placement in the orphanage. Orphanages usually
provide The orphanages seem to take care to document all illnesses
and treatments of the child since he/she has been in the orphanage.
They also try to include information about the child’s daily
routine, likes, dislikes, etc.
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Youngest Age Upon Arrival
Home
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18 months
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Orphanage/Foster Care
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Orphanage; some
foster care
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How children enter government
care
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Unwed
motherhood, poverty, cultural acceptance of
abandonment. Most of the children available for
international adoption from Bulgaria were relinquished or abandoned
at birth and have not been removed from the home due to abuse and
neglect.
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Prevalence of FAS
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Not enough
children have been adopted from Bulgaria recently for IA doctors to
give a realistic assessment. For more
information on the prevalence of FAS by country, listen to the Oct.
1, 2008 Creating a Family show where I interviewed Dr. Julian Davies, pediatrician
with the Center for Adoption Medicine at the
University of Washington and with the University of Washington
FAS
Clinic, the longest standing FAS center in the US. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/creatingafamily/2008/10/01/Fetal-Alcohol-Syndrome-in-
Adoption
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Number of children placed in the US
from 2002-2008
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The last year Bulgaria made the list of top 20 placing countries to
the US was 2004. The number of Bulgarian children placed in the US
between 2002 and 2004 was 568. The number of
children placed between 2005 and 2007 was 77, and only 5 children
were adopted from Bulgaria in 2008.
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Program
Stability
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Highly
variable. This is a tough one to
call. Bulgaria has placed very few children for
international adoption since 2004 due to political pressures and to
implementing the requirements of the Hague Treaty on Intercountry
Adoptions. Implementing of the new law is moving
smoothly, but we have not seen a increase in children coming
home. The current Minister of Justice (the
agency in charge of international adoptions) has been active in
trying to improve conditions for Bulgarian orphans, including
improving the procedures for domestic and international adoption.
National elections in Bulgaria will be held in the summer of 2009.
and it is unknown if the current Minister of Justice will be
re-elected (due apparently because of the political party she is
affiliated with). No one knows what impact this
may have on the future of international adoptions. The current
Minister is trying to pass legislation on adoption policies before
her term expires that cannot be reversed. It is hopeful that the
current Assistant Minister will remain in her position, since she
has been equally involved with adoption reform and improvement in
Bulgaria.
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Growing/Declining
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Growing
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Post Adoption Reports
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4 reports; one report every 6 months for two years, prepared by
home study provider.
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Hague Treaty
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Yes
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Additional Information
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- Check the
US Embassy in
Sofia website for the most current official
information.
- Adoption
agencies must be licensed by the Bulgarian government to place
children for international adoption. Most
American agencies that have a Bulgarian adoption program operate in
partnership with a licensed Bulgarian adoption
agency. The US Embassy in Sofia maintains
a list of
licensed agencies, but this list is not up to
date. Make sure that your US agency is working
with a licensed Bulgarian agency or has their own Bulgarian
international adoption license.
- Adoption
agencies must be Hague accredited in the US.
- Access to
orphanages in Bulgaria are not open to continual
visitation. Before you accept your referral, you
will be allowed into the orphanage to visit with that child, but
after this visitation, parents will not be allowed to
visit.
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Useful Links
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- FaCAB- Families
with Children Adopted from Bulgaria is a resource and support
network for parents who have adopted or in the process of adopting
from Bulgaria.
- There are
several yahoo groups for people interested in adopting from
Bulgaria. Unfortunately some are not very active. Try these:
- FRUA has a Bulgaria forum.
I usually find great information and a very supportive environment,
but it isn’t very active.
- The topic of
the Aug. 27, 2008
Creating a Family internet radio show was on adopting
from Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and included a discussion on
adopting from Bulgaria.
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