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Culture Combo
Adopting a Baby of Different Nationality
By Carma Haley Shoemaker
As with any process of this magnitude, intercountry adoption has its drawbacks and obstacles. The major obstacles that couples must consider are the incomplete health, medical and family history their child may have; the delays due to political policies and affairs; and the status adopting a child from another culture or race will place on their family.
"Families considering intercountry adoption must understand that the background and health information they will receive about their child will likely be incomplete and may be unreliable," Freivalds says. "In addition, frequently-changing political situations increase the uncertainties of intercountry adoption, and countries may open or close without notice. Adopting a child from another country almost always means that the adoptive family will become a transracial or cross-cultural family, which presents special responsibilities. While these are not detrimental to the adoption procedure, they can be a major hindrance or delay. Couples must be ready for that."
"The process involved a lot of red tape, but it was really pretty straightforward and painless," St. Martin says. "We knew what was involved, and it didn't faze us. My advice for prospective adoptive parets is just to learn what you need to do and do it. Part of our homestudy agency's preparation with us was to give us lots of materials, etc., to read. We had already read a lot about China and about adoption. I think every adoptive parent should do the same – fully prepare yourself. Your child deserves that!"