How To Adopt From Overseas

Step 1: Why adopt from abroad

Families might choose to adopt from overseas as they feel that the UK has few babies that are placed for adoption so parents look abroad in the hope of adopting a baby or toddler. Also, people may have been moved by children affected by war or disaster in their home country and adopters want to offer them a secure home.
In some cases, families might want to adopt a relative who lives in another country.

It is the parents choice as to which country to adopt from.
It may be because they feel a certain affinity to the country of choice or they have a link due to family or friends.

Step 2: Cost

Adopting from abroad can be expensive. Unlike the UK, the adoption agency charges for the assessment phase of approval. Other costs include legal fees, flights to the country and translation fees.

Step 3: UK approval

Before you can adopt from abroad, you will need to be approved by an adoption agency in the UK. This is the same process as if you were adopting from home. Find out about the procedure in VideoJug's How to adopt in the UK. When applying in the UK for an intercountry adoption, it is in relation to only one country so you need to decide where you want to adopt from before the process begins.

Step 4: Overseas adoption

When you have been approved by a UK agency, all your papers will be sent to an agency in the country of your choice. It is then up to this agency to match you with a suitable child.
When the matching has been completed, you will receive information on the child and it is time to go to the country to meet them.
It is usually at this point that you can take the child home with you.