International Adoption Guides, Inc.

Ethiopia

Infants as young as three months at the time of referral and children up to 14 years old are available for adoption. Due to the process time, the youngest child will be approximately 6-9 months old at the time they come home.
Average process time is 6 months start to finish for a family willing to accept a waiting child. Due to a limited number of infants, the exact time it will take us to match you with a child under one year is unknown. The current “norm” is 6 months for a girl and 3 months for a boy from the time your dossier is submitted to our agency. We base these time lines on current trends, which of course can change rapidly.
Referral pictures and medicals are available for your review.
Children in this program live in an IAG care center, which are residential facilities staffed by IAG and include a full time nurse.
Our in country staff have been processing adoptions since 2006 and since have completed over 55 adoptions. We have a perfect track record, are fully licensed by Ethiopia’s government, and are highly respected by the Ministry of Woman’s Affairs and the US Embassy as well.

Adoptive Parent Criteria

Maximum age for adoptive parents is 45 years older than the child they wish to adopt. This is the law and cannot be altered. Minimum age for adoptive parents is 25 years old.
No more than 5 children in the family already.
Childless single females can adopt one child through our program and choose gender as well.
No more than two divorces for either parent.
NO arrests that will show on FBI clearance or in the home study for either parent. No exceptions.
NO significant medical problems.
Minimum income is $10,000 per family member, including the new adopted child. I.e., a two parent family with 3 children already will need to earn a minimum of $60,000.

Travel Requirements

Travel will be from your home to Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Our agency will help you with all travel arrangements, including how to get your visa upon arrival. The trip to Ethiopia can vary, but in general it will be as follows: Leave from home on a Saturday, arriving in Addis Ababa Sunday night. Monday thru Wednesday will be spent getting to know your child and processing through the US Embassy. Thursday evening you will depart for home after completing a very short stay of 5 days in country.
Only one parent must travel or if you prefer we can offer escort service, however we strongly advise that at least one parent make the trip.

References

Cost

Total program and procedure fees range from $19,000 to $25,000 depending on the age of the child, the number of children you adopt and the number of people traveling. These estimated expenses are inclusive of agency fees, travel, lodging, INS, home study, paperwork, etc. (see cost sheet for details). While these costs can vary somewhat, we feel this is a very accurate accounting of what your total out of pocket expenses will be from start to finish.

Kazakhstan

Infants age six months and up at the time of referral and children, up to 10 years old are available for adoption. The youngest child will be approximately 8-9 months old at the time they come home.
Average process time is 24+ months start to finish.
You can request a child as young as possible, and every effort will be made to match you with such. However, you cannot specify gender or ethnicity.
Referral pictures and medicals are available for your review.
Children in this program live in Baby Houses, which are residential facilities staffed with doctors and nurses. The children attend speech therapy, physical therapy, and play developmental learning games.
Children are in smaller peer groups, consisting of an adult to child ratio of 1:6.
Our Partners have been processing adoptions since 1997 and together we have completed over 2000 adoptions since the program began, more than any other agency! We have a perfect track record and we are highly respected by the Ministry of Education in Kazakhstan and US Embassy in Kazakhstan.
Our partners consist of three sisters, a licensed neurologist, a lawyer, and an accountant. They are a dynamic team of ladies that make this program what it is, and we are the top placement agency in Kazakhstan.

Adoptive Parent Criteria

Kazakhstan is rumored to soon a approve a law making the max age of either parent, 50. Since the program is a long one the maximum age for adoptive parents is 47 years old at the time they start the adoption process. Minimum age for adoptive parents is 25 years old.
Parents over 40 should be ready to accept a child 2-3 years and up.
No more than 2 children in the family already.
Single females can not adopt through our program. This is a decision of our partners in Kazakhstan and not the agency nor the country.
No more than two divorces for either parent.
NO arrests that will show on FBI clearance or in the home study for either parent. No exceptions.
NO significant medical problems
Minimum income is $75k for this program.

Travel Requirements

You will have a couple of options when traveling to Kazakhstan. They are: #1-Both parents travel and stay the entire length of the trip, approximately 7+ weeks. #2- Both parents travel and leave after court, both return 2-3 weeks later for one week, to pick up the child and finalize everything at the US Embassy.
You will exit through the US Embassy in Almaty, Kazakhstan to complete the immigration process.

References

Cost

Total program and procedure fees range from $15,000 to $19,000 depending on the age of the child. You should anticipate an additional $28,000 of expenses from start to completion. These estimated expenses are inclusive of travel, lodging, INS, home study, paperwork, etc. (see cost sheet for details). While these costs can vary somewhat, we feel this is a very accurate accounting of what your total out of pocket expenses will be from start to finish.