# Anyone adopted from Romania?



## Kitten36 (Jul 4, 2014)

Hi everyone. Am new here and to adoption process. Anyone knows how to do international adoption? Do we apply here in the UK and they help us with who to contact abroad? We are interested in adoption from Romania as i am romanian and my hubby british. I learnt that if one of us is romanian citizen then its easier but havent found any info about who we contact, how the process works etc? Anyone has any idea on costs involved?
Thanks in advance.


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## Tictoc (Aug 20, 2015)

Hi - I have adopted internationally but not from Romania. You would need to be approved in the UK and then work directly with an orphanage in Romania or through an agency that work over there - I don't know the specifics of the Romanian adoption system but the embassy website should give you some information on where to start.

In terms of the U.K side - you need to speak to the adoption team at your Local Authority and ask them to assess you for an international adoption. Many LA's have outsourced this to voluntary agencies but I think we paid £6500 for our assessment. In addition to that you need to pay for the courses that are mandated for you to go on. There will also be fees due to notaries here to legalise your home study to be sent abroad once completed, fees to the foreign and commonwealth office and department of education to verify that you are approved and a child you adopt would be allowed into the country. There will also be fees to the UK border agency. All in all its a pretty expensive process but happy to give you more detail if you are interested.

It sounds very complicated but it's really not that bad when you do it step by step.


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## Kitten36 (Jul 4, 2014)

Hi Tictoc. Thx a lot for the info jeez i didnt know its so expensive. Such a shame cos they are so many children available for adoption in Ro. I didnt think its that much.
But im still interested to go to Ro. When i looked on Romanian adoption websites i found out that thr new law only allows children above 3 to be adopted from Ro not sure the reason for this thou. Its awful because they are so many abandoned babies in hospitals all over the country due to poverty and neglect. 

Do u know why the agency over here charges so much £6500? Do u know how long it might take aproximately the whole process? I know its dif in every case individually but just to get an idea i guess. Some friends adopted from India and it took them 3 yrs! 

These other costs involved u mentioned are they in the thoussands range too? 

Thx again i really appreciate it.


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## Tictoc (Aug 20, 2015)

Hi - I think p£6500 is fairly standard I'm afraid.the other costs mentioned are generally approximately £2000 each.

Th assessment process on the uk side shouldn't be too long as long as a social worker is available - the long time frame is generally on the other side (Romania) so you need to find out a little about the situation there.

We went with inter country adoption centre for the assessment and found that because we were paying customers our assessment was actually fairly quick. i do have a full list of costs somewhere if you are interested but obviously don't have costs for Romania


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## Mummy DIY Diva (Feb 18, 2012)

You pay what it costs social services to carry out the assessment because you aren't taking a child out the British care system you find it not the tax payer. If you adopt a British child you Save the tax payers tens of thousands of pounds a year because being in local authority care is so expensive. Therefore it makes sense for tax payers to fund your assessment. Good luck .


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## Mummy DIY Diva (Feb 18, 2012)

Fund not find sorry


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## Kitten36 (Jul 4, 2014)

Tictoc thx again thats so exp still. Dont know if we can afford that. Maybe if i have a look at costs involved we'll be able to sort out a plan. R u able to either post on here that list of costs? Or pm me? It might give me an idea where to start.
Btw do these costs apply for adoption in UK too for british kids? 

Mummy Diva i agree with what ure saying thou we r tax payers too i dont understanf why we are paying SW so much to help us. I wonder if there is an easier way to do this without using the UK agencies for our assessment? Maybe go directly to Ro authorities? 

Havent got a clue.
Thx ladies.


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## Mummy DIY Diva (Feb 18, 2012)

You're only paying them the cost of doing the assessment it's time consuming and costly they won't make money off you simply cover their costs. I never implied you weren't British tax payers what I was explaining Is that it costs because you fund the assessment not the tax payer due to the fact you aren't adopting children from the British care system. Ultimately adoption of British children is free because you are saving social services and tax payers a fortune. Adoption from abroad is self funded because it's if no financial benefit to the tax payer. Hope you've understood this time.


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## Kitten36 (Jul 4, 2014)

Hey Mummy Diva i think i understood it wrong read it fast. Yes it right that they r charging i guess but im wondering if there'san easier way like contacting directly Ro orphanges etc.

Anyway we are open for UK adoption too the reason we were going abroad as we heard not many children up for adoption in UK. Dont want to wait 2-3 yrs like i heard from other stories. We'll get there in the end hopefully.

Thx for ur help xx


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## littlepoppy86 (Feb 14, 2014)

Hi kitten, it took us from open evening to our 11m so moving in exactly 9 months  that was via an agency x


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## Mummy DIY Diva (Feb 18, 2012)

For the UK to allow the child in and the adoption to go ahead you have to be approved by social services they have to know the child will be safe. There's no way round it I'm afraid it's a safeguard for the most vulnerable children. We were 11 months from start to children placed and that would have Bren shorter but we were a long distance match one end of the country to another so things took longer xx


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## Kitten36 (Jul 4, 2014)

Littlepoppyand Mummy DIY Diva thx a lot that gives me hope. I thought it takes yrs! We dont mind travelling the country also if necessary. Enjoy ur little ones hope we'll get there too. 

Do u advise to go direct to an agency or contact local adoption office? I never understood the diference. Thx again xx


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## littlepoppy86 (Feb 14, 2014)

My personal view of the two are that the agencies have a range of councils to work with and they go to the councils to place you with the children - could possibly take longer as it isn't "their children" (as I said we was super quick with an agency so that wasn't the case for us)

A local authority has "the children" so it means they can twin track your adoption application with children going through the system to mean a quicker younger child. It does mean they only have access to the children in their area which means close links to birth family potentially and less children? Does that make sense?

I'd suggest booking open evenings with both to see how you feel about both of them though. You might get super good vibes from ether or. For us, our local authority finally replied to our enquiry 5 months after asking when we was nearly approved x


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## Kitten36 (Jul 4, 2014)

Littlepoppy thx a lot this help me as we r at the beginning so we havent got a clue.
Dont suppose u know any agencies around Gatwick area?

If we go with agency it is more expensive then council? Ill def have a look to see when they are open days. Thx a million really appreciate ur help. Xxx


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## Kitten36 (Jul 4, 2014)

Littlepoppy can i just congrat u on ur pregn how amazing is that that u fallen pregn after ur boys im sure they will be over the moon to have a little sister to look after xxx


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## Lorella (Jan 10, 2013)

Kitten - we adopted the most gorgeous little girl and it only took us 11 months too. I am not a million miles from Gatwick. PM me if want anymore details xx


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## Kitten36 (Jul 4, 2014)

Hi Lorella this gives me so much hope. Same as the other ladies stories.
Ill pm u. Thx a lot xx


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## edcoyy (Feb 3, 2016)

Hi, my sister-in-law and her dh were pursuing adoption a Romanian child as an option. They wanted a Caucasian. Romania was one the countries to adopt on their option list. Finally, they decided to apply in Ukraine, because Romania has lots of restrictions for international adoption. if I’m not mistaken, they only allow kinship adoption for non-residents. If you want, I may ask her for more information. 
They finally decided to go to Ukraine because the legislation there is much milder and foreign adopters are welcomed. There are a lot of children immediately available for adoption, so wait time is not long.


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## Kitten36 (Jul 4, 2014)

Edcoyy thx i looked into it now and it seems that people from abroad r accepted but end up at the bottom of a list as they prefer Romanian families to adopt. This is really silly as there are so many children i read around 70000 in the whole country. Also u can only adopt from age of 3 also a ridiculous policy! Anyway seems that they r making it very dif for romanian children to find a fqm aboard and i dont understand this at all. 😔😔😔 its very sad as lots of children suffer and end up on the streets over there when they r teenagers. 
Think we will adopt in UK and hope we'll be lucky one day xx


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## Tictoc (Aug 20, 2015)

Kitten - have you tried contacting agencies that work in romania? When we adopted from Russia all the information I read suggested that only disabled children or those with serious medical issues could be adopted by foreigners. However when we spoke to an agency that facilitated adoptions from Russia the lady in charge told us we would be able to adopt a child younger that 2 with no serious conditions.

She was right and we adopted a 12 month old with no issues (other than having been neglected in an orphanage for 12 months)


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## edcoyy (Feb 3, 2016)

Tictoc said:


> Kitten - have you tried contacting agencies that work in romania? When we adopted from Russia all the information I read suggested that only disabled children or those with serious medical issues could be adopted by foreigners. However when we spoke to an agency that facilitated adoptions from Russia the lady in charge told us we would be able to adopt a child younger that 2 with no serious conditions.
> 
> She was right and we adopted a 12 month old with no issues (other than having been neglected in an orphanage for 12 months)


Yes, you were absolutely lucky to adopt a healthy baby, especially from Russia. i've heard that they have very troubled procedure of international adoption now. how long ago have you adopted?


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## edcoyy (Feb 3, 2016)

Kitten36 said:


> Edcoyy thx i looked into it now and it seems that people from abroad r accepted but end up at the bottom of a list as they prefer Romanian families to adopt. This is really silly as there are so many children i read around 70000 in the whole country. Also u can only adopt from age of 3 also a ridiculous policy! Anyway seems that they r making it very dif for romanian children to find a fqm aboard and i dont understand this at all. &#128532;&#128532;&#128532; its very sad as lots of children suffer and end up on the streets over there when they r teenagers.
> Think we will adopt in UK and hope we'll be lucky one day xx


Kitten, it's also a bit weird for me that so many countries have various restrictions as to adopting of their child by foreigners. Well, yes, sure this kind of adoption must be very thoroughly controlled. I mean postadoption checkups must be made annually and social workers must check the living conditions of a child. People are different. Adopters also may be different. Even though they pass so many checkups, this is just bureaucracy and no one can assure that a child will live in proper conditions. However, the majority of foreign adopters are good intelligent people who are willing to give much to and to provide bright future for him/her. I also can't understand why they limit the age to 3+, 5+, in some countries are even 9+. This makes no sense. Imo. I'm convinced that foreign adopters shall have the same right and duties as domestic ones. In any case, if you choose domestic, wish you good luck in choosing a very good agency that will guide you and to be match with the most wonderful kid in the world! Or even with two


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## Tictoc (Aug 20, 2015)

Edcoyy - it's not really that simple. Why would a foreign adopter have the same rights - surely it is better for the child to stay in its country of birth if this is at all possible. Of course sometimes the sheer number of orphans doesn't make that possible but a domestic adopter is always going to be a higher priority than a foreign one.


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## Kitten36 (Jul 4, 2014)

Sorry for late reply i work long hrs and exhausted afterwards. 
Tictoc no we havent contacted any agencies abroad yet as i cant find any! I searched romanian agencies and nada! It just goes to some international websites and nothing straightforward. Id be very interested in Russia too thou as im quater Russian from my grandmas side. She was romanian adopted in Russia and we have relatives there too. Can u pls pm me the name of the agency u used? Thk u xx

Edcoyyit i agree i think it sld be the same for foreign adopters thou maybe this is harder as Tictoc said due to follow up meetings etc. Anyway the fact it costs so much to begin with it kind of puts me off a little. But id still like to help a little soul or two from Ro as it breaks my heart how many there are in orphanages. 

Thx a lot ladies hope ill join u soon and start the process cant wait. Xx


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## Cloudy (Jan 26, 2012)

Hi Kitten  

You could always look at adoption in the UK of a child who is from Romania/Russia, or whose parents are. For example, the district authority that I work for has a high number of Polish children, the next district over as a high number of Latvian and Slovakian children etc. I know these are not the countries you are interested in, but what I'm getting at is that there are children from lots of different countries in the system so maybe call a few local VAs and LAs and see what they say.

Good luck whatever you decide xxx


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## Kitten36 (Jul 4, 2014)

Cloudy thk u wau i didnt know there are so many kiddies here in UK from other nationalities. Yes id be happy adopting any child of any nationality really and at the moment it seems that we will stay here in UK to do this due to high costs going abroad. Thx a lot everyone for all the info it really helps us. Xx


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## edcoyy (Feb 3, 2016)

Tictoc, you’re absolutely right, however it seems to me that for foreign adopters shall be welcomed in Eastern European countries. I’m sure you understand why. Domestic adopters usually cannot afford adopting siblings or special needs kids, whereas European and American adopters usually have better living and financial conditions for providing for their adoptees. IMO. Why then they have so many restrictions for foreign adopters?

As we were also considering adopting from an orphanage, we’ve contacted an agency that guides adoption process in certain eastern European countries (I don’t remember actually if they deal with Romania, but they deal for sure with Ukraine, Poland and Bulgaria). You may search the agency in google as “adomir adoption”. They gave us profound consultation on procedure and requirements of local legislature for adoption. For free – that really surprised me. They advise us to go to Ukraine. The organization is non-profit, so all we have to pay are just our own expenses for travel, accommodation, translation, local adoption fees (that are quite minor there In Ukraine), court and notary expenses. At the moment, we are discussing it with my wife, but it seems that there is no need for further research. We’re impatient to start the process.


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## Kitten36 (Jul 4, 2014)

Edcoy thats really good of u ill have a look at that agency. R they based in ukraine? Maybe there will be added costs later on in the country u adopt from did they say anything abt that? But ill certainly have a look. R u already an aproved adopter in uk? And can u do the adoption abroad now that u r aproved? Sorry lots of questions. 
Thx a lot
Xxx


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## Tictoc (Aug 20, 2015)

Edocyy - when we adopted from Russia pretty much everyone went with the same agency and I don't want to be negative but please check out other people's experience with the agency you are looking at. When we adopted there was an extra day of training required by the Russian authorities and not many places ran it so it brought us all together - on the day all but one used the same agency as us. The couple using a different agency ended up waited a number of years and I am still not sure if they successfully adopted.

For us first time round no LA's wanted to consider us for domestic adoption because of our birth son so international adoption was amazing - they welcomed the fact our child would have a sibling rather than looking at it as a negative. 

Good luck as you move forward but please do be careful.


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## JParker (Feb 4, 2016)

edcoyy said:


> As we were also considering adopting from an orphanage, we've contacted an agency that guides adoption process in certain eastern European countries (I don't remember actually if they deal with Romania, but they deal for sure with Ukraine, Poland and Bulgaria). You may search the agency in google as "adomir adoption". They gave us profound consultation on procedure and requirements of local legislature for adoption. For free - that really surprised me. They advise us to go to Ukraine. The organization is non-profit, so all we have to pay are just our own expenses for travel, accommodation, translation, local adoption fees (that are quite minor there In Ukraine), court and notary expenses. At the moment, we are discussing it with my wife, but it seems that there is no need for further research. We're impatient to start the process.


What a wonderful word "non-prifit"! Most "adoption agency" that exists as an adoption agency makes its money by providing children to people who are willing to pay for them. I`m so angry because of this. 
Thanx for the information, edcoyy. 
I was looking for an agency, not an adoption market, and I hope I`ve found it.


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## edcoyy (Feb 3, 2016)

Kitten36 said:


> Edcoy thats really good of u ill have a look at that agency. R they based in ukraine? Maybe there will be added costs later on in the country u adopt from did they say anything abt that? But ill certainly have a look. R u already an aproved adopter in uk? And can u do the adoption abroad now that u r aproved? Sorry lots of questions.
> Thx a lot
> Xxx


Hi, Kitten! Many questions is ok, don't worry. I type quickly!
Yes, adomir is based in Ukraine. However, they provide consultations on adoption questions from a few Eastern European and Asian countries. 
As to additional costs, well, of course we will have to cover all expenses on governmental procedure, legalization and documents, apostile, getting child's passport, etc. We will have to pay for independent medical check up of a child (only if we want). They also told that it is possible to make contributions to orphanage, e g some books and clothes for children, new blankets and pillows, etc. It is up to our desire.


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## edcoyy (Feb 3, 2016)

Tictoc said:


> Edocyy - when we adopted from Russia pretty much everyone went with the same agency and I don't want to be negative but please check out other people's experience with the agency you are looking at. When we adopted there was an extra day of training required by the Russian authorities and not many places ran it so it brought us all together - on the day all but one used the same agency as us. The couple using a different agency ended up waited a number of years and I am still not sure if they successfully adopted.
> 
> For us first time round no LA's wanted to consider us for domestic adoption because of our birth son so international adoption was amazing - they welcomed the fact our child would have a sibling rather than looking at it as a negative.
> 
> Good luck as you move forward but please do be careful.


Tictoc, I'm sorry that they didn't approve you for domestic adoption. It's quite weird, I think. Is a birth child a burden for adopters? I don't think so. I think that it's a blessing of having both bio and adopted. So, you adopted from Russia. It was probably a few years ago. I know that now Russia has very troubled procedure for international adoption, so very few people go there. 
Thank you for being supportive: sure we will get as much reviews and comments about this agency before starting the process. I have my fingers crossed. I really hope everything will work for us.


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## edcoyy (Feb 3, 2016)

JParker said:


> edcoyy said:
> 
> 
> > As we were also considering adopting from an orphanage, we've contacted an agency that guides adoption process in certain eastern European countries (I don't remember actually if they deal with Romania, but they deal for sure with Ukraine, Poland and Bulgaria). You may search the agency in google as "adomir adoption". They gave us profound consultation on procedure and requirements of local legislature for adoption. For free - that really surprised me. They advise us to go to Ukraine. The organization is non-profit, so all we have to pay are just our own expenses for travel, accommodation, translation, local adoption fees (that are quite minor there In Ukraine), court and notary expenses. At the moment, we are discussing it with my wife, but it seems that there is no need for further research. We're impatient to start the process.
> ...


There's no need to be angry because of the adoption charges. Social workers and agency employees do a great work to facilitate and complete your adoption. They all need salaries for their work. It ok. It's the same everywhere. Even when you apply to a non-profit agency, it doesn't mean that you will adopt for free. This is impossible. The difference is that in non-profit agency you'll pay just the most essential charges with no extra payments.

In any case, Tictoc is absolutely right: a great research of other people's experience with the agency shall be done before applying.


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## Tictoc (Aug 20, 2015)

Yes it is almost 3 years now since we brought our little girl home - Russia doesn't allow international adoption anymore which is so sad as when we went the orphanages were full of children that would never be adopted. Our little girl had been rejected by Russian adopters 8 times which is why we were allowed to adopt her. 

Good luck in your journey


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## edcoyy (Feb 3, 2016)

You were definitely lucky to adopt from Russia, as well as your daughter is lucky to meet you in your life. You're absolutely right as to the kids in russian orphanages. Sadly, but most of them will never be adopted domestically. I took a time and researched russian adoption question on google. there were a few very sad stories of adopted chidlren in their adoptive families in the US. that's why parliament decided to ban international adoptions. The weirdest thing is that most of Russian population supports this decision!! 
sadly, a lot of russian orphans lost their chance of being adopted...ever... especially special needs kids and elder chidlren. they have very few chances to be adopted there in russia


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