Philippines Update
August 1, 2009
Philippines has announced that it will not permit adoptive parents to file applications in two countries. If you apply to the Philippines, you may not apply to another country.
July 7, 2009
The Intercountry Adoption Board of the Philippines has
offered Sunrise the opportunity to participate in ‘Special Home Finding' for
children with special placement needs.
Sunrise receives pictures and extensive medical and social reports for these children, and the adoption process would be accelerated when a match is found between child and family. Adopting families who would like to consider a child under the ‘special home finding' program will be able to review the children's profiles. The common needs in the profiles are sibling groups, older children, hearing loss, developmental delay, cerebral palsy, and/or a social history of neglect or abuse. For more information contact Lisa.
Philippines Alert
On April 23, 2009, the Inter-Country Adoption Board of the Philippines issued the following announcement:
Due to the large number of unmatched approved adoption applications of Prospective Adoptive Parents wanting to adopt children within the age range of 0-2 years old with or without medical/developmental concerns coupled with the limited number of children of such category, effective May 1, 2009, ICAB has set a moratorium on accepting new applicants wanting to adopt from the above mentioned category.
ICAB shall resume accepting new applications for the aforementioned categories only after it has processed at least 50% of the existing families in our current list.
Starting May 1, 2009, families may not apply to adopt a child under 2 years of age.
Sunrise will continue to monitor the situation and will post any changes here.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Children of the Philippines
- May be girls or boys, parents may not request a particular gender
- Will be 3 or older (until further notice - see above)
- Live in orphanages
The Parents
- Must be married for a minimum of 1 year
- Must be at least 27 years old and 16 years older than the child to be adopted
- There are no upper-end age restrictions, however, an older couple will not be proposed a very young child
- Must be a practicing Christian couple.
- Must be in good mental and physical health
Approximate Waiting Period
There is an approximate waiting period of 1-3 years once the documents have been submitted to the Department of Social Welfare in the Philippines. The time line depends on the circumstances of the adoptive parents. It would take approximately one year for a Filipino couple with no children, longer for a non-Filipino couple who already have children.
Please note waiting times are estimates only and may change without notice.
Travel
Both parents are required to travel to the Philippines to pick up their child. Once the parents have received the referral of the child, they must travel within 30 days or risk relinquishing the placement. They must remain in the Philippines for approximately 1 week.
Contact
Sunrise Adoption:
Canada V7M 3J9
Toll free within Canada 1-888-984-2488
Fax: 604-984-2498