In a world of decreasing international adoption opportunities, there is now a short window of time for applications to adopt a Bulgarian child.
On March 19, our Eastern Europe Program Manager attended a conference in Sofia on the development of intercountry adoption in that country.
The waiting children of Bulgaria are of Turkish and Roma backgrounds. As children are not legally eligible for adoption until they are over one year of age, most children are around two and older when received for adoption. The longest wait (9 months - 2 years) is for a child under three. Adoptive parents requesting a child over 3 can expect a much shorter wait (5 - 9 months). Adoptive parents make two trips to Bulgaria. One to meet the child before accepting the proposal and the second trip to receive the child after the adoption is completed.
The children live in orphanages and receive good care. Each child has a personal history folder which the adopting family has full access to while visiting the child on the first trip. Events such as the child's first steps are recorded. Most orphanage directors are doctors, and orphanages have embraced a model of care that plans for all areas of a child's development: social, physical, and intellectual. Older children are integrated in the community by attending a regular school. Orphanages are generally clean, but old and in need of repair.
March 24, 2009