Tell me about the children from Mexico

Children from Mexico range in age from 6 years and up. Adopting more than one child at a time is not difficult in Mexico since many sibling groups are available, particularly if you are flexible with age and gender. Families may specify gender, but there are more boys than girls available. Most of the children were placed in orphanages due to single motherhood, removal from their home by social services, or taken in because they were living on the streets.

The children are well cared for in private orphanages set up in a familial structure, in which they receive medical and psychological attention as well as education and spiritual support. The children can be hosted prior to commitment to adoption for two - week periods in the summer or Christmas time.

Mexico will accept couples married at least five years and single women. Adoptive parents must be at least twenty-five years of age and at least seventeen years older than the child to be adopted. There are no restrictions in regards to the number of children in the home, prior divorces, or infertility status. Adoptive parents are expected to demonstrate the means to care for the educational and physical needs of the child. Applicants must possess good moral character, and may not have major criminal background in their history. The orphanage director prefers Protestant or Evangelical families.

Once we obtain your home study, Immigration Approval, and receive all dossier documentation, your dossier can be authenticated. After authentication your completed dossier will be sent abroad to our in-country representative for translation and approval of match by the orphanage director. We usually have several children just waiting for families that are available for immediate referral. Each state in Mexico is autonomous in adoption law, and the process can vary substantially from state to state. In the México City area program two or three trips are required to complete the adoption. The bi-lingual foreign representative will accompany you during the process abroad and will handle all of your legal paperwork.

If you haven't hosted the child, the first trip will require an approximate three - week stay to establish the bonding process with the child. If you have hosted, the initial trip is usually waived. Each subsequent trip requires an approximate stay of 8 to 10 business days. The child can stay with the adoptive parents during this time. During the first trip the adoptive parents petition the court for adoption for the child. They then return to Mexico several months later to pick up the child and complete the adoption.

Families pick up the child from the orphanage, travel to Mexico City for US Embassy approval, and then to Ciudad Juarez to obtain the child's visa. Both parents must travel, but only the Petitioner must attend the Ciudad Juarez portion of the journey. Families stay in a private apartment while in the region, and in hotels during the US Embassy and Consulate process.