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International program - Poland

POLAND

The Lutheran Service Society of New York is pleased to be able to help find healthy homes and loving families for children living in orphanages in Poland.  There are toddlers, school aged children and some children with special needs.  These children all deserve and anxiously await a loving home.      Adoption is a far-reaching and deeply emotional experience.  It is a commitment for generations. If you make the decision to adopt a child from Poland (or from anywhere else) you will be blessed by one of the greatest gifts from God - a child.

PARENT REQUIREMENTS

Age of parents:     Parents should be no more than 40 years older than the adoptive child.

 Other Children:   May have other children in family.

 U.S. Citizenship:  One parent must be a U.S. Citizen.

 Marriage: Couples must be married at least 2 years.. Previous divorce is acceptable A single woman may adopt a special needs child.

Travel: Both parents must initially travel to Poland to bond with the child and attend court proceedings. (2-4 weeks) then- Both parents may stay in Poland for the duration of the adoption process (about 3  more weeks) or   One parent may return to the US and the other parent remains in Poland for the duration of the adoption process. ***Recently, the Court has requested a number of perspective adoptive families to travel to Poland to meet the child(ren) for 3 to 4 days, and then return home and wait for a court date. This has not been a consistant practice but is being requested more often.

CHILDREN AVAILABLE

 Gender: Either

 Age:   Children are usually 16 months or older.

 Health:  The children live in orphanages and may have developmental delays. Health is generally good or medical conditions are correctable.   Basic medical information and photos are generally available.

 Other:   Children with special needs are available.  Sometimes siblings are available.

Click here for pictures of children available.

 TIMING

Application: Families can begin the application process once a home study is completed.

 Referral: Average time from submission of dossier to referral is 8 to 14 months. Refererrals of sibling groups may take longer.

 Travel: Once a referral is accepted, departure may vary due to court schedules in Poland, but usually within 3 to 22 weeks.

 PRIMARY COSTS TO CONSIDER

 International Program Administration Fee. (review of home study, assistance/ coordination in assembling of documents, program consultation, telephone, fax, program development)

 Poland Foreign Fee. (Poland representative and translation, Poland Attorney)

OTHER COSTS

  1. Adoption Home Study
  2. Criminal background and finger printing fees.
  3. Costs for copies of birth cert., marriage cert. etc.
  4. Certification and authentication fees for documents.
  5. Federal Express/UPS charges.
  6. USCIS  I-600A application.
  7. Orphanage donation etc.
  8. Travel, food and lodging.
  9. Post placement costs.

Adoption process:

    Once the home study is basically completed, a draft copy along with an application and application fee is sent to our office.
    Upon review and acceptance of the application and home study, our staff send forms and dossier information to the perspective adoptive family.
    The perspective adoptive family signs the agreement and disclosure statement and submit them with the first half of the agency program fee.
    The perspective adoptive family works on completing the dossier and USCIS application process.  Staff forward to Poland basic information about the family and type of child the family would prefer to adopt.
    Referrals are forwarded to the family and home study agency for review. Once a referral is accepted, we send the completed dossier with USCIS approval to Poland.  The family is notified when they need to travel to Poland. Refer to the Travel Section above for what happens in Poland.