Colombia Adoptions

New Beginnings has a cooperative agreement with Adopolis, Inc., an experienced, licensed adoption agency located in Washington, D.C. Adopolis is fully accredited in Colombia by the Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar (ICBF). The ICBF assesses and studies applications of prospective adoptive parents. The adoption process requires administrative steps before the ICBF and judicial actions before a family judge or by a judge having combined jurisdiction.

In addition Adopolis has an agreement to work with Fundacion Los Pisingos and CRAN, two private Colombian agencies located in Bogota. Both operate orphanages and have provided services for children for many years.

Adoptive Parents must be older than 25 years of age. They must be fully competent to bear the responsibilities of raising children. Couples must be married for at least three years. Couples married fewer than three years will be considered with documentation of infertility. Parents over 40 years of age may not be able to adopt children under 3 years old. Exact age limits may vary with individual circumstances.

When at least one of the applicant parent is of Colombian ancestry, they have priority for a placement and the waiting time can vary between 6 to 8 months. For other nationalities waiting time can vary from 12 to 18 months. For special needs or older children, the waiting time is shorter. From referral to travel is approximately 2-3 weeks. Both parents must travel and have special visas to travel to Colombia for adoption. One parent can return home after one week and the other must remain in Colombia for another 4-6 weeks until the completion of the adoption.

THE CHILDREN

Boys and girls, infants, toddlers and older children are in need of adoption. There are also sibling groups in need of families. The children have either been abandoned or relinquished to the ICBF. Children tend to have light brown skin, dark hair and eyes and can vary in age from 3 months to teenage. Most of the children are in good health. There are also children with medical needs in need of families.

CHOOSING COLOMBIA

This is an excellent program for those who are of Colombian ancestry under the age of 40 years old. It is also good for families who are open to the age of children they will accept and who are patient to wait for a referral. Couples have to be able to travel and one has to be able to remain in Colombia for 5-6 weeks total. This is also a good program for those who wish to adopt toddler age and older children or sibling groups as they are available and waiting much of the time.