Colombia: Country and Program Overview
Partners for Adoption does not currently have a placement program in Colombia. Currently, we offer placement programs in Russia and Ukraine. However, we have relationships and experience working with the most highly regarded placement agencies and are able to recommend an excellent placement agency for almost any country from which you choose to adopt.
For the current status on adoption in Colombia, please visit
http://adoption.state.gov/country_information.php.
Colombia has a long history of adoption. Colombia Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF) is the central authority responsible for processing both domestic and international adoptions and all international adoption arrangements must be made through an agency that has a relationship with this authority. Partners for Adoption provides homestudies, post-placement, re-adoption and finalization services for your adoption from this country. We will work closely with your chosen primary provider agency for Colombia or recommend a primary provider agency that best suits your family.
Children Available
In Colombia, adoption plans are usually made due to unplanned pregnancies, from a child conceived by a single, abandoned mother, or a single mother or family with too few economic resources to sustain the child. At other times a child may have been removed by Child Protection if neglect or abuse were reported and attempts to rehabilitate or reunify families failed. Children may have been relinquished at birth in the hospital or abandoned, in which case attempts to find and counsel birth parents were unsuccessful. The children who are available for adoption are generally six months of age and older. Sibling sets are also available.
Parent Requirements
Couples and single women are able to adopt. In order to adopt an infant, a potential adoptive parent must be between the ages of 25-39. If the potential adoptive parent is 40 or older they must be prepared to adopt a toddler or older child.
Travel
Both parents must travel to Colombia to pick up the adoptive child. The duration of the trip is approximately 4-6 weeks, but one parent may return to the United States after 10 days if necessary.
Timelines
Currently, the referral time for infant children is approximately 20 ' 30 months, and the referral time for older children is slightly shorter. The referral process is significantly expedited for families of Colombian descent. Once a child has been assigned, the family is expected to travel to Colombia approximately to 3 to 6 weeks later.
Fees
Approximate total cost for an adoption from Colombia is $20,000-$30,000. These fees include the home study, travel, stay in country, agency fees, foreign program costs and legalization of paperwork.