Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
The adoption travel experience
Several of my close friends and family members were adopted, adopted a child, or are in the process of adopting a child from Asia. In fact, my sister is months away from traveling to China to pick up her daughter, and our very own Gadling writer, Jamie Rhein has a daughter adopted from Vietnam. While China, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, and India are just a few of the popular adoption locales these days, there are several others popping up all over the globe. The adoption travel trip is like no other you will ever experience in your life. It's is the first step in documenting your adoptive child's journey with you. It's something s/he will not likely remember, so taking photos, and recording the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of his/her birthplace is a most important step in the process.
Certainly, a lot of preparation has to take place before you even step foot on foreign soil. (Sometimes the adoption application process can take up to two years!). However, so much goes on during and after the trip, that it's important to consider your adoption travel experience in three distinctive parts:
BEFORE
- Consider your health: Just as you would prepare for an ordinary trip abroad, you will need to understand the health risks involved in traveling abroad. Odds are you are traveling to a third world country where diseases like malaria and dengue fever can be contracted. Be sure to take the necessary precautions (i.e. take those preventative shots) and stock up on the necessary medications.
- Get travel insurance: This is an important trip, and you don't want it to be bogged down by lost baggage or flight cancellations. Nowadays, travel insurance can cost as little as $100 a month, so it's worth the peace of mind.
- Pack light: Don't burden yourself with excess baggage. Necessities like diapers and clothes are attainable and often cheaper upon arrival in your destination.
DURING
- Document and record every moment: Take photos, keep a journal, and pay attention to even the smallest details of your experience. This is really the symbolic birthplace of your new child, so capturing as many memories as you can is crucial.
- Allow time for adaptation: You will not be jetting over to this country just to jet back. It's important to take the time that is necessary to allow your new child to adapt to his/her parents and surroundings. Sightseeing is a great experience for both you and the child, as well as simple human interaction.
AFTER
- Take your time: Patience is a virtue most necessary for adoptive parents. Your new child will need even more time to get used to his/her new national soil and the different faces that make up his/her new family. Go slow in immersing him/her into the new pace and style of life.
- Visit the pediatrician: This is a necessary step in identifying just how healthy your new child is. Measures may need to be taken to ensure his/her stability and health upon arrival home, so make sure this initial trip to the doctor is thorough and extensive, yet comfortable and informative.
- Return to the birth country when the time is right: At some point, your fully adapted child will need to understand where s/he came from. If possible, make the trip with your child when s/he is able to document the experience for him/herself.
Also, be advised that some countries suggest or require multiple trips before the real adoption takes place. If this is the case, the initial trip is a unique opportunity to explore the country, document, and record before you become a parent. Enjoy this special journey!
The following are some helpful sites with useful adoption travel tips and stories:
Filed under: Activism, Arts and Culture, History, Learning, Stories, Africa, Asia, Europe, Cambodia, China, India, North Korea, South Korea, United States, Travel Health
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Emland Jan 1st 2009 10:33AM
My husband and I were exploring adopting a child from overseas a few years back. It felt like we were being extorted by the state. They basically are selling the unwanted female children abandoned at their orphanages. I suppose it is a fantastic opportunity for the child - but it is a difficult and expensive journey for the adoptive parents. It takes 10s of thousands of dollars to adopt a child from Asia. I applaud the parents that have the ability to navagate the ocean of paperwork and months of angst and anxiety waiting for the call to pick up their child.
Jamie Rhein Jan 1st 2009 9:48PM
Wonderful picture, Bren! You covered the basics splendidly.
Emland, if you are ever interested again, check out various agencies where it won't feel as if you're being taken for a financial ride. We had the same concerns, but were living overseas at the time. Our experience was not typcial since we went through Vietnam's Ministry of Justice directly, something that would be difficult to do if someone were not living overseas. Because we were overseas, going through an agency in the U.S. would not have made sense.
The money that is paid for adopting children is not specifically for that child, but is also used to help the orphanage. What you're helping to pay for is all those children who aren't adopted. That's my understanding.
SV Jan 1st 2009 5:07PM
Photo essay on this topic here: http://www.stephenvoss.com/stories/ChinaAdoption/
Jamie Rhein Jan 1st 2009 9:57PM
One thing I wanted to add. When you go to pick up your child, bring a set of clothes that would fit your child. Give those to the orphanage and ask for the clothes your child was wearing before you arrived. I didn't know this so when we bought clothes for our daughter, when she was put in our hands, she was wearing the clothes we brought with us. If I would have had to clothes to trade with the orphanage, that would have helped. I would have liked to have the original clothes. In the scheme of life, it's not that important, but they would have been nice to have.
In other cases, perhaps this isn't an issue. This was our experience.
malinda Jan 2nd 2009 1:04AM
Some very good advice.
But oh, dear, your lede is a bit disconcerting: "While China, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, and India are just a few of the popular adoption destinations these days, there are several others adoption locales popping up all over the globe."
Popular destinations? Adoption locales? You've given the unfortunate impression that you should choose the country from which to adopt based on whether it fits into your overall global travel plans! Have you always wanted to visit exotic Cambodia? Adopt from there!
I'm sure that was not the intention, but I hope you'll consider editing those few lines out to make this helpful article even more helpful for prospective adoptive parents.
malinda
adoptive mom to two from China
http://chinaadoptiontalk.blogspot.com
Brenda Jan 2nd 2009 3:31AM
thanks for all of the great tips/suggestions/feedback, everyone! i have received an outpouring of emails about the usefulness of this article, and i think malinda definitely caught on to my skewed and i guess biased mode of travel. as a travel writer and not an adoptive parent, i don't have the proper terminology. jamie was gracious enough to help me with some of this in an initial draft of this article.
i do, however, hope to one day adopt a child from cambodia or china. i guess my phrasing is a little misleading, and i do mean to say "adoption locale" -- not "popular destination." (i think i was wearing my guidebook writer hat, and i apologize). i've therefore edited my article to read more appropriately.
please feel free to add useful links in your comments, and i am happy to amend my article accordingly. my intention is to of course provide the most useful article possible.
aloha,
brenda
Travel India Jan 6th 2009 10:14AM
a truly usefull post for those who plan about adopting a child from the Asian countries. And i believe that the money you pay in goes to the NGO's that work behind these orphanages and other Old homes in and around the place. Anyway it goes for a noble cause.