First edition, 2003
$12 / ISBN 0-9687944-8-3

Countries included: Belarus, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Philippines, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, U.S., Vietnam.

In accompanying commentaries, Helen Mark warns to watch for the unexpected in international adoption, Dr. Jane Aronson reports good news on the health of Chinese children and Dr. Elinor Ames has not so good news on Romanian children. See below for an excerpt from the Introduction.

To order a copy, fill in this form and send with your cheque to: Box 1353, Southampton, Ont. N0H 2L0 Canada.

Country Commentary is also available (No. 40) through the Adoption Helper series, at a discount ($9). To subscribe to the series (four editions for $36), see Adoption Helper, and choose the four editions you would like to order.

EXCERPT

In the previous edition, Canadian Guide to Intercountry Adoption, I suggested you choose to adopt from one of the 20 most popular countries -- because 91% of Canadian international adopters have found success in 20 countries, from Belarus to Vietnam.

And I promised to publish the details on all of them -- so here they are, in "Top 20 Roundup": eligibility, children available, time, cost, process, web sites, email lists, articles and books, and comments from parents and agencies.

Is this the last word on the adoption situation in 20 countries? Hardly. Things change fast, so you should verify the current situation by consulting some of these sources:

Adoption agencies.
Because they're close to the ground, the agencies know what's happening. Check web sites and call for information packages. Even if an agency doesn't work in your country of interest, it might be able to point you in the right direction, or tell you about working with out-of-province agencies.
-- List of agencies by country is in "Agency Chooser", in AH 39 and at www.familyhelper.net/ad/chooser.html.
-- Agency addresses and program details are in "Adoption Agencies", at www.familyhelper.net/arc/agy.html.
-- Agency web sites, www.familyhelper.net/ad/web.

Government web sites.
-- Provincial ministries, www.familyhelper.net/ad/web. Some have good country updates, like B.C. and Alberta. Their Adoption Units have info on your province's policies on international adoption in general, and adoption from individual countries.
-- U.S. State Dept., www.travel.state.gov/adopt.html. Covers adoption in every country.
-- CIA Country Profiles, www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/indexgeo.html, for basic geographical info on countries.
-- National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, www.calib.com/naic. U.S. resources.

Independent web sites.
-- AFABC, www.bcadoption.com. B.C.
-- Family Helper, Adoption News Briefs, www.familyhelper.net/news.html
-- IAFA, www.nucleus.com/~iafa. Alberta.
-- Holt Intl., www.holtinternational.org/infoupdates. U.S.
-- RainbowKids, www.rainbowkids.com. U.S.
-- www.e-buddy.com/adopt/country.htm. Adoption Buddy in Ontario has a chart comparing adoption programs in nine Eastern European countries (cost, time, health, etc.)
-- Other web sites, www.familyhelper.net/ad/web

Social worker. Draw on the experience of your homestudy social worker.

Parents.
-- Support groups, www.familyhelper.net/arc/sup.html, are where you can meet other adopting parents.
-- Canadians-adopting email list, www.groups.yahoo.com/group/canadians-adopting, has the latest scuttlebutt. See other email lists at www.familyhelper.net/ad/web/webmail.html.

News media. Read a national newspaper. Search print and electronic media web sites for mentions of adoption.

Networking. Go to conferences and seminars. See Coming Events in Adoption at www.familyhelper.net/events.html.

In 1997 Jennifer Smart, editor of Post-adoption Helper, received an Ontario Adoption Award from the Adoption Council of Ontario for her work on behalf of adoption causes.

In 2001 Robin Hilborn received an Adoption Activist Award from the North American Council on Adoptable Children for "dedicated work in making adoption information more accessible and providing materials for post-adoptive support".

Robin Hilborn edits and publishes Adoption Helper, helping people adopt since 1990. His email address is helper@familyhelper.net. He also edits and publishes Post-adoption Helper.