Who are the typical children placed? 16-24 month old children or older if requested. They come from an orphanage in Bangkok and another in Nongkai (close to the Laos border) These orphanages typically have 60-90 children, with some group homes and some in foster care. Thailand’s adoption center prefers to look for families or relatives in Thailand to adopt the children, and they typically hold the child for up to a year before moving him to the international adoption list.

What kind of information will I receive on a child? You will receive a photo and some background information, but it is minimal. You will receive medical and developmental information, but it may not be updated. We are working on improving this. The children referred as healthy children are generally healthy, with no known medical conditions.

What are the parental requirements? You must be married; both you and your spouse must be between 25-45 years of age and must be at least 15 years older than the child to be adopted. Families who have no children are preferred, but they have accepted families with up to two children already in the family. Parents are preferred who have a college education. There are exceptions to the marriage requirement, # of children, and age requirements case by case if you are adopting a child with special needs. CHSFS will be happy to advocate for you.

What is the typical length of the process? Getting a child referral can take up to 6 months. Completing the adoption will then take 5-8 months.

Do you submit dossiers direct to the Thai Dept. of Social Development and Welfare (DSDW), to particular Thai child-placement organizations, or to both? To both.

With what child placement organization does CHSFS-ASIA work? We work with Friends for All Children in Bangkok under director Saovanee Nilavongse.

Do you work with preidentified placements of waiting children, or placements of healthy young children? Both are possible.

What kind of support do you offer on the ground in Thailand? Saovanee will help you while in country, as well as an interpreter/host representative from CHSFS/ASIA.

What are the country program fees, including an estimate of what travel will cost? The country fees are $7000. There are about $500 in translation fees after you are home and $500 in document preparation fees, child’s visa, passport fees to be paid in country. Travel for 10-14 days is estimated (including airfare for two adults and one child returning to the USA) is: Lodging: $850-$1650; food $200, airfare $3500. You will also need to travel within the USA to the nearest Thai Consulate to register your child once you are home.

What kind of information do you receive when you are matched with a child?   We learned when and where our child was born, his medical information (height, weight, etc.), his birth mother's name and the circumstances surrounding his placement for adoption.  We also received a picture of his birth mother during our trip to Thailand. 

What level of care do the children receive prior to their adoption? Our child was in a foster home with one other foster child.  His foster mother was an American woman working in Chiang Mai.  She fostered several children for FFAC.  His care was excellent.  In addition to his foster mom, each foster child had a full-time nanny to help out.  It was so obvious when we were there that our child was very much loved and well cared for.   We also had communication with our child's foster mom while we were waiting.  She sent emails through the adoption agency and asked it to be forwarded it to us.  We knew how our child was doing for most of the time we waited. This may be the exception.  While our child was in foster care, we were impressed with the care provided in the orphanage at FFAC in Bangkok.  There seemed to be a lot of interaction with the babies/toddlers.  Also, they allowed visitors to come for playtime.  It seemed that many ex-pats (American, British, Australian) came to play with the babies regularly. 

What is it like to prepare the paperwork /dossier? The paperwork was very straightforward.  Not a problem at all.

How long in advance do you receive notification to travel to Thailand and how do you prepare for travel?  We received notification to travel about 3 weeks ahead of time.  We had an option of 2 dates and picked the earlier one.  If we had wanted more time, we could have had 2 additional weeks.

What was it like to see you child for the first time? It was amazing to meet our child for the first time.  We were met at the airport in Chiang Mai by our child and his foster mom and nanny.  They brought us flowers.  Our child was well prepared to meet us.  They had been showing him pictures of us and talking to him about us, so he was very comfortable right away.  He let us hold him and played with his sisters.  We spent several days visiting with him before we actually took him to the hotel with us.  It seemed to make the transition go well.

How is the interview with the Child Adoption Board? Any suggestions for
adoptive families? The interview with the Thai Adoption Board was very easy.  They were very friendly towards us.  It seemed that they really just wanted to make sure you were OK and to approve your paperwork and wish you well.  We took pictures with all of them and us for our child's scrapbook.  They had toys for the kids/babies to play with.  While they definitely seemed to have read our paperwork, they didn't ask any difficult questions.  There was no need for an interpreter since at least 2 of the members spoke in English very well.  My advice would be to be relaxed and enjoy it.  Also, dress respectfully -- no jeans or sleeveless top, no need for a suit though.  Expect that if you have other children and bring them, they will ask them questions.  It really was a very pleasant experience.  

What are the post-placement requirements and how do you finalize the adoption with the Thai Department of Social Development and Welfare? We had the regular post placement requirements in our state: (3 interviews over six month period) and then paperwork to file to finalize the adoption since we  returned from Thailand as guardians and not the legal parents.  We used a template provided by the adoption agency to finalize the adoption.  It was very straightforward with minimal cost.  We were also required to go to the Thai Embassy to register to the adoption.   We're lucky that we live so close to the Embassy so it was not a hassle to fulfill this requirement.