| It generally takes four months for a family to complete an adoption study. If you live in Minnesota, Iowa or Western Wisconsin, Washington D.C., Maryland and counties in Northern Virginia or Richmond you will first complete your adoption study through Children's Home Society & Family Services. If you live outside these areas you will first complete your adoption study through a local adoption agency. If you are not currently working with a local adoption agency, we recommend using one of our partner agencies.
It will take you a few months to assemble the documents ("dossier") required to adopt from one of the Latin American countries. These include U.S. immigration forms as well as those required by the child's country. You may complete these while the adoption homestudy is in process.
After completing these initial steps, a family will then wait to receive a child's referral. Currently, the time frame to receive this referral is unpredictable. The referral will include a photo, basic information about health conditions, and sometimes medical and psychological information.
After receiving the referral, we will guide you through the final steps of the adoption process--traveling to meet your child and finalizing the adoption through a court process.
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