i am a single canadian woman, nearly finished the process of adopting a baby here in taiwan. i just want to tell anyone out there who is facing the prospect of adopting privately (particularily from canada, but possibly from america, too), that i am willing to help. it is tough to get through the red tape, and i had to do it virtually on my own. the adoption is nearly through. i’ve been to court, and am awaiting the homestudy which is a simple last step, or so i am told. (fingers crossed!)
any questions on how to go about privately adopting here, feel free to contact me.
I’ll just put this in here for reference as it is relevant to the thread issue:
[quote=“Taiwan’s Child Welfare Law”]
Article 27 Criteria for Court Approved Adoptions
I When approving an adoption, the Court must consider what arrangement is in the best interest of the child. When determining what is in the child
Only slightly off topic, my brother has been in Nepal continuously for the past three months waiting for the process to be completed so he can take his adopted Nepalese baby home. This is his third or fourth trip there for that purpose, the airfare is very expensive, his employment has been on hold for all that time, it has been an emotional rollercoaster and even now that the government of Nepal has approved the adoption and the boy has been living with my brother for months, it is still possible the US could refuse to allow him to bring his son home, which would be tragic. Here’s the very serious lessons learned from his case, that should be applicable to adoptions from any country.
In many countries the various players in the process – birth mother and father, doctor, adoption agency, orphanage, government employees – will lie and submit fraudulent documents in an attempt to make the process easier. Often that’s just standard procedure. Beware, though, that such practices can make it much, much more difficult.
Prior to granting a Visa permitting one to bring the child home, the US will review to ensure that the child qualified as an “orphan” under US law and the adoption complied with US requirements. If shady or fraudulent documents or practices were involved, there’s a good chance the US may deny it, regardless of how strong a case you may have. For your own emotional health, avoid adopting a baby where such documents or practices occurred, or if they did occur get the process re-done honestly, legitimately in compliance with the laws of the US or your home country BEFORE you fly over to pick up your baby. Otherwise you will spend thousands of dollars, go through hell, and may suffer a disastrous result.
If you have further questions, let me know. I did some legal research on the subject and helped my brother find the lawyers that he hired to re-do the process for him.
[quote=“wendy”]I am a single Canadian woman, nearly finished the process of adopting a baby here in taiwan. I just want to tell anyone out there who is facing the prospect of adopting privately (particularily from canada, but possibly from America, too), that I am willing to help. it is tough to get through the red tape, and I had to do it virtually on my own. the adoption is nearly through. I’ve been to court, and am awaiting the homestudy which is a simple last step, or so I am told. (fingers crossed!)
any questions on how to go about privately adopting here, feel free to contact me.[/quote]
And we all wish you and your lucky baby all the best! 
:bravo: 
thanks for the added info, tigerman.
mother theresa: so sorry to hear about your brother’s ordeal. i hope it’s over soon. keep us posted! i guess maybe canada is easier to deal with than the states. i got a letter from the canadian gov’t that says my home province will automatically recognize an adoption that complies with the adoption laws of the country processing the adoption. it’s a bit different as i LIVE in taiwan, so i’m doing the adoption according to taiwan law. canada has nothing to do with it. after the adoption is completed, i can apply for a visa for the baby under my sponsorship and then apply for citizenship after three years of living in canada, OR i can simply apply for citizenship right away, but this way the process may take up to two years or so.
i can imagine how stressful and emotional this whole ordeal is for your brother. at one point, the birthfather of my baby threatened to take the baby back. it was the worst experience of my entire life!!! there is nothing as scary as the threat of losing your child. i will remember them in my prayers.
thanks a lot, stray dog. btw, i also adopted a dog 16 months ago from the neihu “shelter”. his name is jake:) the baby loves him like crazy![/quote]
o yes, hat’s off to you for all your hard work for the animals, stray dog!!!
just wanted to update those who are interested with what’s happening in the adoption process. the court sent a social worker here on wednesday to do a homestudy. she was here for about three hours, and it was basically just question/answer time so she could get a feel for who i am, my plans for isaiah, plans for the future etc. it was really relaxed, she was young and very nice. her english was excellent. i know if you go through the government it’s a lot more gruelling, but with private adoptions, it’s pretty straight forward. if you go through an agency it can cost around 40000nt for the homestudy and it can take up to 10 weeks. this was one visit and no charge.
so we are almost there. the homestudy report will go to the court, and the judge will make the final decision. then they will mail the birthparents and me the verdict. we have 10 days from receiving that letter to appeal the courts decision. after that it’s FINAL, and they send out one more letter to confirm that it’s done. then i take both of the letters to the registration office in tamshui, and do the final stuff.
it’s been crazy, but 7 months later we are almost finished, and i’ve had isaiah since the day he was born. sometimes it works to trust in the crazy randomness of the legal system here and “go with it”! 
I know this post is a little old, but I was wondering if there was still information available about doing a private independant adoption. I am a single American man and I am just starting out trying to adopt. I talked to some lawyers and they all told me that they don’t do it, even though they are on the AIT lawyers list for my area that handle adoptions. I have adopted once before, when I was living in Korea, and my son is still with me. He wants a brother so badly, I wish I had adopted once more in Korea, but he says here is just fine. I know the American laws, and I am willing to wait the 2 years to get his Family visa, as that is what I have done with my son now.
Any info to help me get started would be great. I know almost nothing about private independant adoption here. I live near Taichung, if that helps. Thanks.
Dear All:
I represented my client for an adoption case in December 2008. That is a simple case and luckily we carried it out very smoothly. The mother of child, a philippine with taiwanese nationality wants to marry with an American. This American wants to marry her and intends to adopt this little boy too. They wish go to America and live there. The mother has divorced with her ex-husband for a long time and the birthfather did not quit his custody to the child. As this birthfather does not have a good financial condition to take care his son well, he consented the adoption agreement. However, the court worries about the security problem of the leaving child, thus the judge asked the child some questions about his virtual intention without the presence of his mother and stepfather. After social worker’s visit, we got the permission document issued by the court. The whole process spent about 4 months, but it didn’t take too much money or suffer laborious circumstance.
Maybe someone would ask a question that why should a stepfather adopt his stepson. A stepson and his stepfather have only relations by affinity, but if the father adopt this child, they will have legally relationship by blood. There are many differences between the two relations, including if the mother divorce with the stepfather the relation between stepfather and son, the relation between birthfather and son, and inheritance orders of the stepfather, the son, the birthfahter and the other relatives.
I hope this will be useful for someone who is interested in this field of knowledges.
Lin
I know it’s gauche to quote oneself, but I’ll do it anyway because there’s one woman in the news today who should have read and heeded my advice.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]. . . In many countries the various players in the process – birth mother and father, doctor, adoption agency, orphanage, government employees – will lie and submit fraudulent documents in an attempt to make the process easier. Often that’s just standard procedure. Beware, though, that such practices can make it much, much more difficult.
. . . For your own emotional health, avoid adopting a baby where such documents or practices occurred, or if they did occur get the process re-done honestly, legitimately in compliance with the laws of the US or your home country BEFORE you fly over to pick up your baby. Otherwise you will spend thousands of dollars, go through hell, and may suffer a disastrous result.[/quote]
I’m referring, of course, to that church group in Haiti that tried fleeing the country with a busload of babies and children they claimed to be taking to an orphanage out of the country, but they had no papers whatsoever to show the kids were orphans (and it’s been revealed that some of them aren’t) or that they had a right to take them out of the country. The church group has now been arrested and charged with kidnapping, and rightfully so in my opinion.
I recognize that Haiti’s a disaster right now, and people with legitimate good intentions of helping out will be met with countless hurdles, not just physical, emotional, strategic, etc., but also administrative/bureaucratic, in part because the Haiti govt was already a shambles and now must be barely functional at all.
BUT STILL, anyone with the least bit of experience or interest in adoption should know that you MUST get all the paperwork properly completed. To load 30 kids on a bus and hope to drive them out of the country claiming to be putting them up for adoption, with no paperwork of any kind. . . . the church people were obviously either complete idiots or criminals. But the error is so blatantly obvious that I agree a criminal prosecution is in order.
And, as it turns out, the leader apparently has a long history of paying no heed to her legal obligations.
[quote]The leader of the group of Americans charged on Thursday with abducting children in Haiti is an Idaho businesswoman with a complicated financial history that involves complaints from employees over unpaid wages, state liens on a company bank account and lawsuits in small claims court.
The leader, Laura Silsby, defaulted last July on the mortgage on a house in an unfinished subdivision here in Meridian, a suburb of Boise. . .
Ms. Silsby and her business, Personal Shopper, which provides shopping services for Internet customers, have faced multiple legal claims. According to state records and officials, Personal Shopper has been named 14 times in complaints from employees over unpaid wages. . . .
Employees won nine of the cases, forcing Personal Shopper to pay nearly $31,000 in wages and $4,000 in fines. The Idaho Department of Labor initially put liens on a company bank account to get the money. . . another former employee has sued Personal Shopper in civil court. A jury trial is set for Feb. 22 over a claim by the employee, Robin Oliver, that Personal Shopper owes her more than $22,000.[/quote]
nytimes.com/2010/02/05/world … idaho.html
So, if you’re thinking of adopting, it would be prudent to ensure that it’s all done properly, legitimately. 
OH WOW. This brought back memories! Wendy and her boy now lives back in Canada. Jake the dog too. A while back the same woman who is her boy’s birth mother contacted her to ask if she wants to adopt another one of her children(she was pregnant again…or is), but unfortunately the rules about adopting has changed now.
What are the changes?
I’m not exactly sure. But seemed like she couldn’t do it anymore. Don’t know if it’s because she’s not in the country anymore etc.
Would it be possible for you to find out?
They weren’t idiots or criminals, but rather good Christian folk who thought they were sent to do the work of the Lord. 
Any news on this?
My wife and I are Canadian citizens who have been living and working in Taiwan for the past 7 years. We had our son here 2 years ago and now we are looking into adoption. Does anyone have any info that they can give me? I’ve been researching it but it’s hard to find specific information about living HERE and adopting, there’s lots about trying to adopt from Taiwan while living in Canada.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Sent you a PM.
a PM is great for this poster, but any information that can be shared on the boards will benefit others as well.
Yes - I really want to know more. My husband (US) and I (UK) are trying to decide whether to move back to Taiwan to adopt or go to the US and do it from there…most likely the latter at this point.