Congolese Adoption Details

Beth recently wrote a great post on the steps that occur in an Ethiopian adoption and today I wanted to let you know the steps for a Congolese adoption.

The first thing to note is that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has a few requirements of people adopting through their country.

1. Married couples and singles must be over 25 years old.
2. Singles can adopt children of the same gender.
3. Couples should be married at least 5 years.
4. Couples should have no more than 2 children at home already.* 

* although some exceptions have been known to be made for this rule.

If you meet the requirements set out by the DRC and decide to adopt from there your steps would include:

1. Finding and applying with an agency that preforms Congolese adoptions.
2. Fill out all the paperwork that will make up your dossier, including your homestudy. This usually takes a few months to complete.
3. Get on the waitlist for your referral. Depending on the age and gender you are asking for this usually takes a few months, exact wait times vary from agency to agency. (I should also mention that some agencies that work with the DRC have a list of waiting children to select from so you can pretty much skip this step.)
4. Get your referral. Such a big day! This is the day they send you photos and medical info on your little one and you can decide to accept the referral or wait for a different one.
5. Then a bunch of legal stuff happens, which takes a few months. A court date will take place in the DRC (which we do not have to be present for).
6. Travel! Once all the legal paperwork has been completed then you get to travel to pick up your little one(s)!

If you are familiar with Ethiopian adoptions, or if you read Beth's previous post, you will notice that there isn't a whole lot of difference between the two programs. I am not sure of all the requirements for Ethiopia but I believe the DRC is a little more strict when it comes to the people they allow to adopt in the country. The major difference is the fact that there are two travel dates with Ethiopian adoptions and only one for Congolese.

If you have any questions regarding Congolese adoptions I would love to try to help answer them!