Adopting children from Armenia

[karoaper]

As you know, in the past 10 years or so, the orphan problem in Armenia has become quite bad, especially considering it was almost non-existent for decades . There were orphans from the earthquake of course, but so many children becoming orphans because their parents were either too poor, too sick or both to care for them, is truely a sad state of affairs. I tried to get info on the net on the actual number of orphans. I found only referrence to it on this blog.

http://aramanoogian.blogspot.com/200...s-to-sell.html

"According to the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, there are currently about one thousand children living in Armenia’s eight state-run orphanages and another 250 in five institutions run by private charities."

Also, "A senior official at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs said on Thursday that 68 Armenian orphans found adopted parents abroad last year, compared with about 60 such cases reported in 2004. The latest figure is only slightly down from a record-high 76 adoptions reported by the authorities in 2003.".

In fact this idea of foreign adoption of Armenian children is kind of complex, because even though the rules require that the adopting parent(s) have some ties to Armenian culture and roots, in reality these constraints are easy to bypass. So, on one hand, the idea of our children probably loosing all ties to anything Armenian is very bleak and unnerving, on the other hand a child growing up without parents is probably one of the saddest and most shameful things in this life and every child needs to have a parent.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...m_armenia.html

My friend here has adopted 7 children from Vietnam and I can attest that it is an incredibly rewarding thing. Two of her children had HIV from their mother and have now beaten it (note: infants born HIV positive can beat the HIV virus, if only they were well nutrutioned and given the necessary medical care). It's certainly not easy either, especially with older children, because usually they will have some very deep-seeded emotional/psychological problems that will take years and years of patience and counseling to work out. So, who's planning (or seriously considering) on adopting children from Armenia in their lifetime? For myself, I have kind of promised myself to do everything I can to adopt couple of children.

If you have already adopted or in the process of adopting, put it under A. Also, while children of any race and ethnicity need parents, I as an Armenian care foremost about Armenian chlidren and thus the poll is about adopting Armenian children.

[Armenian]

Re: Adopting children from Armenia

How about option D: I can't adopt anymore children, I have enough mouths to feed.

I personally know of two Armenian-American families who adopted an Armenian child from Armenia. I think adopting an orphan is the most nobel thing one can do in this life. Needless to say, it does have its serious problems.

As a father, I would like to say that this is a very emotional matter for me. Look at your child, realize how much you love them, and then imagine them being totally alone and without love in this world.

Good post Karo, I admire your spirit.

[karoaper]

Re: Adopting children from Armenia

How about option D: I can't adopt anymore children, I have enough mouths to feed.

I personally know of two Armenian-American families who adopted an Armenian child from Armenia. I think adopting an orphan is the most nobel thing one can do in this life. Needless to say, it does have its serious problems.

As a father, I would like to say that this is a very emotional matter for me. Look at your child, realize how much you love them, and then imagine them being totally alone and without love in this world.

Good post Karo, I admire your spirit.

Thanks.
I kind of screwed up on option B, but it's for the case when the spirit is willing, but the physical reality is difficult. Those of us, for whom this possibility is still in the future will need to a) achieve a decent level of financial security, b) be ready to make plans (along with our partners) concerning biological offspring and c) be willing to accept drama (varying depending on the age of the child) in the home.
Like you said though, it is very heart-breaking and the fact that they're Armenian children makes it more so.

[Sip]

Re: Adopting children from Armenia

I seriously thought imporbable was a word

Option C for me. I don't care what nationality the kid is. Plus I already have one big kid to take care of and that's me.

[Fedayeen]

Re: Adopting children from Armenia

Isn't in super duper hard to adobt a kid from Armenia?

I mean $$$ wise.

[Fedayeen]

Re: Adopting children from Armenia

Because someone i know, that about 8 years ago were trying to get a kid and bring to America...they spend like $20,000 and still couldn't do it and gave up.

[karoaper]

Re: Adopting children from Armenia

Actually, Armenia is better than a load of other countries in the following ways:

The list/register of children is maintained centrally and all the decisions are made case-by-case by the government. That's why there aren't any licensed agencies, because at least in theory a parent only needs to deal with the government agency (i.e Adoption Commision). This makes it much easier to a) choose a child and b) reduces the risk of such nightmares as stolen babies or misinformation about the child's history, etc. Many countries have decentralized registers and they're a pain in the ass. My friend who I mentioned and who has been my inspiration for this co-runs a non-profit agency mostly for southeast Asia, but she had researched Armenia and was telling me that supposedly it's better than many.

The fees of the government are actually (at least on the paper) dirt cheap. The problem arizes from the usual MO of the Armenian beaurocratic process: that is if you want things to go smoothly you need to bribe the people involved, otherwise be ready for major pain. Also, the adoption process is still in the reform process and the government is still working to clean up the process. Eight years ago, I can imagine how messy and unorganized it was still. I would think it's much better now. Also, I've read that the whole thing would cost you now around 9 to 15K.

[karoaper]

Re: Adopting children from Armenia

I seriously thought imporbable was a word

Option C for me. I don't care what nationality the kid is. Plus I already have one big kid to take care of and that's me.

I created that option just for you dude. Actually, I'm gonna have to disown that same kid, with major difficulty, before I can begin to get close to this dream.

[Anonymouse]

Re: Adopting children from Armenia

I would seriously consider the idea of adopting a child from Armenia, but the child has to be close to an infant, since I would want upbringing to matter alot.

[Crissy]

Re: Adopting children from Armenia

Whilst in Armenia in 2003, my friend and I visited the Orphanage in Taron - Lori (Vanadzor).
We had already pre planned it from here, so we had gifts, souvenirs etc. We were told, prior to going to Armenia that there were around 20 children there. There were in fact 120 children varying in ages from infancy to 17 years old whose parents could no longer take care of them. It was so heartbreaking to see these kids, there were twin girls, about 3 months old, whose mother couldn't look after them, so she had brought them in, the father had run off to Russia with some other lady and she already had 3 other kids to look after.
These girls were adopted by an American Armenian family.

The kids were great, they gave a concert for us, showed us around their rooms and where they studied etc. gave us letters and photographs. It was very touching to know what these kids go through and yet their spirits were so high.

One particular girl who was around 7, came running into the headmasters room screaming with excitement "my mum is here, my mum is here, what do i do?" you couldn't help yourself but cry. We went back a few times and each time taking them gifts and candy.

Few of the older girls had just started university and few others the music conservatorium. It was an amazing experience.

As for adopting, I heard they have made it harder to adopt kids from Armenia, but should be looking into it, as it is something I'd really like to do. In the meantime, for my birthday I have asked my parents not to buy anything and instead we are sponsoring a child in Armenia.

Great post Kar jan, just don't disown that big kid in you, it might come in handy when you need to entertain the rest of the kids