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Adoption
DRC
Hello! I've been lurking for quite some time and I thought I'd finally come out of hiding. This board is very fun to read simply because you are so encouraging and supportive!
We are looking into IA and would like to begin the process soon. Because of the current age of our children, my husband's job (which would not allow longer in-country stays), and our ages (under 30), we eliminated many countries right off the bat. The Democratic Republic of Congo is currently our front-runner. Anyone have experience with this particular country? Or have a suggestion for another country that might work for us?
Also, does anyone have experience with MLJ Adoptions? Please PM if you do!
Thanks so much in advance for your insight!!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: DRC
We had been seriously considering IA.... and DRC popped up as an option. We had many of the same criteria that you did... young girls and wanted limited travel time. Ultimately, though, I felt more comfortable with Ethiopia even though travel was a bit more extensive. DRC concerns me (and take this with a grain of salt!) because it is a new program. If you look at the longevity of many new programs you'll see that some fold right away.
Another intriguing country was Ghana... a bit more travel than DRC but still relatively short. For a while, agencies made it seem like all referrals were over 2 but more and more infant referrals seem to pop up.
Last comment... MLJ seemed expensive to me compared to other programs.... no experience but they seemed to run high.
PS- Is MLJ opening up Marshall Islands pilot?? I think it was MLJ... that intrigued me too....
** I share all of this as just research information. But since we had similar criteria, it might be helpful
Thank you so much for your feedback!! It is really helpful to hear someone else's thoughts. It does make me nervous that its relatively new. My husband is really interested in Samoa, which is even newer, so I consider this a little more stable! (it's a pilot program with MLJ) MLJ is a little more expensive, but they've been doing DRC as long as its been open and it's local for us. How important is a local agency, in your opinion? I know it's entirely possible to do it from the distance, but we thought it might be nice.
Oh and I don't know anything about Marshall Islands, but it looks like One World Adoptions is opening up a pilot program there.
I think MLJ is a very reputable agency. DRC seems to be going pretty smoothly in the IA world, but be prepared for that to change any minute (as with most newer country programs). I do know a couple kiddos home from the DRC. It's one of the few countries left that you can adopt very young children (less than one year at homecoming).
If a close friend was asking me for advice and they were new to IA (as in don't already have kiddos at home who joined the family through IA), I would probably steer them away from programs like Samoa or Marshall Islands. Both countries have long long histories of problems and are definitely not for the faint of heart.