| International adoption is a kind of adoption, through | | | | requirements for the parents, which in fact rule out |
| which a couple or an individual becomes the | | | | international adoptions. One of the examples is |
| permanent and legal parent of a child, who is born in | | | | Malawi, where residency is required for adopting a |
| some other country. Generally, prospective parents | | | | child. |
| must fulfill the legal adoption requirements of the | | | | Some of the African nations like Ethiopia are very |
| child's nation as well as country of their own. | | | | much open to international adoption. That is why |
| The necessary requirements for beginning the | | | | Ethiopian Adoption has become a popular option for |
| international adoption process vary, depending up on | | | | the American families. As per the U.S. Department of |
| the country of parent. For instance, in most of the | | | | State, in the year 2005, 441 orphans' visas were |
| countries, adoptive parents are required to get | | | | issued to Ethiopian children, while in 2006 the number |
| approval first, while in few, either state agency or | | | | of visas increased to 732. |
| private adoption agency approves the adoption. In | | | | Apart from China and korea, Philippines is an another |
| case of the United States, the first stage of the | | | | Asian nation, which has flexible international adoption |
| process begins with selection of an international | | | | policy. According to U.S. State Department, Philippines |
| adoption agency. Each agency works with a particular | | | | adoption reached to the number 265 during 2007. |
| group of countries, though few focus on only one | | | | Hence, by looking at the statistics given below we |
| country. Some countries permit independent adoption, | | | | can conclude that international adoption is on its |
| which is least costly and the parent does not need to | | | | increasing trend- |
| contact an agency to complete the whole process. | | | | According to U.S. State Department, countries for |
| However, adoption is a tough process for the first | | | | international adoption by American parents for year |
| time adopting parents. | | | | 2007 include – |
| Country wise, the laws differs, and is dependent up | | | | Guatemala - 4728, China - 5453, Russia -2310, South |
| on nation's willingness and openness to international | | | | Korea -939, Vietnam – 828, Kazakhstan - 540, |
| adoption. Few countries, like Korea and China have | | | | Ukraine - 606, India - 416, Colombia – 310 and |
| established procedures and rules for international | | | | Liberia – 353. Recently, Vietnam signed treaty for |
| adoption, while many African nations forbid it. Some | | | | openings the doors for adoption. |
| of the African nations have extended residency | | | | |