Tell me about the children from Brazil.

Children from Brazil range in age from five years old and up, and many sibling groups are available. Younger children ages two to three years old and up may be available for Brazilians residing in the United States. Families may specify gender of child, and there tend to be more boys than girls available. Adopting more than one child at a time is not difficult in Brazil since many sibling groups are available, particularly if you are flexible with age and gender. The children primarily come from the states of Pernambuco, Rio de Janiero, Sau Paulo, and Parana, and are of mixed Spanish, Indigenous, and African descent.

The children reside in orphanages, and many are placed there due to single motherhood or removal from their homes by social services. This program is unique in that adoptive families usually receive substantial medical and social history regarding the child prior to travel. Often times our foreign representatives are able to provide photographs and even video of the child, and obtain answers to additional questions posed by the potential adoptive family or their medical specialist. Children receive good care while in the orphanage, including medical, dental, psychological, and transitional counseling to prepare them for adoption .

Adoptive Parent Eligibility

There are many children in Brazil available for adoption longing for a family, and Brazil welcomes many different types of families. Brazil will accept both couples and singles as adoptive parents, and are flexible about the parent's age, number of children, length of marriage and prior divorces. Single applicants should be prepared for a longer wait unless they are open to adopting a waiting child.

Process

Once we obtain your home study, Immigration Approval, and receive all dossier documentation, your dossier can be authenticated. After authentication your completed dossier will be sent abroad for translation and then submitted to the Brazilian adoption board, CEJA. Each state in Brazil has its own CEJA, and families can apply to more than one state if willing to pay for the costs of authenticating additional dossiers. This governmental entity, CEJA, makes the referrals of the children. There are social workers, psychologists, judges, and district attorneys on board. If a family chooses to wait for a referral from the CEJA, the average wait ranges from 5 to 10 months, depending upon the age and gender of the child.

We also have on average over thirty children waiting for families available for immediate referral. Depending upon the availability of children matching your preferences, we may begin showing you photographs and medical information about available children once your dossier is registered in Brazil. You may consider one child at a time in order to obtain an independent medical consultation. If the specialist has supplemental questions, we will make every reasonable effort to get those questions answered. After a medical consultation and acceptance of a referral, you may usually travel with 45 days to complete your adoption.

Both parents are required to attend the adoption court hearing abroad. The bi-lingual foreign representative will accompany you during the process abroad and will handle all of your legal paperwork. The average stay in Brazil is 3 weeks for a younger child and 5 ½ weeks for an older child, depending upon the judge and the region to which you are traveling. Both parents must stay for 30 days, and then one of the parents may return to the US if necessary while the other completes the process. Families stay in hotels in the region where child resides for the majority of the trip, and then travel to Rio de Janeiro for US Immigration approval before returning home.