India Waiting Child: “Kelly”
Today we would like to introduce you to “Kelly”, a little girl in India. She is a beautiful girl with brown hair and brown eyes who is almost 3 years old. “Kelly” is blind and is in need of a forever family who is called to adopt a child with blindness.
“Kelly” is an expressive little girl who loves to smile. Her favorite activity is rolling around on her sides.
There are many blind children in the India Program waiting to be adopted. Please join us in praying for “Kelly” and children like her who are waiting for their forever families.
This is a shared referral. For more information on “Kelly” or other waiting children in India, please contact India@awaa.org.
More About India Adoption
India’s international adoption process is done in accordance with Hague Convention guidelines on intercountry adoption of children.
After being accepted into the India Program, families are assigned a Family Coordinator, who will be their main point of contact through the entire adoption process. With the help of the Family Coordinator, parents begin collecting documents for the “dossier,” which is a compilation of paperwork that will be sent to India to show the parents are qualified to adopt. During the home study process, which is part of compiling the dossier, the social worker visits the family’s home and the family completes training and preparations to show they are prepared to parent an adopted child. Families will discuss their child request and if they are open to medical needs or adopting older children. America World has many recommended resources and training to assist families with this process.
After completion of home study and dossier, a family is able to receive a referral as soon once their home study is uploaded on CARINGS and reviewed and approved by CARA. The CARINGS database is an internal website portal where America World can upload the parent’s home study and eventually the parents will be matched to a specific child. Families of Indian heritage also have the opportunity to be matched by CARA directly. A family is able to receive a referral as soon as their home study is uploaded on CARINGS and reviewed and approved by CARA. The wait time to review a referral will depend on the family’s child requests and the children who are available for adoption.
After a family receives a referral, they review it with medical professionals, international specialists, and their social worker. If a family accepts the referral, America World will help the complete the necessary paperwork. America World Adoption sends the completed dossier and referral paperwork directly to the orphanage for further processing. Families will then wait 8-18 months as a general timeframe for approval to occur within India, each family’s process and time frame vary. America World will assist the family in understanding these approvals and paperwork processes.
After the approvals have occurred and the child has received their Indian passport, the family travels to the orphanage and will be accompanied by an America World guide. The family travels to Delhi to complete the child’s medical exam and visa paperwork. The total time in India can range from 10-14 days. America World’s staff will coordinate travel logistics, including air and ground transportation, lodging, and some meals. Upon returning home, the America World’s post-adoption department will assist the family with adjusting to life with their new child and understanding the re-adoption and post-adoption report requirements.
We invite you to join our India team as they lead a free informational webinar about adopting from India on Wednesday, March 21st.
Contact our India team with questions at India@awaa.org or 800-429-3369. PRE-APPLY for free to get pre-approved, or if you meet all the India requirements you can begin the process immediately be completing a full APPLICATION.