Australia currently has active adoption arrangements with 13 countries, allowing Australians to adopt children through an official Australian intercountry adoption program.
The 2019-20 Adoption Australia report shows that out of 334 adoptions finalised in 2019-20, there were 37 intercountry adoptions, marking the 15th consecutive year of decline in overseas adoption numbers.
To start the adoption process, you will need to contact your state and territory central authority or STCA, who may ask you to fill out an expression of interest or complete a questionnaire for pre-assessment of eligibility.
Your STCA may also ask you to attend interviews with an adoption assessor and undertake health, police and referee checks.
Single parent Deb Brook applied to adopt a child from China. She ended up waiting for over a decade, during which she got involved in helping others through a support group on Facebook called Adoption Australia.
“It took me over 12 years with China’s program, which changed several years ago, or actually over a decade it changed suddenly, and the wait went from a couple of years to 10, 14, 15 years plus. I have heard of people getting through in a few years, but it’s extremely rare.”
Click on the player at the top of the page to listen to this audio in Punjabi.
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