Colombia Adoption Program: The Children

Colombia is a great program for adopting infants of African heritage (Afro-Colombian), babies with special needs, as well as older children and sibling groups of any ethnicity. Once a child is referred, travel to pick up your child occurs within weeks. No longer taking referrals for mestizo infants. There is a high quality of care for children waiting to be adopted and lots of information available on the children.

Colombian children may have a mixture of Spanish, Indigenous and African heritage. The mixing of races gives Colombia an ethnic mosaic, reflected in its culture, folklore, arts and crafts. Children being placed for adoption range in age from infancy to fifteen years. Most of the children placed each year are infants, however, many older children and sibling groups are waiting for families.

Most children in need of adoption come from extremely impoverished families with little or no education. Generally speaking, children are either relinquished by a birth mother into the care of a private placing agency or declared abandoned and referred for adoption by the government.

The majority of birth mothers who relinquish their children through private orphanages have received services at the shelter associated with that orphanage. The mission of the shelter is to assist pregnant women at risk by offering them health programs to promote their general well being, prevent unwanted pregnancies and provide them with pre and post-natal care.

Older children and sibling groups who are in the private orphanage system receive wonderful care and a good education. Children receive psychological counseling and language training. Thus, they are especially well prepared for the life changes that adoption brings. The orphanage is staffed with excellent physicians, child psychologists and an elementary school. Upon referral of a child, prospective parents often receive information about the birth parent, and a socio-developmental evaluation for older children.

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