Adopting after moving to Australia

My dear ILites from Australia

I have read the threads we have on the forum "Adoption" here on IL. It is quite informative and gives views on all aspects of adoption. But most of the members are either from India or US or Middle East. I was looking for some reply from anyone living in Australia.

I am not sure if this should be posted in that forum or here. Since I am hoping to hear from people here in Australia, I decided to pick this space. I am sure the moderators will guide me if I have come to the wrong place.

Just a few things that have been brewing in my head for a while. Are there any IL members here in Australia, who have adopted kid(s), after coming to Australia? How easy or difficult was it? I have heard of long waiting periods - is that true? I have heard people who have waited for 3-4yrs before the baby comes to their house !! Really hats off to their commitment and patience. Also each state here seem to have different rules and regulations for adoption. There was a talk about standardising it. What are the requirements - ( healthwise or financial status or Age specifications etc etc )

Being in Victoria, I would love to hear from members in Victoria, but others are also welcome to contribute. How easy was it for you to come up with the decision of adoption? Also are there any members who are holding dual citizenships? Was the procedure a bit easier for you or even more difficult as you had to get clearance from the governments of the different countries you hold citizenships for? What age is too old to think about adoption?

I seem to be swinging between YES I want to and NO I dont want to. Not able to come to a final decision. I keep doubting if I will be able to do my duties as a mother to this new child. Do I have patience ? Do I have the stamina ? What happens if we dont have children? How come many people have no problems deciding and I am the only one who seem to be so doubtful about everything? Having a child is so natural for majority of the population but I have never felt that way. But at the same time I feel I am missing out by not having kids. Or maybe I feel left out as not being part of the vast majority..............That is my current status !

Hope to hear from you.

Dear Knot2share,

This is a lovely thread. Pls do not close it as yet. I am sure there will be a responce sooner or later.

ADOPTION-a huge decision in itself. It is very easy to say "Go ahead" do it. But how many ofus have the guts to actually do so?

I amsure there will be members in the Parenting forum who can answer your question.

Since this deals specifically with Vic, I will keep it here.

Brgds,

Corallux

Dear Knot2share, If you are already an Australian citizen It's not difficult to get a dual citizenship for India. You can go online and get connected to Indian consulate and click on OCI form. Once you fill up and send this online form part-A, then and there you get the form-B and a reference number. Please download this form-B and mail it along with the required documents to the consulate. After that you will get the instructions from the consulate regarding how you have to proceed.You should be able to get your dual citizenship within five to six weeks.
Regarding the adoption, first you have to make up your mind as to what exactly you want. Since I know nothing about you I am not qualified to give any advice. Our niece who lives in Perth has recently adopted a baby from India and they both have gone to India to see the baby for the first time. I can get the details about the procedures and legal formalities for you-provided you are really keen on this. Please think hundred times before you take a decision.
Monifa

Dear Monifa
Firstly thank you so much for replying. Been a month since I posted this and I was wondering if anybody would actually reply or not. Glad to see a reply.

I do have a dual citizenship. So that is not a problem. Mainly I am still not sure what it is that I want - meaning should I have a child or not. I totally understand your advice when you ask me to think 100 times before I make a decision. Thank you again for reiterating on that.

It is great to know that your neice has adopted a child from India. Congratulation to them both! I always admire people who have been able to make up a decision on that (whether it is a YES or a NO, does not matter, as long as a decision is made). Do they also have dual citizenship? Any idea how long they had to wait ? Also I think the legal requirements in WA is different to that in VIC, if I am right.

I know I have not made up my mind yet, but I guess it won't harm to find out all the procedure and legal requirements needed for an adoption. I don't know if that is the best approach for me at the moment or wait till I decide and then find out about all the legalities??

But I am really glad to hear from you. Now I know that I can ask you for any information that you can give me regarding adoption, when I am ready to do so. I owe you a lot for the reply.

Thank you kindly.

Hello knot2share,

Sorry for barging in since you were more interested in locale specific procedure but I could not help wonder the reason behind the adoption.

Is it because you want to have kids but unable to at the moment[as you mentioned in your post that what if I don't].Does that mean you are ready for motherhood ? But you have also mentioned that you doubt if you would be able to fulfil your duties as a mother with loads of patience during those teething years.Patience and stamina are required even if you were to have your own child.

I could not make out from your post if you are fond of having /adopting kids because somewhere deep in the mind you do not want to alter the lifestyle you are leading now and dreading the new responsibilities.That could mean asking yourself 'Do I want kids' ?

Pardon me but I felt it is more to do with having kids or not and later you can decide if you need to go in for adoption.

I am sorry if I have misconstrued your post.Take care.

Dear Sabitha

Thank you for jumping in. You have not misconstrued anything and I feel you have understood it well just by reading my confused post. I am ready for motherhood, or to be specific, I was ready at one point. But things never went in favour for us. I am not willing to go through it again. That might be a negative way of thinking because I have heard of lots of women who never gave up and kept trying multiple times. I salute them, but I do not have the strength in me to go through that again. It need not turn out the same way like before, but I don't want to take the risk of losing again. So the thought of maybe adoption is the way to go....Hope I am able to give you some idea of my state.

Yes deep inside me, I have become comfortable with my current lifestyle that I am leading and do not feel like changing that. May sound selfish but that is how I feel. Not sure if we have left the decision too late. You probably are thinking that my lifestyle was never an issue for me when I was trying to have a child on my own, but it suddenly seem to have become one when I think of adoption... In fact you probably have just helped me here. I never thought of that before. Patience and stamina and the rest will always be required be it our own child or adopted - Yes that is right too.

So what you said is absolutely true. The question 'Do I want kids?" needs an answer, before I can move ahead.

I was being locale specific because if we do decide on going for adoption, I wanted to know what the procedure is like for a person living here with dual citizenship.

Thanks for stepping in Sabitha.

Dear Knot2share, Thank you for your beautiful reply. Regarding the adoption I can sense a lot of hesitation and lack of confidence within your mind. Nothing wrong in being like that because this is not a minor issue. Take your own time and if you need my help I am always here. Both our niece and her husband are not Australian citizens and each state has a different law here. When needed I will get all the details for you.
monfa13

Could you please give me the details iam an australian citizen and have OCI and my husband is going to get citizenship and OCI soon . Could you please provide the details I wanted to adopt a child

Originally Posted by blessbabydust

Could you please give me the details iam an australian citizen and have OCI and my husband is going to get citizenship and OCI soon . Could you please provide the details I wanted to adopt a child

Hi Blessbabydust

Nice to meet you and congratulations on making the first step: DECISION.
I stumbled upon the below website which sounds very good from what I can gather by reading. Please have a read yourself.

Adoption Australia - International and Australia Adoption Information


Hopefully Monifa will read your request too and respond asap.

Dear Knot2Share,

Although I dont have any information about the adoption process, I would just like to say that what you are thinking of is a beautiful thing and even if you decide finally to not go ahead with it, it is still okay. No one will judge you for that.

I pray that you may be guided along the right path and can make your decision.