Victoria has current arrangements in place with:
*Chile *Lithuania
*China *Hong Kong
*India *Philippines
*Korea *Sri Lanka
*Thailand *Ethiopia
It is potentially possible to adopt from other countries that have ratified the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children. However, as there is no established program, it will take a lot longer, and it depends on whether that country wishes to place children in Australia.
We are applying to adopt from China. One of the main reasons is that Jerome is of Chinese ethnicity so we already include some Chinese customs (and food!) in our family life. This will hopefully make it easier for the child to adjust to and become part of our family.
Each country has its own criteria.
Some of China's main criteria are:
*Minimum age = 30
*Maximum age = 45 for 0-2 y.o. child
*Married for min. 2 years (2nd marriage min. 5 years)
*No more than 4 children
*Extensive health criteria must be met, incl BMI restrictions, no significant disease (incl epilepsy), and many physical disabilities are ineligible (eg. paraplegic, deaf, etc)
*No criminal record/convictions
This depends on what country the child is adopted from. For China about 95% of adopted children are girls and most are aged 12 months to 2 years old.
Adoption Summary
Koh Family home