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Slideshow Best photos of the year 2012 Download our Wider Image iPad app Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Putin signs ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian children 2:52pm EST Three New Jersey police officers shot; gunman reported dead 1:54pm EST Expectations low for White House "fiscal cliff" meeting 4:03pm EST Film explores African-Americans' unhealthy "soul food" habit 27 Dec 2012 Indian gang rape victim shows signs of organ failure: hospital 1:50pm EST Discussed 130 UPDATE 1-US administration urges Republicans not to block ‘fiscal cliff’ deal 112 Lawmakers play waiting game with ‘fiscal cliff’ deadline in sight 103 Americans blame Republicans more than Democrats for ”fiscal cliff”: Reuters/Ipsos poll Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption Top grossing actors Robert Downey Jr. is the top grossing actor of 2012, according to Forbes.com. Slideshow Gift cards for guns Police traded gift cards for guns during a Los Angeles buyback program. Slideshow Would-be adoptive parents look beyond Russia Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Children, many ill, would be victims of Russia ban on U.S. adoption Wed, Dec 26 2012 Russian lawmakers back adoption ban in dispute with U.S. Fri, Dec 21 2012 Putin backs tit-for-tat response to U.S. rights law Thu, Dec 20 2012 Special Report: The Unequal State of America - Lean times for the "undeserving poor" Thu, Dec 20 2012 Special Report: The Unequal State of America - Why education is no longer the "great equalizer" Wed, Dec 19 2012 Analysis & Opinion Does Head Start work? China is the elephant in the situation room Related Topics U.S. » World » Money » Investing Simplified » Lifestyle » Russia » Orphan children play in their bedroom at an orphanage in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, December 19, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Vladimir Konstantinov By Kathleen Kingsbury and Lauren Young NEW YORK | Fri Dec 28, 2012 3:16pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Russia's new ban on U.S. adoptions is the latest setback for hopeful American parents as countries increasingly impose restrictions. Other countries, including China and Guatemala, have erected hurdles for adoptive families as they create their own domestic adoption programs. The signing of the Hague Convention on adoption in 2008 drastically improved regulation of the process, which had been rife with corruption. But it has also led to a slowdown in adoptions or shutdowns in some countries. Internal politics and abuse concerns are additional reasons why countries have tightened controls. In 2004, U.S. citizens adopted 22,991 children who had been born abroad, an all-time high, according to Adoptive Families magazine. By 2011, that number had fallen to 9,319. (For a graphic view of how international adoptions have fallen in various countries, see link.reuters.com/tut84t) There are still other options for Americans wanting to adopt an international child. Bulgaria, Columbia and many African nations are some of the new, go-to countries for U.S. adoptions. But even that's not a sure thing. For would-be adoptive parents the best bet is to widen their search to include special needs kids, sibling groups and older children. AFRICA'S ADOPTION EXPLOSION Africa, which represented 22 percent of adoptions in 2009, is expected to be a bigger player in the future. "A decade ago, there were very few adoptions (in Africa)," according to Susan Soonkeum Cox, vice president policy and external affairs at Holt International, a Christian adoption organization. "Now, there's an explosion." African countries seeing an increase in adoptions include South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Ivory Coast. Adoptions in Ethiopia, meanwhile, have declined from a peak of 2,511 in 2010 as the country overhauled its oversight process. But it is still a viable option, Cox said. Cox advises working with an adoption agency that has staff on the ground in Africa and other countries to handle paperwork and advocate for U.S. families. Other countries that still welcome American adoptions include Bulgaria and Colombia, said Megan Montgomery, international adoption coordinator for Adoption Star, based in Amherst, New York. Adoption Star primarily deals with adoptions from Bulgaria, a country that has gone from five placements in 2008 to 75 adoptions in 2011. Placements from Vietnam and Cambodia, which shuttered their U.S. adoption programs, should resume soon, adoption experts say. FAMILIES CAN'T FLIP A SWITCH Adoptions of Russian children peaked in 2004, according to Dale Eldridge, coordinator of adoptive services at Jewish Family Services' Adoption Choices, a non-profit adoption program based in Framingham, Massachusetts. Right now, fewer than 50 U.S. adoptions of Russian children are formally in the works while another 250 U.S. families have identified kids they would like to adopt, adoption experts said. Unfortunately, families that already have started an adoption in Russia can't just flip a switch and redirect their efforts to another country. "I wish it was as simple as taking some families who have been waiting (for Russian children) to just move over to another country," said David Nish, chief program officer at Spence-Chapin, a U.S.-based adoption agency that finds homes for children in the United States and around the world. "But it's a whole other process." That's because every country has its own eligibility requirements. Criteria can include parents' marital status, age of the parents, employment, financial status, medical issues, and even the age difference between the adoptive parents and adoptee child. The adoption process remains restrictive for single-sex couples. And the cost can be prohibitive. For example, the median fee in 2011 was $8,000 for the Dominican Republic, $15,355 in Panama and $26,063 in South Africa, according to the U.S. State Department's Intercountry Adoption Annual Report. Adoption fees for many of the 30-plus countries on the State Department's list are in the range of $20,000. That's not including travel costs. Even so, international adoptions are often cheaper than domestic ones for newborn babies, which can cost $40,000 or more. OLDER CHILDREN To speed up the process, would-be adoptive parents should consider a school-age child, experts say. According to the State Department, 233,934 international adoptions were made by Americans from 1999 to 2011. Nearly 94,000 of those adoptions involved children under the age of one. Just about 20,000 children aged three or four were adopted during that period. And for kids aged 5 to 12, it was 29,712. The benefit of adopting a school-age child is that it is easier to identify developmental and emotional problems ahead of time. "There's more you can do to prepare and put resources in place to support what they need," Spence-Chapin's Nish said. School-aged children can be challenging if pre-adoptive experiences affect their development, he said. A special needs child is also a possibility. One way to fast-track an international adoption may be to apply for a child with known medical or special needs, said Adoption Star's Montgomery. "For families with resources, it can be great option," Montgomery said. "Of course, you really have to find the right family to take on that kind of known medical need." Special needs can range from a baby born with a minor medical problem, such as a cleft palate, to more serious issues, such as a heart condition, blindness or spina bifida. "It's not about families getting a child quicker," Nish said. "It's about a family accepting a child into their household that they can provide for and love and nurture." China's Waiting Child program, which includes children who have special needs or correctable medical conditions or are part of sibling groups, has wait times that are typically much shorter than the traditional program, according to Adoptive Families magazine. In 2011, more than half of adoptions from China were through this program. Would-be parents must be prepared to wait. The Associated Services for International Adoption, a non-profit adoption group, says the wait time for an adoption referral in China is 73 months as the country has clamped down on U.S. adoptions. "If the wait time is becoming impractical, it's better to close the intake process" and start again, advised Holt's Cox. Tracy Downey and her husband, Jason, who live in suburban Des Moines, Iowa, tried to go the traditional international Chinese adoption route in 2006. But after waiting for 18 months to bring home a baby from China, Tracy switched gears and started combing the official Chinese list of children with special needs along with additional lists from adoption agencies and orphanages. The Downeys have since adopted a daughter, Angel, along with two sons - Corban and Tegan - from China, all with large, potentially disfiguring moles known as a giant congenital nevi. They started the process to bring home the two boys, now aged 3-1/2, last January. It took about 10 months. Aside from their large moles - which are on two of the children's faces and on the other's lower body - all three kids are healthy and thriving, Tracy said. "If we wanted a non-special needs child, we'd still be waiting," Tracy said. (Follow us @ReutersMoney or here; Additional reporting by Chelsea Emery and Beth Pinsker Gladstone; Editing by Linda Stern and Steve Orlofsky) U.S. World Money Investing Simplified Lifestyle Russia Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. 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