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questions to ask an agency

below is a list of questions that helped make our decision on the agency and country we’re choosing to adopt from. please note, that we were already informed of the general timeline, process and financial responsibilities, so these questions are a bit beyond that info and maybe a little personal to our own situation.

• There are a couple other agencies that have pulled their program out of
  Country A, why is your program (with Country A) different?
• How is the polio outbreak (or other current health issue) effecting referrals
• Is this your orphanage in-country, or another facilitators?
• How are the children located and placed?
• How does their referral/choosing process work in this program?
  
• What health issues should we be aware of in this country?
  
• What are the average wait times right now for referrals for girls and boys?
  
• How (& how often) do you communicate with the orphanage in-country? Do you have someone on your staff that works full time in-country?
  
• How long have you been hague accredited, and how long have you been working within this country?
• Do you provide any financial guidance or have resources to help us in fund-raising efforts?
  
• Are we going to work with one (the same) caseworker throughout the process?
• We are in a different state from your agency, what can we expect for a home study travel cost or any added cost for contracting with local home study agents?
  
• How many children have been placed in this program in 2009, 2010 and is there a goal for 2011?
• How is pre & post-adoption education handled with us being out of state?
• What is your role, and can we speak directly with the caseworker too before we make our decision?
• Whats your average response time for questions from adopting couples?
• What if we get pregnant during the process? (some agencies actually make you pull out of the program completely if you become pregnant)
  
• When we travel to Country B, do we travel with other adopting parents?
• Since we cannot travel to Country C, how is the travel handled?
• What is the difference in timeline if adopting 2 children at the same time?
• If adopting 2 children, do they have to be biological siblings?
• What happens in a worse-case scenario? For example the country closes or a biological family member comes and claims our referred child?
• Can we track our progress online?
• What’s the next step?