Thailand is a country in Asian that borders Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Myanmar. Thailand presents prospective adoptive parents with another smaller, Asian international adoption option.

Parent requirements- Parents need to be at least 25 years old and no more than 40 years older than the child being adopted. Older couples or couples with one older parent may be approved for waiting children. Parents should be married for at least three years and up to two divorces are accepted per couple. Smaller families are preferred, with no more than two children already in the home,... more

I was unaware that adoptions were currently possible from Mongolia, but a friend pointed out that they were and asked me to include Mongolia on my list of “transracial adoption options”, so here it is.

Please note that I was only able to find three agencies who claimed to have Mongolia adoption programs, and I also found a very out of date (from June of 2002) note on the U.S. Dept. of State website that stated that adoptions from Mongolia were currently not recommended because the Mongolian adoptions did not meet the U.S. immigration requirements. Again, this note was almost... more

Taiwan is one another one of those smaller Asian adoption programs that seems to be getting more and more attention as parents look for options other than the long referral waits associated with China and Korea. In 2005 the USCIS reported 141 adopted children from Taiwan coming into the U.S. on immigrant visas.

Taiwan is a small island off of mainland China, with a population of over 22 million people. Birth mothers in Taiwan are given the option of choosing a family for their baby, which is unlike most international adoption programs. The birth mothers in Taiwan are well... more

Hong Kong is a transracial adoption option that is lesser known than many of the other adoption programs and yet while it is a smaller adoption program, it is a wonderful option for the right families.

Because of the fact that there are many Hong Kong residents who desire to adopt healthy infants, almost all of international adoptions from Hong Kong are special needs adoptions. Hong Kong adoptions are NOT processed along with China adoptions, and Hong Kong has its own adoption regulations, procedures and authorities. All adoptions are processed through the Hong Kong Social... more

While it is not as big of an adoption program as some of the other Asian programs, a steady stream of families have been adopting from the Philippines since the last seventies. The children available for adoption are of Asian/Malay/Spanish descent, and come from orphanages and foster care throughout the Philippines. Children are available for adoption due to social, economic and other reasons.

Parent Requirements- Parents should be at least 27 years old, and no more than 47 years older than the child they are adopting. Married couples must have been married at least three years... more

It has already been pointed out to me (thanks Vicki!) that I have “missed” an Asian country. So Hong Kong will be added to my list. Technically Hong Kong should be next in the “alphabetical line-up” but I confess that I do not know a thing about Hong Kong adoptions, so I will be doing some research and adding it soon. I do however, know quite a but about Korean adoptions, so here is info on adopting from Korea.

I have heard the Korea adoption program referred to as the “well-oiled machine” of international adoption. It has been around for over 30 years and is one of... more

Since my own family’s adventures in adoption began in Asia, I decided to start my “Transracial Adoption Options” series in Asia. In alphabetical order, I will post information on China, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. At this point, sadly, Cambodia still remains closed to international adoptions, but if it does reopen, I will certainly add it.

Ok, so China is first!

China is a very popular choice for transracial adoptions. The huge number of baby girls left orphaned because of China’s one-child policy and other factors combined with a process that is fairly “stream-lined”... more