Frequently Asked Questions
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Frequently Asked Questions

What countries can I adopt from ?

Currently HHAMA is accredited to work with Vietnam, China, USA, India, Bulgaria. Poland, Thailand, The Philippines and Haiti.  Other countries we are accredited for by the Irish Authorities are Columbia, Kenya, Peru and Lithuania but we have not yet sought accreditation in those countries and so they are not available to applicants at this time. We are also interested in opening a programme with South Africa and will be pursuing accreditation in due course.  Therefore, at the moment Vietnam, China, USA, India, Bulgaria. Poland, Thailand, The Philippines and Haiti  are the only country programmes we are actively operating.

How much does an adoption cost?

HHAMA have set fees for the Irish operation, please click here to view

How long does an adoption take once we are registered with HHAMA?

The way the waiting lists work is different depending on the programme and your matching considerations. All adoption programmes are additional needs adoptions  and so there is not a strict sequential order of matching. Chronology of application  is a feature for those who have registered with our programmes but the other factors such as age of child approval and additional needs approval will dictate the sequence of matching.

This aspect is covered in detail at our Client Stage 1 Information meeting, which all prospective applicants should avail of as soon as practical on the adoption journey, but by end of TUSLA Preparation Course at the latest.

How can I be invited to formally register with one of the adoption programmes mediated by HHAMA?

It is HHAMA policy to maintain our waiting lists for programmes at a realistic number so we can ensure all applicants have a reasonable opportunity to complete adoption within a reasonable length of time.  As you know, fees are payable in intercountry adoption and it is HHAMA policy to only register applicants in proportion to the number of placements expected for any given year.  There are no guarantees, of course, that an adoption can be completed.

Our website does outline our adoption numbers and the numbers currently on our waiting list at any given time  click here for Status of Adoptions is where the numbers are maintained and updated every month.

The other factor we, in HHAMA, have to work with is that the list of applicants registered have to cover a broad range of additional medical needs, gender and age profile of child so we are in a position to place any child presented to us if at all possible, therefore an applicant may not be invited to register if our waiting list has too many of the same criteria e.g. girl gender under 2.. we have to have a balance of clients to match at any given time.

So the decision to invite to Register for either any programme is unique to each client, an applicant could present today and have an age profile, gender profile and additional need profile we would welcome onto the waiting list immediately or have to wait until we have placed children with those who have the same profile as yourself.

Some programmes operate a quota of applicants and this is also a factor in determining invitation to formally register with a programme.

We continue to welcome  applicants to come and discuss their unique application with us as early in the process as is practical.  The choice of country programme is one we hope to help applicants with after our detailed meeting and review of each application on the basis of child’s age and additional needs approval.