Ecuador
February 28, 2007
Adoption Program: Open
Parental Requirements:
Prospective parents that wish to adopt a child from Ecuador must meet the eligibility requirements under Ecuadorian adoption law. Prospective parents may be married or single persons. Married couples both need to be 25 years of age or
older and have a least a 14 year difference in age between them and the child
they wish to adopt. Single prospective parents may be men or women and may only
adopt a child of the same sex.
Children Available:
Children of all ages are available for adoption in Ecuador. However, many
adoption agencies prefer parents to adopt a child off of the waiting child list
as these children are in dire need of a loving, stable, and permanent home.
Children on the waiting child list can be children who are no longer infants,
healthy and part of a sibling set, school age children, and children with
medical issues or disabilities.
Travel: Parents are required to travel to Ecuador. The trip is estimated to be three or four weeks.
Timeline: From the time that a dossier is submitted, prospective parents will wait four to seven months for a referral.
Currently inter-country adoption from Ecuador is an open program. Prospective
parents will need to locate an adoption agency based in the country they reside
to facilitate the international adoption. Ecuador does allow adoptions into the
United States and there are several U.S. based agencies that have Ecuador
adoption programs. The adoption authority in Ecuador is the The Technical
Adoptions United and The Family Assignment Committee. These two agencies
oversee all adoptions in Ecuador. The adoption agency that prospective parents
choose to work alongside with work hand in hand with the Ecuadorian adoption
authorities.
An adoption agency that works in Ecuador, and is accredited through the
government, will assist prospective parents in putting together all required
paperwork that needs submission to Ecuadorian adoption authority. Adoption
agencies that prospective parents choose to work with will give the list of costs
and the estimated time line for their program.
After receiving and accepting a referral in writing prospective parents will
receive a notice to travel to Ecuador to proceed with the adoption. The
adoption agency that parents are working with will help facilitate the next
necessary steps which include residing with the prospective adoptive child for
a few days in order for the orphanage to send a recommendation to proceed to
the Technical Adoptions Unit. Prospective parents will be asked by a judge to
sign their names to an adoption request and then they will participate in a
hearing where the adoptive parents answer questions concerning their ability to
parent the child and their available resources. Usually, within three days a
final adoption decree is issued and the prospective parents become the parents
of a Ecuadorian child. The civil registry office will issue a new birth
certificate and name changes if any. Further more, this will allow for the
parents to obtain a passport for the child to travel. Once again, the adoption
agency that parents are working with will guide parents through these steps.
All parents must work with their adoption agency to make certain that the
proper forms have been filled out and approved for immigration and a visa.
