Honduras
February 28, 2007
All inter-country adoptions from Honduras must take place with complete compliance to Honduras adoption law and through the Instituto Hondureño del Niño y la Familia. There has been a warning issued that prospective parents should not deal with individuals who claim that they can provide a shortcut through the adoption process. If this is so, it is illegal and not the step to
take when attempting to become the parent to a Honduran child. In general adoptions from Honduras take an estimated 6 months to a year to complete. An adoption agency that is registered with IHNFA can give more directions into the time line estimates for prospective parents.
Children Available:
Children all of ages and range of needs are available for adoption from Honduras.
Children in Honduras that are available for adoption are children that have either been abandoned making the parents unknown to the government or the parents have had their rights removed. Children in these situations become wards of the court and are issued a decree of abandonment after the court makes reasonable efforts to locate biological parents.
It is only after an abandonment decree has been issued that a child is available for adoption. This process takes 90 days and can not be shortened as it does give biological parents a second opportunity to come forward and claim their child.
Parental Requirements:
Married
Single Men
Single Women
25 years of age or older
No more than 50 years of age
Parents must be 15 years older that the child that they adopt.
Travel:
All prospective parents must be willing to travel to Honduras to be present for the adoption petition. Citizens of a country other than Honduras are permitted to adopt a child from Honduras. However, they must agree to have the child’s well being checked
periodically until the child reaches 14 years of age. This can be facilitated through the adoption agency and should be inquired about upon contracting with the agency.
The adoption agency that prospective parents contract to work with to adopt a child from Honduras will provide the parents with all the necessary documentation that the IHNFA needs to process the adoption. The adoption agency will also help to locate a child that is in need of adoption if prospective parents do not have a child in mind already. Adoption agencies may encourage
parents to adopt a child off of the child waiting list which has adoption ready children of all ages and abilities.
