My family has been looking into the adoption of a child (5-8). We do have a biological child who we want to be the older child. We are not choosing this based on infertility.
We are from the US, but don’t live in the US, and won’t live there for the foreseeable future. This makes adoption from foster care or becoming a foster parent in general not an option.
Based on our situation, we have chosen to go the route of international adoption. We’re currently learning the language of the country we are going to adopt from. We’re researching historical and cultural information to be informed and able to teach our future child about where they came from. We also plan on visiting that country after the adoption as they grow up.
From what I’ve seen from multiple online sites, people don’t agree with international adoption. However, much of the dissent that I have found comes from adoptees born in the US or those who were adoptees as an infant. I really would like to get the perspective from someone who was an “older” international adoptee (5-12 age range maybe?).
Some questions I have: Do you wish you stayed in your country? What are things you wished your adoptive family did or did not do when you were adopted? What would you want someone who is considering international adoption to know or consider?