Posted by
Snoota
15 yrs ago
Hi, I am new to here.
I read from the SWD and Mother choice website that in order to adopt, a married couple should have been married for at least 3 years. And if you have had a divorce, the current marriage should be at least 5 years.
We have only married for less than a year and we are seriously considering to adopt. My husband had one previous marrage. That would be too long for us to wait for 5 years to get approved and then another year for matching. Anyone has this experience? Me and my husband have been together for 7 years before we officially married last year.
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Hi Snoota,
My husband and I were approved for adoption in August 2009. We have been waiting to be matched until now...we are still waiting. You do need to be married for three years to adopt here in Hong Kong. I am also divorced and this is my second marriage but we did not have to wait five years. I believe the five year/second marriage rule is for a mainland Chinese adoption. We were allowed to attend our first session with the Social Welfare Department prior to the three year mark (we were three months short of three years) and they let us begin after that. I suppose you could give them a call and see what the policy is on common law unions. But just thought I would share our situation with you.
Nadine
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Hi Snoota,
I've just read your posting and wanted to let you know that we adopted a beautiful baby boy 18months ago now. We had only been married 2yrs before starting the application process, although we had been together 7years before gettting married. My husband had been married before.
When I rang about attending the briefing I mentioned this and the social worker asked if we had any joint bank accounts, mortgage accounts that would show that we had been living in the same house. We didn't as we had different accounts under one or the other of us. We got a letter from a friend in NZ that was a lawyer that verified we had been together for 7 yrs and that seemed to suffice. We were matched 6wks after being approved. So my advice is go for it.
Good Luck
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HI Meganheart and Nadine1976,
Thanks for your sharings. Happy to hear that Meganheart you got a beautiful baby boy!!! We did not have any joint bank accounts, mortage accounts or joint tenancy agreement. But we have been together for such a long time. Yes, we have common friends who can help to write letters but does it have to be a lawyer? We have one friend who is a lawyer and I think we can help anyway. We have a lot of photos taken during our overseas trips and with family friends on different occassions to show that we have been together for ages. Also, Meganheart and Nadine1976, when you filled in the forms, did you state that this is the 2nd marriage at all? Would they check? I am just worry that they may say that they require a 5 years marriage if one of us have had a previous marriage.
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Just got an email reply from the SWD as follows:
Thank you for your e-mail dated 3 May 2010 and your interest in our service. It is our general practice that we only accept couple applicants who have married for at least 3 years under the rationale that a stable marriage is important to cater the new challenge arising from adoption. So, you are very welcome to contact us again after your third anniversary of your marriage. I hope you will find the above information useful.
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I am wondering if there has been a surge in the adoption numbers and therefore SWD are now tightening their critirea
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Just read today's news. I wonder why they are tighening their critirea where there are so many babies who need help and there are good adopters waiting: -
A couple living on the dole but in absolute squalor yesterday pleaded guilty to allowing their three-month-old daughter to starve to death.The High Court was told that while the mother received HK$5,200 in public assistance monthly, they spent a few hundred dollars on cigarettes and only around HK$400 on the girl, who weighed a mere 2.667 kilograms at her death, down from the 2.89 kg she weighed at birth and less than half the weight of a normal three-month-old child.The father had told police that because of financial pressures he diluted the girl's milk powder.
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Hi again Snoota,
I was honest and put my first marriage on our forms. It was barely an issue. She asked me about it briefly during our individual interviews and that was it. She never asked or mentioned it again.
Nadine
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Hi again Snoota,
In answer to your question regarding my husbands first marriage, like Nadine we put his first marriage on our forms and my husband was asked about it briefly in his individual interview. It didn't seem to be a big issue. I wonder if as sunniefaith mentioned, they may tightening criteria due to increased numbers adopting. I really dont know. I wish you all the best in your adoption journey, all I can say is that when it happens, through whatever road you take, all the waiting and frustrations seem to fade, but I know that doesn't really help when you're in middled of it all. Wish you all the absolute best, hope its speedy..
Megan
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how many years ago did you guys go through the adoption process? The laws seem to have changed alot I heard. A friend of mine here in the USA adopted from China abt 5 yrs ago. THe entire process from appl to child arriving here was a year. Now it is at least 6-7 years. It's really frustrating...
Further..due to the supply/demand, laws have chg'ed. They added BMI requirements to China and Korea criteria. Can you believe that?? It's superfrustraing. Korea's BMI is 30 or less and they have age limits are common also. We disqualify for some Asian countries b/c my hubs maxed out on their upper age limit. :( Also, due to the Hague Convention , the paper work is quite intensive now and the entire process is sooo bureaucratic.
What is the cost of a local adoption in HK now? I spoke to social services in HK last year and she told me it is free. I'm not sure if she understood me correctly. Coudl someone confirm that? What about all the other costs? So once an adoption gets finalized in the courts in Hk, when you return to your home country overseas, would the child have to apply for citizenship of that country? If so, they'd have to get a VISA when the family returns back to the home country, correct?
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