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Read about, or Listen to, one Faith family's Vietnam experience
Adoption Today article about Faith International in Vietnam
Who are we and what services can we provide adoptive families?
 We are directors, social workers, clerks, Vietnamese translators, liaison people, tour guides,
and consultants. We are a family dedicated to matching caring parents with children who need
them. Collectively and officially we are a 501(c) (3) non-profit agency, licensed by the
State of Washington and subject to the laws of this state. We have the experience, expertise,
and the network to handle all aspects of an international adoption in Vietnam.
 We help adoptive families prepare their dossiers in an efficient manner, arrange for their travel
to and within Vietnam, assign multi-lingual guides for the entire time they are there, and provide
travel and lodging accommodations for every day of the adoptive parents' stay in Vietnam. We
assist families with each step of the adoptive process, and provide information on all matters
relevant to their adoption, i.e., assign an agency case worker upon request, update the status of
their dossiers both before and after it has been sent to Vietnam, inform clients of changing
requirements brought about by the Vietnamese Adoption Center or by the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service, provide re-adoption assistance for our families, coordinate social
activities, and much more.
Faith International Adoptions has for several years maintained a Permit of Operation through the People's Aid Coordinating Committee in Hanoi to provide charitable aid and relief to orphans, disabled children and homeless children in Vietnam . Since the closure of adoptions, we have seen the number of children residing in orphanages substantially increase. The need for caring adoptive families is greater than it has ever been in Vietnam .
In July of 2002, Vietnam issued a Decree governing international adoption of Vietnamese children. The Decree required Vietnam and the country of the adoptive applicants to be signatories to an international treaty regarding cooperation on the adoption of children. This Decree went into effect in December of 2002. All adoptions with applicants from countries that had not signed the bilateral agreement were suspended at that time.
On June 21, 2005 , the United States and Vietnam jointly signed the Agreement Regarding Cooperation no the Adoption of Children in Washington D.C. , thus reopening adoptions of Vietnamese children to U.S. citizens.
During the closure, we were able to provide continued assistance and relief to several orphanages throughout the country and maintain our network of facilitators and adoption guides. Many other agencies discontinued their support of orphanages during the closure. However, we felt, and continue to strongly believe that it is necessary to attend not only to children who will unite with their families, but also to those precious children who will, for no fault of their own, continue to live in these orphanages. We look forward to expanding our outreach and providing critical charitable relief and humanitarian aid to more orphanages as the Vietnam program grows.
Changes in the process.
The adoption process in Vietnam underwent few changes in sum. The Inter-Country Adoption Department (IAD), a division of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), was established in 2004. Its functions are to oversee and administer adoptions pursuant to the Decree issued in July 2002. Although this department oversees the process, Provincial authorities are still responsible for the matching of families with children, carrying out the legal process of the adoption, and scheduling the date of the Giving and Receiving Ceremony.
The biggest change to the process itself is the reduction from a two-trip adoption process to only one. This change will allow for a much easier adoption journey for many families.
Who qualifies?
Couples and single women and men between ages 25 and 50 qualify for healthy infants. Both infant boys and girls are available for adoption as well as older children. Traditionally boys are more numerous than girls.
While there is no specific limitation on the number of children already in the family home, couples with 5 or more children in the family home will be considered by the IAD and the orphanage on a case-by-case basis.
Parents over 50 may adopt, but the likelihood of a child 12 months or older increases.
There are many children in Vietnam institutionalized with minor, correctable special needs. If
you would be willing to adopt a child with special needs you may make this request. Please
contact Faith for further information.
When will you be matched with a baby, and how will you be notified?
After your dossier is sent to Vietnam it is put into order of receipt along with hundreds of dossiers from other agencies. The backlog of dossiers at the IAD impacts the amount of time between dossier submittal and match. This time could be shorter or longer depending on circumstances at The IAD.
The Vietnamese authorities are responsible for identifying that a child is eligible for adoption, for making the referral and for carrying out the adoption. These processes are exclusively under the control of the Vietnamese authorities.
Our agency is sent the child's picture attached to a medical report. We notify you immediately! (This is one of the best moments of our job.) Families have 30 days within which to accept or reject the referral. If you do not accept the match, the Director of the agency will act as your intermediary with the IAD.
When would we travel?
Approximately three to five months after your referral has been sent to Faith, you will be ready to travel to Vietnam. While we know that this period of waiting is often difficult for our families, it is unavoidable due to processes that must take place in Vietnam to prepare for the adoption.
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