Colombian Culture, Colombia Adoption and Raising Colombian Kids

In November, ICBF had a conference where they annouced the 2008 adoption statistics . As of October 31, 2008, 2,093 children had been adopted . Of these, 831 were adopted by Colombian families and 1,262 by non-Colombian families. 2007 was reported as a year with the highest number of adoptions a total of 3,077 -- with 1,175 children adopted by Colombians and 1,902 adopted by foreign families. Once again, in 2008, Italy topped the list as the destination spot for Colombian children with 354 Colombianitos going to Italy. Next on the list was France with 249, and then the US with 215 adoptions. The end of year totals for 2007 were: Italy 444, France 406, and the US 339. There were 598 special needs adoptions this year with 917 children still waiting . Special needs are considered to be children with mental or physical disabilities, sibling groups, or children older than 8 years of age.

As part of Joint Council's National Adoption Month Celebration, has announced their First Annual Photo Contest entitled Embracing Change: The Many Faces of the Forever Family . The photo contest is intended to show the many types of forever families. There are six categories of entry: intercountry adoption, domestic adoption, foster-adoption, kinship care, family preservation and Embracing Change: The Many Faces of the Forever Family. Joint Council will begin accepting photos for the contest on November 17th, National Adoption Day. Photos will accepted until December 31st, 2008 . A selection of photos entered, including the winners, will be shown at Joint Council's Annual Conference, From Baby Steps to Giant Leaps: Embracing Change to Find Families for Vulnerable Children. So get out your cameras and send your favorite family photos to show them the Many Faces of the Forever COLOMBIAN Family! Click on this Post's title to go to the JCICS photo contest website .

Nearly every document that you must gather for your international adoption (unless your document originates in Colombia -- such as a birth certificate of a Colombian native) must be certified for use in Colombia according to the Hague Convention. The apostille attests to the validity of a notary signature on the original document. This allows Colombia to accept the validity of the document for use in the adoption and court process. Apostilles must be obtained from the Secretary of State in the State -- or country where the document originates. For example, if I live in California, but I was born in Texas, my Texas birth certificate must be apostilled by the Secretary of State in Texas. However, it is likely that my financial statements provided by my employer will need to be apostilled in California.