Siblings?!?!
Sometimes, referral documents refer to older siblings that have previously been adopted by people either in Colombia or abroad.
For example, one family knows that their child has an older sister that was adopted by a family in Italy. Another family knows of a younger brother that was relinquished at birth and sent to Germany -- two years before their child entered the ICBF welfare system. Yet another family knows of a baby sister that was placed in ICBF care and no further mention was made of her in their child's file. And still another family knows that their birth mother -- having already lost custody of 4 children and being only 24 years of age -- may potentially lose custody of other children further down the road.
Most of the time ICBF tries to keep siblings together. However, if they enter foster care at different times, the children may end up never knowing each other. For this reason, I want to spotlight a new Yahoo group. It is designed to help biological siblings find each other.
Here is their mission statement:
The Colombia Adoption Sibling Registry is a database that adoptees and adoptive families of Colombian born children can utilize when searching for biological siblings who may also have been adopted.
Some families who adopt from Colombia find information in the documents provided by ICBF or a CASA PRIVADA which reveals that a child may have biological siblings who were also adopted. Other parents and adoptees may be unaware that younger siblings may have also been placed for adoption. Some adoptees and adoptive families wish to make contact with the biological sibling(s) and their adoptive parents, this is a place where such connections can be made.
The group has a few rules:
#1 -- ADOPTION MUST BE FINAL AND THE CHILD IN YOUR HOME.
#2 -- MEMBERSHIP IS FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS AND ADOPTEES ONLY.
#3 -- MEMBERSHIP IS FREE AND REQUIRED!
#4 -- TO OBTAIN MEMBERSHIP: You MUST SUBMIT your child's birthmother and/or birthfather information for entry into the database.
#5 -- WHEN REQUESTING MEMBERSHIP, please state whether you are an Adoptive parent or Adoptee and what year your adoption was finalized.
#6 -- RESPOND TO THE AUTOMATIC EMAIL SENT TO YOU AFTER YOU'VE SUBMITTED YOUR SUBSCRIPTION REQUEST before your request expires.
There is a similar group that exists for Guatemalan adoptions. Through use of the group, several siblings have found each other. Once a contact is made members can decide how to proceed, and both adoptive parents and adoptees should realize that not everyone is prepared or desires and extensive relationship.
For my readers in Europe, please post information about this group in your respective forums. The more people who know, the more likely siblings can be found.
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