At-A-Glance
 

Who can adopt from Colombia?

• Couples married for at least 2.5 years.
• All adoptive parents must be at least 25 years old. Parents cannot be older than 38 to adopt a child 0-3 years old.
• Adopting family can not have more than one child already in the home.

Children available for adoption

• Infants 6 to 18 months of age at time of referral.
• Older children.
• Adopting parents need to be prepared for a child with correctable needs.
• The majority of children were relinquished to the orphanage by the birth mother. The orphanage has information on birth mothers in most cases and often the birth mothers stay in a home for birth mothers during pregnancy.

Process

• Complete pre-adoption group, on-line training and home study
• Referral of a child is received 18 to 24 months after the dossier is sent to Colombia. For families where one spouse holds a Colombian passport, referral of a child might be expedited.

Other information about Barker's Colombia program

• Since 2006, Barker has been licensed by Bienestar as “Fundacion Barker.” This allows Barker to have a direct program in Colombia.
• We began working with Colombia in 1978.
• We have Spanish-speaking staff on our Barker International team, to help with translation of documents from Colombia.
• English-speaking guides in Colombia to help families navigate through the system there.
• Families stay in residences while in Bogotá (similar to Bed & Breakfast); stay with other adopting families.
• Family can travel to several places within Colombia while waiting for adoption to be completed. (travel by air, not car)
• Active support group for families adopting from FANA (Friends of FANA DC) - hold regular cultural and educational events for families and children.