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Update: Kyrgyzstan Adoption Program
The newest of CWA's country programs, adoption from the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan has grown rapidly since the program opened in July 2006, and efforts there have been blessed with success so far. The children awaiting adoption in Kyrgyzstan fully reflect the ethnic diversity of the region, with a majority of children of Kyrgyz ethnicity and others of Caucasian or other Central Asian nationalities – and of course we here at CWA believe each one of them is beautiful and precious! Children available for adoption from Kyrgyzstan range from a few months to 16 years in age.
With the help of program director Anya Rutherford, documents system assistant Michael Arrowood and our very able country facilitator in Kyrgyzstan, a new adoption process and a CWA Planner (a tool that outlines detailed instructions for each stage of the adoption process) were put together in a short time.
One advantage of adoption from Kyrgyzstan is that court proceedings can be handled by power of attorney, allowing our facilitator in Kyrgyzstan to represent parents' interests on various matters. Adoption from Kyrgyzstan can be completed in a single trip, with parents spending approximately 10 days in the country. Six adoption hearings have already been completed, and CWA is proud to announce that we can expect the first of our children home from Kyrgyzstan as early as February, pending completion of final paperwork. As soon as all documents are complete, our new parents will travel to Kyrgyzstan to pick up their children.
The Kyrgyzstan adoption process is currently estimated to take 6-8 months, and the cases we are processing are falling within that time frame. We have developed and maintained good relations with adoption authorities in Kyrgyzstan, and on the whole the national government's position on foreign adoption appears to be positive.
In addition to adoption, CWA and its adoptive parents also provide direct assistance to orphanages through donations and programs such as Coats4Kids, which ensures that many children get warm, new winter coats.
CWA is happy to be able to help children from Kyrgyzstan find their forever families, and we look forward to sharing some of our first success stories through this newsletter in the coming months.
(Note: Because of the wonderful response to this new program, CWA has placed a temporary hold on new applications for Kyrgyzstan. We are hoping to reopen this program to new families possibly in the first quarter of 2007.) |
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