Older Children Find Homes in Germany

Monday, April 20, 2009 Older Children Find Homes in Germany Recently, I was reading some information that I found on the ICBF website. In January, there was a great article about some older children that found adoptive homes in Germany. Here is a translation: Thanks to the project “Summer Miracles”, developed between the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), the Kid Save Foundation, and the German adoption organization -- ADA -- five foreign families are celebrating the end of their adoption process. In the final phase of their adoptions, the five German families were visiting Colombia after having spent 4 months in Germany with 7 Colombian children between the ages of 4 and 10. This experience was part of a pilot plan that ICBF is trying out in Germany, and fortunately it has had very positive results -- having opened a way for children that are difficult to place for adoption find homes. The parents, that had met all of the legal requirements to be adoptive parents, had been on the waiting list to receive children younger than 6 years of age. However, after experiencing life with these older children -- which was overseen by German authorities -- they decided to accept the boys and girls as their own children. The German families proclaimed that not only was the Vacation time spent in Germany a successful, but also the adoption process in Colombia. They recognized the dedication and toughtfulness that ICBF put into each case. Isabelle and Berend Marks, the adoptive parents of one of the Colombian girls reported, “ We are happy because our daughter has adapted so well to our family. We are grateful for this opportunity that was given to us.” The novelty of this new pilot program is that the children were able to spend 4 months in what would be their new country. This situation allowed them to create ties and offered them the emotional stability to accept their new life in a new culture. In order to guarantee the sustainability of this project, the ICBF, headed by the Director General, Elvira Forero Hernández, seeks the support of the Ministry of Foreign Relations in order to receive support from other embassies. Posted by Colombian Mommy at 12:00 AM

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