NAS - USA Full Circle - Adoption Fund
USA Full Circle
United States of America
The USA is a member of the Hague Treaty on international adoption.
Dutch citizenship under The Hague Treaty
Adoption procedures for children who are adopted by adoptive parents with a BKA number that was issued before April 1st, 2008 will be considered as ‘transition cases'. These children will not automatically obtain Dutch nationality. Parents will have to re-adopt the child in the Netherlands according to the Dutch adoption procedure.
Adoption procedures for prospective adoptive parents who have a BKA number issued after April 1st, 2008 will be considered to be procedures under the Hague Treaty. Children will automatically obtain Dutch nationality after the adoption is finalized in the USA . In some procedures, under the Hague Treaty, the placement will occur in a US state that does not permit finalization by non-residents. In those instances, finalization will occur in the Netherlands after completing applicable post-placement procedures.
Full Circle Adoptions (FCA)
As of February 2010, Full Circle Adoptions in Northampton , Massachusetts and the NAS have signed an agreement for partnership.
We are very proud and happy to be able to work with this highly valued and ethical organization which has already earned a strong reputation in the USA . FCA has been approved by the US Central authority for outgoing cases. With FCA as our partner, we will be able to mediate in adoption in a very clear, transparent and ethical way, where both the “Hague” procedure and every party present in the adoption triangle are done justice.
Procedure
Prospective adoptive parents who are interested in adopting through Full Circle will have to follow the procedure that the NAS and FCA have agreed on. The procedure to register with the NAS is essentially similar for both partial and full mediation. It is important to know that no exceptions will be made.
First step for the prospective adoptive parents is to contact the NAS and visit the website of Full Circle Adoptions for further information. We'd appreciate it if you please do not call FCA as your initial contact as the agency does not have the time to respond to numerous calls in the first instance, they schedule phone or Skype appointments as appropriate and when needed.
Prospective adoptive parents may first consult with the NAS. When the NAS judges according to objective criteria that you match with the demands of this contact, we will send you an information brochure and introduce you to FCA. You are required to contact the NAS either by phone (during state hours) or by e-mail. State hours are published on the homepage of the website of the NAS, weekly on Monday.
Subscription and waiting list
Prospective adoptive parents may subscribe with the NAS once the approval for adoption has been issued. You may very well contact NAS and FCA prior to the issuing of the approval to gather initial information. By law, the NAS is not allowed to sign you in without the approval for adoption.
The waiting list of the NAS is determined by the date of reception of the home study and the approval to adopt by the NAS. After placement on our waiting list, the waiting position is fixed. The prospective adoptive parents will be asked to complete a ‘reciprocal release of information' allowing FCA and NAS to discuss the family's needs and adoption planning.
The NAS will send you an invoice upon the receiving of your home study and the approval to adopt. Registration with the NAS will cost € 370 regardless of whether or not you are accepted as client.
Upon receiving the home study, the NAS will study it and discuss the findings within the team. In case the NAS is under the impression that certain remarks in the home study might conflict with adoption through FCA, the NAS will consult with FCA. If the result of this consultation has consequences for your desired adoption procedure through FCA, the NAS will inform you as soon as possible.
Who can adopt through FCA
FCA is primarily based in the US state of Massachusetts and the agency works in many states throughout the US. State laws differ widely. Massachusetts ' state adoption law does not allow discrimination on the basis of age, relationship/marital status, sexual orientation, religion or nationality/ethnicity and FCA follows this practice.
However, there are a number of challenges involved in adopting internationally in the US . These challenges arise due to the requirements of The Hague Treaty on international adoption (also called “Hague”), Dutch law and regulations and the preferences of expectant parents. As a result of these additional challenges and particularly in consideration of the typical requests of US expectant parents, NAS encourages prospective adoptive parents who match with the following profile to make an adoption plan for this contact:
• Married or cohabiting in a male/female, male/male or female/female relationship
• The oldest partner, at the time of sending the dossier to the USA , has at least 30 months before turning age 40 in order to leave sufficient time before the Dutch imposed age limit .
• In case the oldest parent will have fewer than 30 months before turning age 40 at the time the dossier is submitted, the adoption procedure may be done in the name of the youngest partner. The NAS will inform you about legal consequences in these kinds of procedures during the intake interview.
• Prospective adoptive parents are required to have an excellent understanding of American English, both in speaking and in writing.
• Most US expectant parents will request that prospective adoptive parents to stay in touch with the birth family. Prospective adoptive parents are required to be prepared and willing to stay in contact with birth parents and/or birth families, with respect to possible in person visits and in written communication. These vary depending upon the request of the biological parents.
• Prospective adoptive parents are required to stay in the US with the child until the legal protocols are completed or any revocation period has elapsed (whichever is longer). This means that prospective adoptive parents will have to accommodate the Dutch demand of a 60 day revocation period, whether or not the law of the birthparent's state allows this.
Families that cannot adopt through FCA:
Although, as stated before, while Massachusetts and many US laws do not discriminate, some prospective adoptive parents are unlikely to be chosen by birth parents given the constrictions of the international process, Dutch law and the requests of biological parents. Since there are considerable emotional and financial costs and since the costs of this procedure are non-refundable, NAS encourages families who match with the following criteria to consider other adoption options and to not pursue an adoption procedure through FCA:
• Single men and women
• Prospective adoptive parents where there are less than 30 months between the time of sending the dossier to the USA and the applicable parent's 40 th birthday (due to Dutch limits on age). It is important to realize that no priority will be given to any parent on the waiting list for reasons of age and the Dutch age limit at any point in the process.
• Prospective adoptive parents who are not fluent in spoken and written English.
• Prospective adoptive parents who are not prepared to stay in contact with the birth parents or birth families during the child's growing up years.
Departure after referral
Possibilities for foster care in the USA are very limited. This means that prospective adoptive parents have to be prepared to leave for the USA immediately and not longer than 48 hours after the match for a child is offered to them and accepted. Prospective adoptive parents who are not capable of leaving for the USA on such short notice (including weekends), are advised to choose another adoption contact.
Age of the children
It is expected that only newborns and young infants (under 6 months) will be available for adoption.
Background of the children
One basic principle of the Hague Treaty is that prospective adoptive families in the child's own country should be considered first. Children who are part or full African American heritage, who have a substantial family medical or mental health history (and resulting risk), who have been during pregnancy exposed to drugs, alcohol, medications or who have other conditions will be more likely to comprise the children available for outgoing international adoption.
During the orientation and the intake interview, the range of the backgrounds of children will be discussed with the prospective adoptive parents. The prospective adoptive parents will be asked to fill out a form of medical and mental health risks they are willing to accept. It is advised that prospective adoptive parents who are the most flexible and who are the most willing to accept a child of any heritage, and/or some degree of medical and/or mental health risk, will have a greater chance of being chosen by the birthparents.
Siblings
The adoption of siblings is rare in this procedure unless the siblings are twins; twins who are available for adoption are also rare and therefore prospective adoptive parents should not enter this process hoping or expecting for twins or siblings.
Preference for gender
It is not possible to express a preference for the gender of the child. Most birthparents prefer a family who is completely open on the gender of the child.
The costs for the adoption procedure
International adoption in the USA, generally, is a costly procedure. Fees are for professional services and are not payment for a child. All fees are non-refundable. There is no guarantee of a referral or for a placement. Though many components of the fee are fixed, some of them are not and may depend upon the circumstances of the particular case. The NAS will discuss the fee schedule with you during the intake interview. The fee schedule includes a contribution to the 'general adoption fund', please look also at our fee information on this website for further details.
General Adoption Fund US FCA
In case of placement of a newborn baby, due to pre-birth selection of the adoptive parents, while matching can take place only after birth of a child, it may happen that a birth parents reconsiders the
adoption or a mis-match happens e.g. due to medical circumstances. This applies only for babies. In this case the General adoption fund applies. The general adoption fund is managed by the NAS in full consultation with FCA and will provide a compensation to prospective adoptive parents for a part of the costs, in case of a match being withdrawn because of the above mentioned circumstances. Coverage of the fund is always depending on costs that are made and can never exceed the content of the fund. Furthermore this fund is being used for costs before the matching, when there is already pre-selected a proposed adoptive family by the birthmother, but the formal matching cannot yet be done, because the child is not yet born.