Colombia (MNN) — Bethany Christian Services is once again offering adoptions from Colombia through its international outreach, Bethany Global.
To help the adoption process from Colombia, Bethany is teaming up with la Casa de la Madre y el Niño and Instituto Colombiano de Bienstar Familiar (ICBF). ICBF is the central authority for adoptions in Colombia.
Bethany’s international services coordinator Jamie Wood explains, “Bethany has actually had a relationship with the government of Columbia for over 20 years, and we’ve recently reopened our adoption program there. They’ve gone through some changes in terms of which children are being made available for inter-country adoption. We really saw a need there, specifically for families for children who are older or children with special needs.”
(Photo courtesy by Anthony Lopez via Flickr)
Children over the age of 7, larger sibling groups, and children with medical needs will be allowed to be adopted by out-of-country families. Thankfully, because Colombian families are becoming more open to domestic adoption, it sounds like the babies and toddlers are staying in-country.
For some, adopting an older child or a sibling group may sound scary. However, Wood assures it’s not. “I think sometimes there’s a fear that maybe older children will have a harder time with attachment, but…we know that God can move all mountains. We see very successful placements with older kids who are still able to form great attachments with their families and…thrive with the love and care that comes form a stable family environment.”
After all, these kids just want to be loved. They want to have a mom and dad who will welcome them into their loving arms and keep them as their own.
Sara Matarrazzo, Bethany’s legal representative in Colombia, explains, “[The kids] sacrifice their love for siblings because they want to have family; They say, ‘If I cannot go…to the United States in adoption, I would rather my sister and my brother [go].”
These kids just want a family. But this doesn’t mean there won’t be some challenges.
“[We’re looking for] families who are going to be open to the needs of…children with potentially tougher backgrounds,” Wood expresses.
Be assured that those who adopt children with challenges won’t be left on their own. Bethany Christian Services is ready to help parents and their new children form a lifelong bond by overcoming both behavior, cultural, parenting, and linguistic challenges.
Click here to learn more about adopting with Bethany.
Click here to learn more about Bethany’s international adoptions in Colombia.
