The Philippines

Children to be adopted

Children of all ages starting from one-year-old seek families. When adopting from the Philippines, it is advised that the family would have a loose age preference, for example 0-4 years. In addition, applicants over the age of 45 should be willing to accept a child aged between 0-6.
Children live mainly in orphanages, sometimes also in foster families.
Sibling desire is possible.
There is also a Special Home Finding Program for elder children and children who have special needs and need special support.

Adoption contact

Our partner in the Philippines is the Inter-Country Adoption Board, ICAB.
ICAB is the adoption Central Authority in the Philippines under the Hague Agreement.
Our cooperation with ICAB started in 2002.
All contact with ICAB shall be mediated by Save the Children Finland during and after the adoption process.

Submission of applications and waiting period

Adoption applications are sent to the Philippines based on the annual number of applications requested and approved by ICAB.
The applications are sent to the Philippines according to the date of registration as a customer with a valid adoption permit.
The estimated waiting time is currently about 2-4 years.
Each year, a report prepared by a social worker on family’s situation will be submitted to the Philippines.

Conditions for applicants

Married couples only. The first marriage should have lasted at least 3 years and the second marriage at least 5 years. A long cohabitation is taken into account.
Both applicants must be at least 27 years old and not more than 46 years old.
The age difference between the child and the mother can be up to 45 years at the time of matching.
ICAB matches small children aged 0-2 years mainly with younger applicants.
Adoption applicants are required to be in good physical and mental health.
Applicants must belong to a Christian congregation.

Special home finding program

Home is sought for children with special needs, especially for siblings (more than 3 siblings) and children aged 7 or older.
Children may need surgical treatment, they may have varying degrees of developmental delay, have physical limitations etc.
There are also children over the age of 5 with a very severe background, such as a victim of abuse or background as a street child.

Compilation of documents

Compilation of documents after the adoption permit has been issued in Finland.
Instructions from the inter-country adoption service
Applicants notarize the documents and submit them to the adoption service
The adoption service inspects the documents and submits the notarized documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for legalization and onwards to the Central Authority of the Philippines (ICAB).

Waiting period

ICAB notifies Save the Children Finland on the acceptance of the application to the roster approximately within 2-4 months.
Once approved, the application will be available for matching, which is done in the Philippines.
The applicants are not matched in order of registation, but for each child, the most suitable family is found, whose abilities best meet the child’s needs.

Child proposal and adoption trip

When the child proposal is presented by ICAB , the family has a timeframe of 15 days to accept the child proposal.
On average, the adoption trip will take place about 5-6 months after the approval of the child proposal and the duration of the trip is about 10-14 days.
Applicants make their travel arrangements in accordance with the instructions of the Adoption Coordinator of Save the Children Finland.

After coming to Finland

Follow-up reporting to the Philippines will take place after 1 month, 3 months and 5 months after the child’s arrival in Finland.
Adoption is confirmed in Finland by a District Court approximately 6 months after the arrival of the child to Finland.

Mrs. Merita Lepojärvi
Adoption Coordinator (China and the Philippines)
Tel. 010 843 5035; 050 433 1291
firstname.lastname@pelastakaalapset.fi

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