ATTENTION – MESSAGE DATED MARCH 13TH, 2018.
This message will be updated on June 4th, 2018
ATTENTION!
Please note that we are not taking registrations for CAMBODIA, the PHILIPPINES and VIETNAM and we therefore cannot answer your queries for the moment. Only information requests on adoptions from CHINA and BURUNDI will be processed.
No registrations are possible at this time and, our list of interested parents for the Philippines is now complete and closed. We invite you to visit this page again at the date announced above.
We have been licensed for the Philippines since 1994. Between then and January 29, 2018, more than 326 Filipino children have found a family in Quebec.
LIST OF INTERESTED PARENTS 2018
ATTENTION – THIS MESSAGE IS DATED JANUARY 29, 2018
We have now completed our list of parents interested by an adoption of a child from the Philippines and have established a rank by random draw, for each of the families who contacted us.
Unfortunately, we cannot evaluate the delays before each family is allowed to register, according to their given rank, because it is impossible to know in advance exactly how many adoptions will be completed each year, nor can we predict how many parents will register from our list of interested parents when each is called upon to do so.
Do not forget to inform us of any change of postal address, email address or phone numbers so that we may reach you easily when the time comes. This note applies only to those of you who have a confirmed rank on the “List of interested parents / Philippines 2018”.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Let us remind you that putting your names on our list of interested parents does not mean that you are officially registered with our agency. We will communicate with you by email, according to your rank, only once it is possible for us to accept new registrations (signed contracts).
At that time, you will be invited to attend a mandatory information session before you are allowed to officially register. This measure is necessary because of the very large number of parents who are interested in adopting compared to a limited number of adoptions we can complete each year.
When comes the time we contact you to officially register, you must MANDATORILY correspond to the admissibility requirements of both the Philippines and Quebec authorities. The criteria are numerous, please be sure to read them carefully in the Section below: “Admissibility Criteria”.
We have been licensed for the Philippines since 1994. Between then and August 14th, 2017, more than 281 Filipino children have found a family in Quebec.
Admissibility criteria
- Couples must be married for at least one year(maximum of two divorce histories will be accepted). Please note that the Philippines grant much importance to the stability of the marital relationship. Thus, at least three years of life as a couple are recommended. Couples living in common law are not accepted. The Philippines accept single applicants only for the adoption of children over the age of 9 years with minor correctible medical conditions or negative backgrounds.
- For regular adoption, both spouses must be more than 27, and no more than 49 years old. However, the Philippines will place children aged less that 2 years old with prospective adoptive parents less than 43 years old. Parents that are 44 years old or older will be matched with children more than 2 years old.
When one spouse (or both spouses) is 50 years old or more, they are not admissible for regular adoption. These couples can however adopt special needs children, sibling groups of three or more, etc.
- The maximum age difference allowed between the child and the primary caregiver (usually the mother) is 45 years AT THE TIME OF THE PROPOSAL. Parents must also be at least 18 years older than the child to be adopted.
- The Philippines require a two year integration period between the arrival of each child into the family. Therefore, should you already have children, the last one must be in the family at least one year at the time of your registration.
- Applicants should have at least a High School diploma.
- Applicants should have a minimum annual income of $40,000 US.
- Both applicants must have a BMI less than 35 ( click here to calculate your BMI ) and be in good physical and mental health. Certain medical conditions are not accepted by the Filipino central authority. If you suffer, or have suffered, from a specific medical condition, please communicate with us to verify your admissibility.
- Even though obesity is one of the criteria used to refuse the application of prospective adoptive parents (BMI 35 or more), past experience persuade us to add the following warning: adoptive applicants having a BMI of 30 to 34 could be asked to undertake various specific programmes under professional supervision to improve their life habits. In the latter cases, the approval of their application could be delayed.
- The adoption authorities of the Philippines require that a letter of reference from the priest of your parish, the pastor of your religious community, etc. They also grant much importance to the regular practise of their faith by prospective adoptive parents.
Both spouses must be in good physical and mental health. The following conditions are not accepted by the Central Authority of the Philippines:
- Complicated Diabetes and/or Metabolic Syndrome;
- Obesity (BMI over 35);
- Cancer (even in more than 5 years remission);
- Kidney transplant and any major organ transplant (heart, lung, liver);
- Pacemaker / stroke / myocardial infarction;
- Multiple Sclerosis and other degenerative muscular disorders;
- Autoimmune disorders;
- Risk factors that will impede the care for the child (blind, deaf, wheelchair bound);
- Hepatitis C;
- Psychiatric disorders;
- Mood disorders / major depressive disorders;
- Anxiety disorders;
- Substance use disorders;
- Sexual disorders.
The fact that parents correspond to the above criteria does not guarantee the approval of their adoption application by ICAB.
Other criteria are applicable to residents of Quebec. We invite you to visit the International Adoption Secretariat (SAI) website for more information.
Children generally proposed
- Mostly children under 3 years old (or older should applicants be approved to adopt older children). It is impossible to request or choose the gender of the child to be adopted. Applicants must be approved to adopt a child of either gender.
- The majority of children are of known origin (biological parents are known). However, there is no contact between the biological and adoptive parents during the adoption procedures.
- Children are usually quite healthy*.
*There exists a specific programme for the adoption of children with special needs (called « Special Home Finding »). These children have special medical needs or older children (over 6 years) and large sibling groups. Please contact us should you require more information on this specific programme.
The proposal consists of several documents, such as the official Placement Proposal from the Central Authority, a photo, the child’s personal history (“Child Study Report”) and medical examination record (often included is the child’s medical history since his/her admission into the orphanage).
The adoptive parents may request blood tests to be done as the same time as the medical examination for Canadian immigration.
During the adoption procedures, the adoptive parents also receive the child’s Birth Certificate and biological parents’ consent (or declaration of abandonment in the case the parents are unknown).
Other useful information
Approximate cost (couple) : Including evaluation costs, administrative costs of ICAB, travel and lodging costs in the Philippines
$22,500
Delay between application approval and proposal :
2 to 3 years
Delay between proposal and travel :
20 to 24 weeks
Type of decision :
Administrative placement (adoption decree is rendered by the Quebec Court)
Type of orphanage :
State run (public) and NGOs (non-governmental organisations – private)
Duration of stay :
minimum one week
Obligation to travel to the country :
Yes, preferably both spouses
Processing of the applications by the Central Authority – ICAB
The adoption application dossiers received from foreign countries are approved by the central authority (InterCountry Adoption Board, or ICAB) and are recorded in a waiting list for eventual matching (roster). ICAB does not match children to waiting families exclusively on the criteria of the earliest date of approval, but ICAB ensures that the older applications are granted special attention. When an orphan or an abandoned child needs a permanent family and that this need could not be answered by a family in the Philippines, then a family from a foreign country is selected among all the applicants from foreign countries (for more information, consult the ICAB website at: www.icab.gov.ph ).
ICAB currently evaluates that the waiting time for a child to be matched is between 2 and 3 years for all the applications approved from all receiving countries.
The central authority of the Philippines (ICAB) matches children to waiting families granting the utmost importance to the selection of the ideal family for every specific child. The dossier of the prospective adoptive parents is chosen for a specific child taking into consideration many criteria. Hereafter are some of them:
- The physical characteristics and the life history of the child: according to the information on the characteristics of the child and the information contained in the child dossier, the professional from the orphanage where the child is cared and ICAB select a family who has accepted specific conditions on the form “Type of Child” (completed by the prospective adoptive parents when they prepare their dossier).
- The recommendation of the professional of the child from the orphanage pertaining to the needs of the child: For example, recommending the matching of a child to a family having no children so that the child will receive all the parental attention, or, recommending the matching of a child to a family who has already young children in order to answer the needs of socialisation of the child.
- The profile of the prospective adoptive parents, be it psychological physical/health: These factors can influence the professional in recommending one family rather than another one.
- The age of the application: This criteria is certainly important, however, the matching is made in the best interest of the child and not only based on the age of the application (longest waiting time
Recent news and follow-up of applications
This message was revised during the week ending July 7, 2017.
Number of matchings received by Société Formons une Famille
December 2017: 2
November 2017: 0
October 2017: 0
September 2017: 0
August 2017: 1
July 2017: 0
June 2017: 2
May 2017: 1
April 2017: 0
March 2017 : 0
February 2017 : 1
January 2016 : 2
Year 2017 : 9
Year 2016 : 11 (12 children)
Year 2015 : 7
Year 2014 : 38
Year 2013 : 29
Year 2012 : 22 (24 children)
Year 2011 : 26 (28 children)
Year 2010 : 13
Year 2009 : 8
Year 2008 : 15
Note : The number of dossiers matched over the years varies according to the number of applications submitted and approved the previous years.
ICAB has updated its website, we invite you to visit it regularly, you can find information about procédures and waiting times. Among other détails, ICAB indicates that current waiting times between file approval and matching vary from 2 to 3 years.
Number of approved dossiers awaiting matching / by date of approval** – January 10th, 2018
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
|
1st trimester
|
2
|
8
|
4
|
3
|
2nd trimester
|
0
|
7
|
8
|
|
3rd trimester
|
2
|
7
|
0
|
|
4th trimester
|
5
|
5
|
8
|
|
Total / Year
|
9
|
27
|
20
|
**Dossiers currently “suspended” at ICAB are not included in the above list.
IMPORTANT NOTICE :
These statistics in no way take into consideration the dossiers approved by ICAB from other agencies or receiving countries. It is impossible to extrapolate or to evaluate the waiting time from only this information we provide. Adoption agencies cannot evaluate the length of the waiting time solely on their own adoption applications submitted.
ICAB has updated their website and it presently indicates that the waiting time is between 2 to 3 years between the approval of the dossier and the matching of a child.
We are confident that this evaluation is realistic since it is based on the total number of approved applications by ICAB (all receiving countries pooled) and the potential number of children matched according to our experience over the past years.
Partners and links
The adoption central authority in the Philippines is called Inter Country Adoption Board (ICAB). You may visit their website by clicking the following link: www.icab.gov.ph