Vietnam is in Southeast Asia and borders China, Laos, and Cambodia.

As WACAP begins work in a new country, we are often unsure of details about procedures, timeframe, travel, etc., so we look for adoptive families who are willing to be our pioneers and help us learn. There are many unknowns in a new program, and families must be flexible and open-minded about their adoption process. Being a pioneer family can also be an exciting and rewarding way to adopt a child.

A child in Vietnam generally comes into orphanage care when birth parents or relatives relinquish the child due to complications within the family. (The death of a birth parent coupled with poverty is a common reason.) On occasion some children are abandoned and no birth information or medical background is available.

Currently, WACAP accepts Vietnam applications only from families wishing to adopt a waiting child. Any family may choose to be matched with a boy. Families with a majority of boy children may choose to be matched with a girl. Many children who are older or have special needs are already waiting. We anticipate that sibling groups may also need families.

Currently, Vietnam is open to married applicants, as well as single men or single women. Although Vietnam has no upper age limit for adoptive parents, pioneer families whose youngest spouse is over 50 or a single applicant over 50 should be open to considering a child older than 18 months. Vietnam law requires at least 20 years’ difference in age between child and adoptive parents, but does not limit the number of children in the home or the length of the parents’ marriage.

Pioneer parents must be open, flexible and comfortable with uncertainty. Adoptions of Vietnamese children by U.S. citizens were suspended between 2002 and 2005 while the Vietnamese government researched and developed a new process for international adoption. Subsequently the U.S. and Vietnamese governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding on international adoption. While all of these requirements are now in place, many details regarding the process are still undefined. Based on our 30 years of experience in adoption and the guidance from government officials and documents, WACAP has outlined the process to the best of our ability. Pioneer families should be prepared for possible changes in processing, documentation, timeframes and costs. We will always inform you of new information as we learn it.

The adoption process for Vietnam appears to be similar to other countries that complete full and final adoptions (e.g., China and Russia). Families prepare a dossier, which is translated, authenticated and submitted to the government of Vietnam. After dossier review and approval, the Vietnamese government asks the family to consider a particular child. The information received about a child prior to travel may be a simple medical report and one photo. We encourage families to share this information with an adoption medicine specialist who is familiar with the condition and care of institutionalized children. Once a family has accepted the match of a child, the Vietnamese government will start the adoption process and invite the adoptive family to travel. The wait time to be matched with a child is difficult to predict. Currently, WACAP is accepting applications only from families who seek to adopt a waiting child from Vietnam and are open to participating in a second WACAP adoption program or are open to the possibility of as long as a three-year wait.

Parents must make one trip to Vietnam of 10–21 days. While there, they will visit their child, attend a court hearing and a Giving and Receiving Ceremony, and obtain the child’s court documents, birth certificate, passport, and U.S. entry visa.

As with any international adoption, timeframes and procedures may change, but families in a pioneer program must expect and not be discouraged by the aspect of change and ambiguity.

WACAP’s pioneer Vietnam program fee is $14,500.

Please contact WACAP or call 206-575-4550 for more information.