The Dominican Republic is one half of a stunning island in the Caribbean, sharing the land mass with the country of Haiti. It is a place of great diversity, both in the make up of the people and the landscape. We partner with an established legal team in Santo Domingo and work with directly with the country's central authority to find families for the children in their care. The majority of the children speak Spanish, though some are also familiar with Creole and English.
Children available for adoption range between the ages of 3-15, though the majority are over the age of 8. We see a variety of needs, most related to malnutrition and general orphanage care. Siblings groups are available. The majority of the children have lived solely in an orphanage setting.
Adoptive parents must be between 30 and 60 years old and a minimum of 15 years older than the child(ren) they intend to adopt. Married couples must be married for a minimum of 5 years. Single woman are eligible for the program and single men may be considered on a case by case basis (per the rules of Dominican Republic).
Once a family’s dossier (the set of documents representing a family to the authorities in Dominican Republic) has been submitted, the match between prospective adoptive parents and child is made by CONANI, the country's governing body for adoptions. Frank Adoption is given fairly detailed information on how the child came into care, their medical status and their social history. We anticipate the wait time between dossier submission and match to be 14-24 months, though the wait time will be longer for families hoping to adopt younger children.
CONANI does maintain a database of waiting children, the majority of whom are significantly older, part of a sibling group or have a diagnosed medical need(s). Upon request and typically after consultation with Frank Adoption and our in country partner, family’s may be given access to basic information about these children.
Once a family has accepted their child’s referral, they will a single trip to the Dominican Republic with the expectation that you will remain in country for a minimum of 60 days (thought the time may be shortened to 30 days if you are adopting a child over the age of 12). During this time, you will be visited periodically by a social worker to ensure you and your child are feeling confident in the continued process. Once this co-habitation period has ended, one parent may return to the US while the other stays in country to finalize the adoption. This additional time in country is likely 2-4 months. Families typically finalize their adoption in the Dominican Republic and their child enters the US as a US citizen.
While in the Dominican Republic, you will be accompanied by our in country partners for all appointments.
Average time from dossier submission until arriving home with your child: 17-27 months
Estimated total program cost: $40,000
Frank Adoption does have the ability to serve as Primary Provider for relative or known child adoptions from the Dominican Republic. Please contact us directly to learn more about this process and check our Primary Provider page for general information.