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Living Hope Adoption Agency (LHAA) has been licensed by the country of Honduras and began a “pilot adoption program” in October 2010. LHAA and Direccion de Niñez Adolescencia y Familia or Directorate for Children, Youth and Family (DINAF) created a partnership with one goal in mind — creating forever families for Honduran orphans. Our agency is proud to be working with the Honduran government, and we look forward to providing adoption services to loving families to achieve this goal.
Honduras is located in Central America. It borders Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Originally, Honduras was inhabited by several indigenous tribes — most notably, the Mayans. It was colonized by the Spanish and ruled by Spain for nearly 300 years. Honduras won its independence from Spain in 1821. Currently the country is a Democratic Republic headed by President Juan Orlando Hernández. Today, Honduras is mostly an agricultural society with major exports of coffee and bananas. Most of the people work on small family farms called Campesinos. The primary language spoken in the country is Spanish; however there are also several Amerindian dialects. The major ethnic groups in the country are the Chorti, Lenca, and the Jicaque. Honduras is predominately a Catholic country with 97% of the people identifying as Catholic. The staple foods in a Honduran household are corn tortillas and beans. Other traditional Honduran foods include fried plantains, white cheese, and mantequilla, a fried spicy meat dish. The country celebrates several unique holidays including the La Ceiba Carnival, Feria de la Virgin de Suyapa, Day of the Americas, and their National Independence Day on September 15th.
Central Authority:
The Directorate for Children, Youth and Family (DINAF) oversees all adoptions.
Children Available: The majority of the children are placed for adoption due to impoverished conditions, and are then placed in children’s homes or foster homes until they are matched with a family for adoption. Children under 14 (or 18 if sibling) years old
whose parents are unknown and have legal status of abandonment
or who have been relinquished by their parents are available for adoption. Siblings are also in search of forever families, on occasion.
Timelines: Prospective adoptive parents can expect a full process time frame of approximately 5 years for the Standard Program, which places healthy children ages 2 years old and older. The Waiting Child Program has an approximate timeline of 24-30 months, and advocates for children with special needs or children 7 years old or above.
Requirements
requirements for honduras pre-adoptive families
Please read through the lists of requirements below to see if you qualify for adopting from Honduras. If you have any questions, please call or email us at info@livinghopeadoption.org
Age Requirements
- Prospective adoptive parents are required to be between the ages of 25 and 60. Prospective adoptive parents are eligible to apply for adoption six months to one year before their 25th birthday. There must be 15 years between the age of the child and the ages of both parents. There should also be no more than 15 years age difference between husband and wife.
Income Requirements
- The minimum household income must meet the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) poverty guidelines. Families must demonstrate financial stability and the ability to adequately provide financial care for a child or children until adulthood. A family’s income and full financial status will be evaluated as part of the adoption process.
Marriage Requirements
- Married couples and single women may adopt from Honduras. At this time, Honduras is not accepting single male applicants. Married couples must be married for a minimum of three years. No more than two divorces are permitted per prospective adoptive parent.
Health of the Adoptive Parents
- Adoptive applicants must demonstrate that they are physically, psychologically, and mentally fit to parent a child by adoption. A letter from a licensed physician and a psychological report will be required of each applicant and included in the family’s home study report.
Children in the Home
- Families having more than three children under the age of 18 already living in the home must show ability to add another child. For the Honduras Standard Program, the youngest child in the home must be the adopted child.
Criminal History
- Adoptive applicants must disclose all criminal and drug history. Any criminal and drug history will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Post Adoption
- Honduras requires: 4 post adoption reports to be completed during the first year following the adoption finalization; 2 post adoption reports to be completed in the second year following adoption finalization; and 1 report annually until the child or children reaches the age of 14 years old
- If the adopted child is 14 years old or older, the same post adoption requirements apply except one report annually until the child or children reaches the age of 21 years old. Post adoption reports must be completed at 1, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months from the date of adoption finalization and completed in the home by a licensed agency.
Travel
- 2 trips to Honduras are required to finalize the adoption but the length of each may vary according to each family’s situation.
- The first trip will last approximately 5-7 days and during the first trip, parents will meet their child, spend two days at DINAF to complete a family interview and psychological evaluation, and go to court to file for a birth certificate. Two to four months after the first trip, parents will travel to Honduras for the second trip.
- The second trip will last approximately 6-7 weeks, during which parents will finalize the adoption through court processing. Once court is finalized, parents are given direct custody of the child, but they are not able to travel out of the country until the child’s birth certificate is signed in front of the judge in court and the judge gives their ruling and until the completion of immigration processing which entails waiting for the child’s visa from U.S. Consulate (after receiving their birth certificate). Thus one parent must remain in the country to care for the child. This process takes approximately 2 weeks.
- LHAA will be coordinating travel arrangements to Honduras but families have the option of coordinating their own travel arrangements should they choose to do so.
- For married couples, both parents are required to travel for the first trip and both parents are required to travel for at least the first week (approximately) of the second trip. Once both parents have completed the necessary court processing on the second trip, one parent is able to return to the U.S.
- According to the U.S. Citizenship Act, your child will become a United States Citizen automatically upon entry into the United States.
FAQs
how long does it take to complete the home study portion of the adoption?
Once you have collected all of the necessary paperwork, a home study specialist will visit your home. The timeline does vary based on the agency completing your home study process, however families can typically budget for this stage to take an average of 2-3 months.
how long does it take to collect documents for the dossier?
It takes approximately 4-6 months.
what does 'dinaf' stand for?
DINAF stands for Direccion de Ninez Adolescencia y Familia or Directorate for Children, Youth and Family
how long is the adoption process from application to referral
It takes approximately 6 months for families to prepare a dossier. At this time, the current wait time for a referral is 6 years with the potential for longer wait times.
what ages of children are available for adoption in honduras?
From the Honduras Standard Program, healthy male and female children, ages 2 years old and older are available. From the Honduras Waiting Child Program, male and female children ages 3-13 years old with a medical condition or healthy older children over the age of 7 years old are available. Sibling sets are also available.
for married couples, is it a requirement for both spouses to be u.s. citizens?
Prospective adoptive parents residing in the U.S. must follow the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) guidelines, which requires that at least one parent must be a U.S. citizen in order to be eligible to adopt internationally.
are singles eligible to adopt from honduras?
Single females are permitted to adopt from Honduras. Unfortunately, single males are not eligible to adopt from Honduras at this time.
how many trips to honduras are required to finalize the adoption?
Prospective adoptive parents are required to travel to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, twice in order to finalize the adoption. For married couples, both parents are required to travel for the first trip and both parents are required to travel for at least the first week (approximately) of the second trip. Once both parents have completed the necessary court processing on the second trip, one parent is able to return to the U.S.
who coordinates travel arrangements?
Living Hope staff will coordinate your travel arrangements to Honduras, to ensure the process moves as smoothly as possible. However, families do have the option of coordinating certain portions of their trip, if they prefer.
will an english-speaking staff member be available during travel in Honduras?
Yes, an in-country representative from LHAA will be with you and your family at all times while you are in the country.
what are the post-adoption requirements after the finalization of the adoption?
Honduras requires: 4 post adoption reports to be completed during the first year following the adoption finalization; 2 post adoption reports to be completed in the second year following adoption finalization; and 1 report annually until the child or children reaches the age of 14 years old. If the adopted child is 14 years old or older, the same post adoption requirements apply except one report annually until the child or children reaches the age of 21 years old.
Post adoption reports must be completed at 1, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months from the date of adoption finalization and completed in the home by a licensed agency.
how long does it take to declare a child abandoned?
LHAA has been informed that it takes 2 years to declare a child abandoned. It is at the discretion of the judge at family court, who is assigned a case, in sentencing the time he or she deems appropriate. The judge also allots a certain period of time should any opposition arise from the biological parent(s). The time is shortened for children who will be classified as a waiting child and if the biological parent(s) are able to be located to terminate their parental rights.
More FAQs
what happens if a family declines a referral??
The prospective adoptive parents must submit a letter providing a reason as to why they are declining the child. Then the Adoption Committee will decide whether or not the family will be eligible to receive another referral.
can prospective adoptive families adopt pre-identified children, or relatives??
Prospective adoptive families can pursue the adoption of relatives on a case-by-case basis. Unfortunately, Honduran law does not allow for the adoption of pre-identified children in any other situation.
can lhaa work with in-process adoptions?
If a prospective adoptive family has begun the adoption process with a private attorney but were informed that they need a DINAF-approved placing agency, these families must transfer to LHAA in order to proceed in the adoption process. The decision to use the family’s current attorney or one of our own needs to be discussed in addition to the max number of attorneys LHAA is willing to work with in the future.
can lhaa handle adoptions that have been finalized in honduras but need further processing in the us
At least one of the parents must be a US citizen for the adoption to be processed through our agency.
if i was ever arrested, do i need to disclose it on our application?
When a prospective adoptive family has finalized the adoption in-country but needs to comply with the US requirements for adoption in order to return to the states with their adopted child, they will have two options; one, contract with LHAA as their placing agency or two, LHAA is able to be a home study only provider including the post-adoption only provider IF the family is a Pennsylvania resident within our service area. If not, the family will need to file Form I-130 and wait 2 years before the child is granted permission to enter the US. The US is no longer providing non-immigrant visas to adopted children.
Waiting Child Program
waiting child program
Honduras Waiting Child Program consists of children with mild to severe needs, ranging in age from 3-13 years old. The children in this program typically have some level of physical, emotional, and/or developmental delays. If you feel open to providing a home for one of these wonderful children and are interested in learning more , please contact Barb Santoro at bsantoro@livinghopeadoption.org.