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The Ministry for Women, Children and Social Welfare in Nepal officially reopened adoptions on January 1, 2009. At this time we are not able to take new applicants due to a limitation in the number of dossiers to be submitted to the Ministry each year. Please contact Faith for more information on when we may resume taking new applicants.
Who are we and what services can we provide adoptive families?
 We are an agency who consists of social workers and directors who are dedicated to the orphan children of Nepal.  We are a 501 (c)(3) non-profit agency, licensed by the State of Washington and subject to the laws of this state. We are Hague accredited by the National Council on Accreditation. We have the experience, expertise, and the network to handle all aspects of an international adoption in Nepal. We will work together with a perspective adoptive parent (s) throughout the adoption process.
 We help adoptive families prepare their dossiers, arrange for their travel to and within Nepal, assign multi-lingual guides while in country and help arrange travel and lodging accommodations for every day of the adoptive parents' stay in Nepal. We assist families with each step of the adoptive process, and provide information on all matters relevant to their adoption, i.e., assign an agency case worker upon request, update the status of their dossiers both before and after it has been sent to Nepal, inform families of changing requirements brought about by the Nepalese government and its associated ministries or by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, provide re-adoption assistance for our families, coordinate social activities, and much more.
Who qualifies?
The following are standard requirements to adopt a child from Nepal. For those families who do meet the specific qualifications, the Nepal program will afford a lifetime of happiness and joy from their amazing children.
1) There is no age restriction for married couples, however, it is still uncertain how the Ministry staff will factor the age of the parents into the age of the child each family is matched with.
 2) Single women must be between the ages of 35-55. Single men are not permitted to adopt through Nepal, this is a country specific regulation.
3) Married couples must have been married for at least 4 years prior to filing an application.
4) No children may be placed out of birth order: the child to be adopted must be the youngest child coming into the home.
 5) Families with two children of the opposite gender are not permitted to adopt from Nepal. Nepal requires that families with one child must adopt a child of the opposite gender (ie: if you have a boy in the home, you must adopt a girl); families with no children have a choice in gender preference; and families with both a boy and a girl in the household are not allowed to adopt from Nepal. If there are two girls in the home, families must adopt a boy (and vice versa).
However, any children in the household from a previous marriage are not considered in the requirements. That is, if a wife has a son from a previous marriage living in the household, and the couple has a daughter, the couple is required to adopt a son as the wife's child from her first marriage is not tallied into the final total.
6) Parents can only have up to two divorces for each spouse.
7) Parents may adopt siblings as long as there are no children in the home presently.
8) Nepal is now a one trip process.
If you meet these requirements and are interested in the Nepal program, please contact us at Nepal@faithadopt.org.
When will you be matched with a baby, and how will you be notified?
 Once your dossier is complete we will send it to our staff in Nepal who will submit your dossier to the Ministry staff. Your dossier will then be assigned a registration number which we will provide to you. The Ministry staff will review your dossier and send it to a matching committee within the Ministry.
The wait time for a match from Nepal is currently unknown. Wait times are estimated from past families experiences. Until we have families complete the adoption process under the new terms and conditions, we will not be able to predict wait times.
Once our agency
is sent the child's referral, picture and medical report, we notify you immediately! (This is one of the
best moments of our job). Once you have the medical reports checked by a pediatrician, and once you decide to pursue adoption of  that particular child, we will send a letter to the Ministry in Nepal, notifying the Ministry staff of your acceptance of the child. You will then begin preparing for your trip to Nepal to receive your child. Two trips are no longer required under the new terms and conditions, only one trip will be made to Nepal. One or both parents must travel to Nepal. We are estimating the wait time between referral and travel to be approximately 3-4 months. For further information, please see our FAQ page.
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