Uzbekistan Adoption Information

Our adoption program from Uzbekistan is currently CLOSED.

See our CURRENT PROGRAMS page for open active programs.

Process of Adopting from Uzbekistan

As with all of our adoption programs, you must first participate in a general information meeting prior to contracting with the agency. This can be done via telephone for families who reside outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Once this meeting has taken place, and you have signed the contracts and paid the initial agency fees, we immediately begin working on your home study, foreign dossier, and USCIS approval. Our agency strives to offer the fullest level of support and services possible – even sending for apostilles and document authentications on your behalf in order to complete your adoption dossier in the quickest manner possible. While there are many aspects outside of our control with adoption and foreign adoptions in particular, we have found during our years of experience that our hard work on things we can control – paperwork, preparing and authenticating dossiers, etc. – usually quickens your overall adoption process.

After your home study has been completed and approved and while you are waiting to receive USCIS approval, we begin work on your dossier. Once your dossier has been completed, we will forward it to our foreign coordinator who will work on translating the dossier and then submit it to the Ministry in Uzbekistan. At this point you are ready to be matched with a referral. Each region in Uzbekistan has its own authority. You will receive any referral information made available to us (usually a picture and an excerpt from the child’s medical charts). We will strongly encourage you to have the information evaluated by a doctor skilled in evaluating international adoption referrals.

Once your doctor has given his or her approval and you are comfortable proceeding, you will travel as soon as you are given an appointment. Hope International will assist you with travel arrangements (if needed) and with preparing for your trip to Uzbekistan. The first trip requires 5 business days in country. Once in Uzbekistan, the foreign representative will guide you through each step of the adoption process. During this trip, you will meet with a local social worker who will evaluate your ability to parent the child. If you are approved and you decide to adopt the child you will complete documentation stating that you wish to adopt the child you are visiting. Once the documentation is complete, you will return back to the United States to wait for the paperwork to clear the appropriate Uzbekistani governmental departments. The time between your two trips is very difficult to predict and could be between 1 to 3 months later, or even longer. It is important that you understand and respect that foreign governments take the question of international adoption very seriously, and there are many steps involved before you can travel to Uzbekistan to bring your child home. As your agency, we know the wait can be frustrating and stressful, and we are here to support you through this time. You will be notified as soon as you are invited for the second trip which will be at least 4 weeks, and could be longer. During the second trip you will again meet with local officials and with your child while you wait for the adoption to become final. During this time, the foreign representative will assist you in obtaining the following for the child: adoption certificate, a new birth certificate, a medical examination, a passport, and a visa.

The two trip process is highly recommended but if you choose, and the coordinator agrees it will be feasible, to make one trip to Uzbekistan you should prepare to be in country for 6-8 weeks. Both parents must travel for the initial part of the trip (approximately one week), and then one parent can leave for the remainder of the process, or choose to return at some point.
When you return home, and for the first six months following placement, Hope International or your home study agency will provide post-placement supervision as required by the State of Texas or your state of residence. In addition, Uzbekistan requests that follow-up reports be submitted yearly until the child is 18 years old. Hope International or your home study agency will prepare these reports and forward them to Uzbekistan. At the completion of the initial six-month post-placement period, you will be ready to proceed with your Registration of Foreign Decree or Re-adoption. Hope International will help facilitate this process for Texas families. If you reside outside of Texas, we recommend that you contact a member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys (AAAA) regarding the completion of a registration of re-adoption in your state.