F&CS Foster Care, Adoption and Counseling Services is a Hague accredited agency eligible to help people adopt from a country in the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect to Intercountry Adoption. In addition, we are also accredited in the Philippines. We partner with the Philippines’ Intercountry Adoption Board (ICAB), a division of their Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), to place Filipino children who need overseas adoptive placement into a loving home.
A child must be legally free to be eligible for adoption. A Filipino child is legally free when the child has been voluntarily or involuntarily committed to the Department of Social Welfare and Development or to a licensed child-placing or child-caring agency and freed of parental authority.
Families must be open to a child over the age of 3 years at time of referral. The greatest need is for families interested in adopting siblings groups, school age children, or children with medical conditions.
After completion of the home study and dossier, most families wait approximately 18-24 months to be matched with a child, pending ICAB’s approval. For families interested in adopting children with significant developmental disabilities and/or large sibling groups, the wait can be shorter. In fact, ICAB notifies us and other accredited agencies each month with information on waiting children with developmental disabilities who can be referred immediately to interested adoptive families.
After a family accepts the referral of their child, it takes approximately 6 months before one or both parents can travel to the Philippines to escort their child home.
At least one parent must travel to the Philippines for 6-10 days (including travel time) to meet their child’s caretaker and escort him/her home. In-country assistance is provided to all families throughout the trip. Philippines adoptions are legally completed in the United States after a period of adjustment in the adoptive home.
Residence: We work with families who reside in Michigan or Ohio.
Marriage: Married couples only; must be married three years if first marriage, five years if second marriage. ICAB will consider single applicants who will be accepting children from 6 years old and above of either gender with minor correctable medical conditions or sensitive background issues.
Age: 27-45 years old. There is some flexibility if the prospective adoptive father is over age 45 but the adoptive mother is younger. Maximum age gap between the child and parent is 45 years.
Children: Childless couples preferred, but couples with no more than three children in the home will be considered; some exceptions made if adopting school aged children.
Filipino adoption law allows for the adoption of a relative child if the child is within four degrees of consanguinity, which means the child is the prospective adoptive parent’s grandchild, brother, sister, niece, nephew, grandniece, grandnephew, aunt, uncle, or first cousin. A child with any other relation to the prospective adoptive family is NOT eligible for adoption under the relative adoption procedures.
To begin, submit a Preliminary Application to us. We will review and advise you regarding the particular circumstances of your case. Then, complete the required Questionnaire for Relative Adoptive Applicants. Submit a copy of your questionnaire to us for our records.
After reviewing the questionnaire, ICAB will request that the family complete the required documents for a relative and/or identified adoption. We will work with the prospective parents to complete a home study (and dossier if required) and to obtain approval from Citizen and Immigration Services, a branch of the US Department of Homeland Security.
ICAB will also request that the DSWD field office where the child resides conducts a Child Study Report. Receipt of this report can take 3-6 months from the time of the initial request. The DSWD will evaluate the child’s history, living conditions, verify legal eligibility for adoption and make a recommendation on whether adoption is in the child’s best interests.
The ICAB social worker will review all of the documents from the DSWD and make a recommendation to the official ICAB Board for approval/ denial of the proposed adoption.
Once approval is issued by ICAB, paperwork is filed with the U.S. Central Authority (U.S. Department of State), requesting issuance of the child’s visa. You must travel to the Philippines to bring your child home and attend a meeting at ICAB’s office in Manila. The adoption is legally completed in the U.S. in accordance with the adoption rules in the state where you reside.
