A lot of questions...

[sugarfeather]

Hi ! I'm 30 years old. I'm a Nigerian woman living in London, and i'm married with an English man (he's 30 too), for 5 years now. A few months before pour wedding, we learnt that i have a chromosomic translocation, so, if I want a biologic child, I need to do an IVF, maybe with an egg donation. I didn't want it for personal reasons, including the fact that i grew UP with an adoptive sister, so adoption seemed as a natural way for me. At this time, my husband didn't really agree ; because some of his surrroundings members adoptions' failed and because of child traffic and racisme/classique Foster Care he was thinking IVF was more ethic. So, we decided to live our youth normally, and wait to take our decision.

Now, 5 Years later, it's totally clear : we want to adopt 1 to 3 childs, between 5 ans 10. We're open to special needs like violent story, dys disorders, adhd, or motor disability.

So, I have a lot of questions :

• Even if adoption in Nigeria is prohibited for English citizens, can I use my Nigerian citizenship to adopt in the country as a Nigerian National ? Can my husband adopt with me ?
• To reduce "abusive" adoption risks, is it better to work with VAA's ? What are the real differencies between them and others ?
• Are we obligated to work with an agence of London ?
• Can the long time we took to do this choice be a problem for social workers ?
• I am a psychologist, can it change something during interviews ?

Sorry for this long and maybe confused post.
Have a good day.

Hello
You have to be resident in England to adopt in England. As you are married you cannot adopt alone- it is a joint application and your husband needs to be totally on board
All children in care are the legal responsibility of the local authority in which they live. VAs do not have legal responsibility for any children but work with LAs to place children. Differences tend to be around support and general ethos of the agency. So its the same 'pool' of children.
No you don't have to have an agency in London but you need to take into account practicalities. If you live in London agency in Birmingham is unlikely to be interested in you because of the distance

It doesn't matter how long it's taken you to decide - agencies will prefer that you took your time and that it's the right time for you.
Not really sure what you mean by your last question .

That is alot of questions!I always recommend adoption UK as a really supportive charity as you go starting through the process,they have really helpful webinars and they do regular zoom meet ups for prospective adopters which are really supportive and helpful in these kind of questions.
Good luck!

@Ted27 @tonyhawks23 Thanks for your answers, and especially for details about VAs, and sources

Actually, my main question was about adoption in Nigeria ; can I adopt in my native country or not ? I don't find any clear answer about it ; the official site says that Nigeria is a restrictited country, and that adoption is only posssible for exception requests, like adopting a child of family.
Even it's not my case, as a national of Nigeria, can I make an exception requests?

Where can I find a complete list of country open to intercountry adoption ?

I'm not really clear what you are asking

Are you wanting to be approved in England to adopt a Nigerian child and bring them to the UK

Or
Adopt a Nigerian child in Nigeria and bring them to the UK

@Ted27 Actually, I was confused because I didn't know what way WE should choose between thèse two ways, and if it's realistic or not.

We want to prospect on England and in an African country.

@sugarfeather

I doubt you will find anyone here who will know about adoption in Nigeria

If you want to adopt internationally from the UK, you will still need to be assessed by an agency here. I’ve idea whether you can adopt in Nigeria. This the best place to go to for advice https://www.icacentre.org.uk/

You need to be aware that international adoption is very expensive

circa £25 - 30,000

Is there a reason why you arent considering adopting in the UK. Black and minority ethnic adopters are in high demand here, you would be very popular, particularly if you are in London

@Ted27 We wanted to adopt in Nigeria or in Africa because the lifes of the childrens available for adoption are very different in these countries than in UK. We were also thinking that they're was enough black adopters for black kids in UK, but it seems to be wrong.

Nigeria is in IAC website as one of the most popular countries, but write as a restricted country on governement website ; i'm gonna ask them by mail.

We are now thinking about adopting in South Africa (we have a friend from SA], but we are starting to think about UK.
Can we have two cases (domestic and abroad[ simultaneously ?

Thanks you very much

@sugarfeather

No you can't do both, an agency will expect commitment from you.

I absolutely agree that the circumstances of children in Africa are different, but as your intent appears to be to bring a child to this country, that in itself raises issues.

Children in this country may have different issues but they will have had traumatic experiences and are as much in need of a family and a home as a child in Africa.

@Ted27 We weren't thinking about it. Thanks you very much for all.

Did you adopt ?

@sugarfeather

Yes I am an adopter. Of a mixed race boy. No black or mixed families were available

How many time did you wait to be relaeated ? How old was your son when you adopted him ?