Panama Adoption
The Program
Panama (meaning “plenty of fish”) is a beautiful country, with steep rugged mountains, rainforest, and coastal beaches. The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans and saves travelers over 7000 miles when traveling from east to west and visa versa. Panama connects Central America to South America and boasts many cultures and ethnicities, primarily Amerindian, Caucasian and West Indian. All of the documents supporting the prospective adoptive parent(s)' authority to adopt must be translated into Spanish. Both courts, the Juzgado de la Niñez y Adolescencia and the Juzgados Seccionales de Familia, have similar processes for international adoption.
Parent Eligibility
Perspective parents of 23 years and older may adopt from Panama. Older couples can adopt an older child. Single parents are also permitted to adopt.
Available Children
Children in Panama are available for adoption at nine months of age. Older perspective parents may adopt older children only. Single parents are permitted to adopt. There tends to be an average of 2.49 children born to each woman of child-bearing age in Panama. Slightly more boys are born than girls. Many of these women are struggling with the pressures of poverty or unwed status and cannot support these children. There are many children available for adoption in Panama.
Adoption Process
The Panamanian government has gone through many changes in its approach to inter- country adoption. In 2000, the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption changed the jurisdiction of children to the Direccion Nacional de Adopciones (DNA). It is their intention to see that no child should be left without care and support in Panama.
Travel
Travel to Panama is required by both parents to finalize the adoption, and the length of this one trip is normally 2 - 3 weeks. The judge may also grant guardianship of the child to you to take home and request another visit to finalize the adoption in about 4 months to finalize the adoption. The whole process takes 9 to 18 months.
Please contact Sally, our head Panama Counselor, for more details and information on this program at (712) 256-7705 or email her at info@faithfuladoption.org.
Panama Facts
Coming Soon!