China
Guatemala
Russia
Vietnam
India
Ethiopia Is Panama a member of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption?
Who is DNA?
Who is eligible to adopt from Panama?
How long must a couple be married before they can adopt from Panama?
Is FTIA licensed by DNA?
How long has FTIA worked in Panama?
Why are children available for adoption in Panama?
Where are the children who are available for adoption in Panama?
What is the timeframe for adoption from Panama?
What is the youngest age of a referral for Panama? Are infants available for adoption?
Are both boys and girls available for adoption?
Are siblings available for adoptions with Panama?
May we/I choose the age and gender of the child we/I adopt?
Who matches children with adoptive families?
What information will we/I receive with our/my referral?
If we're/I'm not satisfied and feel the referral does not have adequate medical information, can we/I request additional information and/or testing?
What happens if we/I decline the referral?
Will you arrange our/my travel to Panama? If not, who does?
How long will we/I be in Panama to bring home our/my child?
Do we/I have to travel to bring our/my child home?
Who will help us/me when we/I travel to Panama to bring our/my child home?
Will the adoption be finalized in Panama?
Does Panama have post-placement requirements?
Panama ratified the Hague Treaty on September 29, 1999 and the treaty took effect in Panama on January 1, 2000. When the Hague Treaty enters into effect for the United States on April 1, 2008, adoptions between the two countries will be governed by the Hague Convention.
DNA stands for Dirección Nacional de Adopciones and is the Central Authority for both domestic and international adoptions in Panama. DNA is a department of the Ministry of Social Development.
The Ministry of Social Development maintains a website in Spanish at: www.mides.gob.pa.
Adopting parents should be no older than 55 years of age to adopt.
Married couples and single women are eligible to adopt.
Prospective adoptive parent(s) must have the financial ability to care for a child.
Persons previously divorced are permitted to adopt.
DNA requests that couples be married for 2 years.
No. DNA does not require that agencies be licensed. DNA is in the process of revising their licensing requirements and FTIA plans to pursue licensing in Panama once the new requirements are made available.
This is a pilot program for FTIA. We have been in contact with attorneys in Panama and developing our program since July of 2007.
Children in Panama are generally available due to 2 reasons. Younger children are generally available from young single mothers who are unable to raise a child. Older children are generally available because either the parents relinquished them to an orphanage because they were unable to care for them or they were removed from the home by courts.
The children will be in orphanages in and around Panama City.
There are several different timeframes during the adoption according to what process you are in:
A Dossier is the collection of legal documents which you have to be Apostilled. This is the one timeframe within the adoptive family’s control. Families average three to four (3-4) months to complete a dossier.
How long you wait for your referral is one time frame. We expect approximately 9 to 12 months after FTIA submits your dossier to Panama that you will receive a referral.
After a referral is accepted, the next time frame is how long it takes to process the adoption. From the time your referral acceptance until the adoptive family is allowed to travel, we anticipate the wait to range from 2-6 months.
As with any other international adoption process, please remember that time frames are subject to change at any time.
It is most likely the youngest child available for any parent(s) would be 18-24 months at time of referral. This may decrease as Panama implements a new adoption law later this year.
Yes, boys and girls are both available for adoption from Panama.
Yes, sibling referrals may be available but generally will be of older children (eg. 4 & 7 years old).
Yes, you may request a specific age range and gender.
The DNA matches families with referrals of children and will provide the information to our attorney in Panama who will then forward the information to FTIA & we will send the information to you.
When your child is assigned (referred) to you, you will receive his/her picture and all available health information including a child study. FTIA will give you all the information and pictures received from Panama regarding your child.
You can request additional information and/or testing but we cannot guarantee the information requested will be available or the tests will be performed. We will make every effort to obtain the information requested. Depending on the cooperation of the orphanage and the complexity of the test or information requested will ultimately determine if the information can be obtained or testing completed.
If you decline the referral you will have to wait until another child is available. This could add additional weeks or months of wait time.
We provide dates of travel and most families purchase their own international tickets. FTIA does request a copy of your itinerary.
All of your required travel in Panama will be coordinated by our attorney in Panama.
If you would like to do sightseeing while in Panama, we can recommend the services of experienced companies and individuals in Panama.
About 30 days. While you are in Panama, your child will be with you and you will meet with a social worker from DNA. The social worker will prepare a recommendation for the judge and if the recommendation is favorable the judge will issue the final adoption decree. The attorney must then obtain a new birth certificate and Panamanian passport for your child. Finally all of your paperwork is submitted to the CIS office in Panama City for review and then a Visa Interview appointment is scheduled for your child at the US Embassy in Panama City. Once your child’s visa is issued, you may return to the United States.
Yes, Panama requires both parents to travel to Panama to bring their child home.
Our attorney in Panama will be available to answer questions and help you during your stay in Panama. We can also recommend services in Panama to assist you with non-legal aspects of your stay in Panama such as sight-seeing etc.
Probably. Your adoption most likely will be finalized while you are in Panama. It is possible that a judge may issue a guardianship and the adoption will be finalized after completing the first 3 post-placement reports.
Panama requires a total of 9 post-placement reports. The reports are due at 1,2,3,6,12,18,24,30 and 36 months after you return to the United States.
