Bulgarian Traditional Adoption

Bulgarian Adoption Completed in 20 Months

If you’re willing to adopt an older over the age of 7, your will likely wait less than 6 months to be matched. 

This family of ours waited only 3 months to be matched with their Bulgarian children.  See their story below!

Adopted children leaving Bulgaria.

Bulgarian Adoption Timeline?

How Long Did It Take to Adopt from Bulgaria?

Finish Home Study 10 Months
Wait for Referral 3 Months
First Trip 1 Month Later
Second Trip 6 Months Later
Total 20 Months

See Other Parents' Timelines

We have a few other families who are happy to share their stories and their timelines.  To see how long it took them to adopt, please see:

Jessica and Jeremy's story

Sam and Stacie's story

Monica and Manuel's

Ana's story

Christian and Cassandra's

Daniel and Alexandra's

Megan and Mike's

Paul and April's

Lori's

Jeremy and Jessica’s Timeline

Step 1:  Paperwork Ready!

Jeremy and Jessica completed their home study and got her CIS approval in about 10 months.  Their home study agency, Adoption Home Study Service of Ohio did a good job!  (If you are a US citizen living abroad, the home study is a bit different. You can read about that process here).

Step 2:  Accept the Match!

Once the family turned in their completed paperwork to the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice, they only waited 3 months to be matched.  They accepted their referral for siblings, boy and girl, ages 8 and 9.  The children were described as “healthy” by the Ministry.  Here is a video of Jessica getting “the news”!   

Step 3:  Meeting Their Children!

Jeremy and Jessica traveled to Bulgaria to meet their children for the first time.  The trip is only about 5 to 7 days.  At the end of it, they signed the paperwork necessary to adopt their children and the case was approved by the Bulgarian courts. 

St. Mary's Adoptive family meeting their kids in Bulgaria

Step 4:  Goodbye Orphanage!

The second trip is of course, our favorite.  It is the one where the parents grab their kids and leave the orphanage!  As an adoption agency, that is our favortie moment! Enjoy the video documenting 2 less orphans!

Bulgarian Traditional Adoption

It took Jeremy and Jessica about 20 months, from start to finish to complete all the steps in the process!  Jessica was kind enough to take some pictures of her surroundings so future parents can know what to expect when they think of what a Bulgarian orphanage looks like?  Also, she shares some of her thoughts about the orphanages and the process in the videos below.

If you’d like to hear more of our adoptive parents share their thoughts on what the orphanages in Bulgaria look like, we invite you to see Lori’s Interview from 2017 or Christian and Cassie’s Interview from 2021.

Bulgarian Orphanage Conditions

AirBnB in Sofia

adoptive family going hiking together.
Father and adopted son climbing a rope.
father and son playing in the snow together.
Orphanage in Bulgaria.
father and son wrestling in the snow.
adopted siblings watching a movie in Bulgaria.

How Can I Afford to Adopt?

With our agency, which we believe is unique, the cost of the adoption becomes due on your own timetable, not ours.  We call this a floating fee structure”

We also offer 37 month financing which lets you make a fixed monthly payment for 37 months.  Some of our parents love this option because it lets them spend less money before they can qualify for grants.

Getting the adoption tax credit also helps parents with the cost of international adoption.

Succes Stories

Learning about the process by seeing how different families went through each step can be a good learning experience for future adoptive parents.  We've shared several stories, each with real timelines, and steps, as they happened in real life to real families.

Christian and Sandra's Story

Finished adoption in 27 months.

Monica and Manny's Story

Finished adoption in 25 months

Jeremy and Jessica's Story

Finished adoption in 20 months

Stacy and Sam's Story

Finished adoption in 18.5 months

Lori's Story

Finished adoption in 18 Months

Ana' Story

Finished adoption in 20 months.

Paul and April's Story

Finished adoption in 28 months

Mike and Megan's Story

Finished adoption in 30 months

Daniel and Alexandra's Story

Finished adoption in 36 months