The Philippines is a beautiful country composed of over 7,000 islands located in the western Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia. With a tropical climate, the Philippines is often humid and rainy and experiences very high temperatures. Dating back thousands upon thousands of years, the Philippines is a country steeped in history, culture, and pride. Currently, over 120 million people call the Philippines home.
The Philippines is a Hague-accredited country. Since 1999, over 4,000 children have come from the Philippines and been adopted by US families. While the Gladney Center for Adoption just recently received accreditation in the Philippines in 2024, our expert Philippines team came to us through our acquisition of Madison Adoption Associates, who earned accreditation in the Philippines in 2009. Madison has placed hundreds of children from the Philippines with loving, forever families since 2009, and we look forward to carrying on that legacy here at Gladney.
Adopting a Child from the Philippines
The children waiting for adoption in the Philippines tend to be older children, larger sibling groups, and/or children with more moderate to significant medical needs. These children are part of the Philippines Special Home Finding program,a program dedicated to working with adoption service providers around the world to identify qualified, loving families for children who have been harder to place. The Philippines takes considerable precautions to protect the privacy of their children who wait, and therefore we do not share pictures of the waiting children in our advocacy efforts. This can make finding families for these precious children very challenging. Just because you cannot see the children, it does not mean they are not waiting! In fact, the advocacy restrictions mean we need to speak up even louder for these children to make sure they are “seen.”
Philippines Adoption Criteria
Hopeful adoptive parents pursuing adoption from the Philippines may be married (for at least three years with no more than two divorces per couple) or be a single woman. Applicants must be at least 27 years old and no more than 45 years older than the child they wish to adopt. Families must be mentally and physically healthy and have stable financial circumstances. The Philippines requires that adoptive families be active, practicing members of a religion.
Once formally matched and all pertinent approvals are received from both the Philippines and the US, you will be invited to travel to the Philippines to meet and begin the process to legalize custody of your child. You can expect to stay in the Philippines for 7-10 days, during which time you can explore your child’s culture. Your child will arrive home to the US on an IH-4 visa. Following a post-placement supervision period, you will receive Consent to Adopt your child within the US courts.
Get Started
Ready to get started on your Philippines adoption journey? Please complete and submit our Prospective Adoptive Parent form and an adoption specialist will be in touch!
