Honduras adoption program

Program Criteria
Children available:
Boys and girls 1 year and older. Adoption of older children is possible. Shorter delays for older children (more than 3 years old). Sibling groups of two and even three children are also available, and twins, though rarely. For children over 6 years old the adoption procedures may happen more quickly.

Parental Requirements:
Parent must be between 25 and 51 at the time of adoption and must be a minimum of 15 years older than the child and a maximum of 45 years older than the child. A couple must have been married, with or without children, for at least 3 years. Single women may adopt. If the adoptive parent is more than 40 years old, the child proposed will be 30 months and up. If the adoptive parent is more than 45 years old, the child proposed will be 4 years and up.

Why Children are Available:
Children are generally available due to the acute poverty of the birth family.

Family Background:
Any known birth family information is provided with the child's documentation.

Medical Information:
When a child is proposed the parents receive a passport photo of the child, a social study, psychological and medical evaluations, and the child's birth certificate.

Wait Times:
Unpredictable. It could be up to 4 years depending on the child's age.

In-Country Time Required:
Two trips to Honduras are required, unless the adoptive family wishes to stay in the country after the initial in-country meetings while the adoption is finalized. The average length of stay is to be determined.

Child's Citizenship:
The adoptive parents can apply for the child to enter Canada as a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident (more details to the right).

Post-Adoption Requirements:
Honduras requires post-adoption reports 4 times during the first year following the adoption, 2 times during the second year, and then once a year until the child reaches the age of 14. The Honduran Consulate reserves the right to follow up on the life conditions of the child until the age of 14, and in order to do this, may visit the child in his/her home.

Costs:
Costs change often due to the fluctuation of the Canadian dollar and fee changes implemented by government agencies in Canada and abroad. Please contact TDH directly for a current cost estimate.

About Honduras
Honduras is a democratic republic in Central America. The country is divided into 18 provinces or departments. The capital city is Tegucigalpa Central District of the department of Francisco Morazán.

Honduras borders the Caribbean Sea on the north coast and the Pacific Ocean on the south through the Gulf of Fonseca. The climate varies from tropical in the lowlands to temperate in the mountains. The central and southern regions are relatively hotter and less humid than the northern coast.

The economy has continued to grow slowly, but the distribution of wealth remains very polarized with average wages remaining low. Economic growth in the last few years has averaged 7% per year which has been one of the most successful growths in Latin America, but 50%, approximately 3.7 million, of the population still remains below the poverty line. It is estimated that there are more than 1.2 million people who are unemployed, the rate of unemployment standing at 27.9%.

Documents Required
All documents must should be printed by computer, or if not in block letters in blue ink. It is important that you provide us with original documents and not photocopies. The documents will be sent to Honduras and will not be returned, so you need to keep copied for yourself. Please always use the same form of your name on all documents to prevent confusion and delays. For example, if your full name is 'Douglas' but you are usually called 'Doug' use whichever is on your official papers (likely 'Douglas'). TDH will provide more details and guidance with these documents.

The original of the homestudy done by an Approved Adoption Practitioner with the Letter of Approval from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and the license of the approved practitioner. The recommendation must clearly indicate the number of children who may be adopted, the age group, and the state of health.
The original of a psychological evaluation done by a psychologist.
The official copy of the birth certificate of each member of the couple. If the couple has children, an official copy of each child’s birth certificate as well.
The official copy of the marriage certificate, issued by the province in which the marriage took place.
Medical certificate, including blood tests, of the couple and of their children, if applicable (this form is provided by TDH).
Police clearance issued by the RCMP.
Letter from the municipality confirming ownership of their house and specifying the value of the property and the square footage, or a lease plus a letter from the owner of the property specifying the number of rooms and the amount of the rent.
Three letters of reference from community, governmental, or religious authorities in the place of residence of the adoptive parents.
Two recent color photographs of the adoptive parents, as well as of the rest of the family and of the house, both interior and exterior.
A photocopy of the signed and valid photo pages of the passport of the parents (both passports to be copied on one page).
Adoption application (this form is provided by TDH).
An employer’s letter on the letterhead of the company indicating the position, the length of employment, and the annual salary of each of the adoptive parents or if one of the parents is an independent worker, a letter from his/her accountant. An example of this letter will be provided by TDH.
A letter of financial solvability from the bank.
Attestation of revenue in the form of your most recent "Notice of Assessment" from Revenue Canada.
A power of attorney in the name of the agency’s legal representative in Honduras (this form will be provided by TDH).

Honduran flag Honduras Program

In June 2009 the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth approved and licensed TDH Ontario to facilitate adoptions in Honduras. The following is a brief description of the Honduras program, as offered by TDH Ontario. For more in-depth details, contact TDH Ontario. Please note that due to the nature of international adoption the information here may change without notice.

TDH has many years of experience in Honduras through its Quebec organization, TDH pour les enfants, which has been active in the country since 1993. Additionally, TDH Canada, our national organization, has undertaken humanitarian aid programs in Honduras in order to improve the quality of life of children. It has, for example, established malnutrition clinics, daycare centers, primary schools and community centers, has developed sponsorship programs, vocational programs for youth, and infant care centers, as well as responded to natural disasters with relief programs.

However, as this is a new adoption program for TDH Ontario we are building it gradually and will initially be accepting only 10 applications.

The Adoption Procedure in Honduras
Adoptive parents who wish to initiate the adoptive process must complete the preliminary application form (in MS Word (70k) or PDF version 185 kb) and sign two copies of the service contract (provided by TDH), one of which will be returned to them. At this point, an amount of $4600 Cdn must be remitted to TDH Ontario by cheque.

Preparation of the Dossier
The next step is the undertaking of a homestudy by an approved adoption practitioner in your province. (To find an approved adoption practitioner/social worker in Ontario, refer to the web site of the Ontario Ministry of Children's Services). The practitioner will require a certain set of documents before proceeding with the homestudy. Although there is some overlap, these documents are different from those required for the Honduras dossier. Only a positive homestudy recommendation will permit the continuation of the Honduran adoption procedures. When the homestudy is completed, it is to be sent to TDH, who will then verify the correctness of the documents and send the file to the Ministry for approval.

Adoptive parents prepare their Honduran dossier with the help of TDH, obtaining all the documents required by the foreign authorities responsible for the adoption. (The specific documents required are listed to the left.) Following this, the TDH program coordinator will proceed with a verification and notarization of the documents and see to their translation into Spanish. After obtaining the notarization, the dossier is sent to the Honduran Consulate for authentification, following which it can be sent to our legal representative in Honduras, who will register the dossier at the Department of Adoption (IHNFA).

TDH will request three additional required documents:

a letter of approval from the Ministry of Children and Youth to adopt one or several children from Honduras
a letter from the Honduran Consul attesting that the adopting parents have satisfied the conditions for adoption required by Honduran law
a letter from TDH, as the adoption agency

Citizenship
At the same time as the dossier is being prepared, the application for Canadian citizenship (Part 1) can be done. Part 1 is done before the identity of the child is known. Its purpose is to confirm that at least one parent is a Canadian citizen. You can obtain the form and information at 1-888-242-2100 or at the Citizenship and Immigration Canada web site. In the case of adoption of twins or siblings, it is necessary to make an application for each child you intend to adopt.

If neither of the two parents is a Canadian citizen, you can apply for permanent residency for the child. This is also an option for parents who are Canadian citizens. To do so you make an application for sponsorship of a family class relative with Citizenship and Immigration Canada before the identity of the child is known. TDH will inform you of when to initiate this procedure. To determine which option to select please contact TDH directly.

Legal and Administrative Processes in Honduras
The dossier is registered by the legal representative of the agency at the Department of Adoption (IHNFA). Once the dossier is presented and the documents are verified, IHNFA will assign a dossier number and a number on their waiting list.

Child proposals are made by the Assignments Committee, which is made up of the President of the Supreme Court of Justice or his representative, the President of the College of Attorneys of Honduras, plus the President of the College of Social Workers of Honduras (which alternates every six months with the President of the College of Psychologists of Honduras), the Executive Director of IHNFA, the Secretary General of IHNFA, and technical support persons if necessary. The Committee does not have regular dates for its meetings.

The legal representative of the family is notified of the assignment of a child by a certification, accompanied by a copy of the child's dossier, which includes a passport photo of the child, a social study, psychological and medical evaluations, and the birth certificate of the child. Once notified of a child, the family will have ten days to accept or refuse the proposal of this child.

In the case where the adoptive parents accept the child assignment, the Department of Adoptions will schedule two meetings, generally on two days during the first visit to Honduras. The meetings are for interviews with the psychologist and the social worker and a date on which the family will meet the child, coordinated by the Department of Adoptions. Afterwards the parents have the option to stay in the country with a temporary permit to take charge of the child until the process of adoption is finished, or to return to Canada without the child to wait for the second trip during which the adoption will be finalized and they may return with the child.

After the first trip, all the child documents will be translated and sent to the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth in order that the "Letter of No-objection" may be issued.

After the court audience, the confidential report of the recommendation by IHNFA, the publication notice of the adoption, the attestation of the official giving of the child for adoption and the registration of the adoption in the public registry, the parents (with the aid of the TDH legal representative) will request a new birth certificate, the Honduran passport, as well as either the facilitation visa or the temporary Canadian passport allowing the child to return to Canada.

The adoption decision pronounced by the local authorities in Honduras is a judicial decision (i.e. a court judgment). It is a plenary adoption so that the bonds of filiation between the child and his biological family are cut and a new bond of filiation is created between the child and his adoptive parents.

Honduras requires post-adoption reports four times during the first year following the adoption, two times during the second year, and then once a year until the child reaches the age of 14. This essential commitment in the adoption process permits Honduran authorities to assure themselves of the good integration of the child into his/her new milieu. The Honduran Consulate reserves the right to follow up on the life conditions of the child until the age of 14, and in order to do this, may visit the child in his/her home. The forms and the procedures to follow for this are provided to the adoptive parents before the first follow-up report is due.

Honduran girl

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