After a long wait it is now finally possible to choose for adoption opportunities from Bulgaria. Before committing oneself it is important to read the below to learn about the requirements. Please contact the team of Adoption Opportunities if you have any questions after reading this page.
Adoption Opportunities from Bulgaria
- The most common ages of children available for adoption in Bulgaria are between 2
and 9 years. - Children under the age of two years are still a rarity for adoption in Bulgaria.
- Referrals for children above the age of 9 years are currently being received which
applications are processed faster, especially for boys, who are presently numerous
than girls.
Who can be adoptive parent?
- Candidate-adoptive parents must be above 18 years of age and be at least 15 years
older than the adoptive child. - There are no legal restrictions on the sexual orientation of candidate-prospective
parents, nevertheless in case of a married couple, the traditional male-female regime
still applies; - In the case of spouses adopting, there should not be more than 50 years of age
difference between the adoptee and the younger spouse, and there should not be more
than 55 years age difference between the adoptee and the older spouse in a married
couple. - In the case of single adopters, the lower age difference should not generally exceed 50
years. - Candidate-adoptive parents should be in good physical and mental health and they
should not suffer from any disease/s which may pose a threat to the prospective
adopted child’s life and health. - Should the prospective parent suffer from any health issues, the medical certificate
annexed with the dossier must include more detailed information on his/her health.
The respective medical specialist should then give his/her opinion regarding the
adopter’s medical condition, and their eligibility to adopt in view of the medical issue
in question. This should be assessed by the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice. - Prospective adopters may request an extra medical examination to be held on the
adoptee’s person at their own expense. It is crucial that the adoptive parents strictly
indicate beforehand the type of examination, tests and specialists that they would like
to be arranged. Such an examination can be organised and held before the visit of the
Prospective adoptive parents or during the 5-day stay allocated to meeting the child. - Consecutively, candidate-adopters must meet all legal requisites as provided for in the
Maltese Laws, namely:
a. Whilst there is a requirement regarding the candidates’ minimum age of 28
years, there is no condition regarding the Prospective adopters’ maximum age.
b. Married couples, single adopters, civil union partners or cohabitants in a de
facto or registered cohabitation, who are living together can apply.
c. In the case of spouses adopting, there is a compulsory prerequisite for them to
live together, and the age criterion is sufficed if at least one of the spouses
meets them.
d. There are also conditions for minimum and maximum age between
prospective adopters and adoptees – the age difference between the mentioned
should be at least 20 years and should not go beyond 45 years of age.
e. The age difference condition is subject to exception in cases where some
significant reasons require them, for instance in adoption of sibling groups
where the age difference is present at least for one of the children and the
adoption is considered to be in the paramount interest of the siblings.
Adoption process of a Special Needs child
- Adoption Opportunities will send to agency in Bulgaria the application paperwork
with all the required registration documents. - Once the application has been received and translated, our team in Bulgaria will
submit it to the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice, where the application is reviewed and if
the family is approved it becomes officially matched with the child. - Adoption Opportunities will then prepare the dossier and send it to our team in
Bulgaria, who are then in charge with the submission of the dossier to the Bulgarian
Ministry of Justice. - Once the dossier is submitted, the candidates are registered with priority given that
they are adopting a child from the Special Needs List, and then the official child
referral is offered at the first possible meeting of the Intercountry Adoption Council.
Waiting Period
- There is no exact waiting period, nevertheless the following are the approximate
waiting-periods, depending on the child’s age, gender, health state etc:
a. For healthy children up to 3 years of age – around 5 years
b. For healthy children between 4 to 7 years of age – around 4 to 5 years
c. For healthy children between 7 and 9 years of age – around 3 to 4 years
d. For healthy children of 10 years of age or more – around 2 to 6 months
e. For a sibling group where one of the children is 10 years old or up – around 1-
3 months. - After a referral, the adopters are invited to travel to Bulgaria to meet the adopted
child. In case of a married couple, the norm is that both candidates travel to Bulgaria
to meet the child, nevertheless, in exceptional cases one of the adoptive candidates
may travel to Bulgaria alone to meet the child. - The preliminary trip is made in order to meet the child and normally lasts 6 days. The
second trip takes 6 to 7 days. During the last trip the passport and visa (if required) is
issued and the adoption process is completed.