Bulgaria. The Country of Contrasts.
Bulgaria is a country of contrasts that sits near the crossroads of Europe and Asia. The influence of both the Europeans and its Middle East neighbors are felt in its culture and reflected in its people. Bulgaria is bounded on the north by Romania, on the east by the Black Sea, on the southeast by Turkey, on the south by Greece and on the west by Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro. Bulgaria’s capital city, Sofia, is located in the west central part of the country. The official language is Bulgarian.
Lifeline Children’s Services is pleased to be able to offer a program in Bulgaria. Multiple unrelated children can be adopted which makes, Bulgaria adoption a promising option for many families. There is no additional fee for any number of children adopted (siblings/non-siblings), as long as they are located at the same orphanage. If the children are located in a separate orphanage then there is an additional fee for each separate location, although the fee is relatively low at approximately 2000 Euros.
Lifeline Children’s Services works with two foundations in Bulgaria to help complete your adoption journey. Dreams Foundation and St. Konstantin & Elena Foundation are the two foundations that are in partnership with Lifeline at this time. The directors of each of these foundations have thirty years of combined experience helping families to adopt. Dreams Foundation and St. Konstantin & Elena Foundation are Hague accredited and have a strong and positive working relationship with the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in Sophia, Bulgaria. The Ministry of Justice is the governing body of adoption in Bulgaria. Each of Lifeline’s foundations will be with you every step of your way while you are in Bulgaria.
We are able to accept families desiring to adopt a particular pre-identified waiting child from our waiting child list. Our waiting child list typically consists of children with special needs. There are varying degrees of special needs children on the waiting child list. The MOJ gives each of our foundations new children every two to three months. Children who are not matched or adopted are returned to the MOJ after that time frame. There is always a potential to ask about a child that has previously been on our list to see if they are available.
There is a non-special needs program open in Bulgaria. However, there are very few children in this program available for adoption. The majority of the children available for adoption are in the special needs waiting child program. If you are interested in learning more about the non-special needs program, please speak directly with the Bulgaria program coordinator before making a decision to enter this program for Bulgaria. The non-special needs program in Bulgaria is a difficult and very lengthy process with no guarantees for a successful adoption.
The estimated time frame to adopt a pre-identified special needs child from the waiting child list is 12-24 months. Parents are given the official referral for the pre-identified child they have placed on hold during their home study process, once their dossier is translated and registered with the MOJ. Most children that are available for adoption are of Roma, Turkish or European decent, and are cared for in an orphanage setting. You will receive a picture and complete medical before accepting a child and, on occasion, video of the child will be made available.
Lifeline currently has waiting children available.
These children are currently available and upon interest we will immediately contact each of our foundations to determine that this child is still available. At this point we will immediately begin the process for your adoption of this child.
Lifeline Children’s Services is very blessed to help precious children from Bulgaria come into loving Christian homes. This is a wonderful program and we seek to glorify the Lord is our ministry/work. We will be praying for you every step of the way and help you through the entire adoption process.
