How do I adopt a child from Thailand?

The normal waiting period for Thai adoptions from application to placement is a minimum of one year, or sometimes one year and six months. There are many different countries with adoption boards and agencies wishing to adopt Thai children: depending on the demand and on the number of children available for adoption, there may or may not be openings for applicants from Ireland. In 2010 for example, the Thai Adoption Centre has advised the Irish Adoption Board that no new applications will be considered.

Pauses in applications are designed to alleviate prospective adopting families from having to wait for long periods of time while their applications are being processed, due to the limited number of children available. With growing international interest in adopting children from Thailand, the norm over the last few years has been that there are far more applications than there are children for adoption.