Madagascar

Small World received a license to provide adoption services for USA Families seeking to adopt children in Madagascar in January, 2011. Our first adoptive family arrived from Madagascar in April 2011.  Small World is proud to partner with Princie Lemainty as our liaison in Madagascar.

This Small World adoption program qualifies for financial grants by the foundations who partner with Small World. The granting foundations are solely responsible for approving or denying funding for prospective adoptive parents.

Overview

Madagascar is a Hague participating country and has a judicial process where both parents must appear in court. At least one adopting parent must spend a 30 day probationary period in country after court, bonding with their child. At least one adopting parent must spend an additional 30 day Objection Period in country before the court will issue the final decree of adoption. The adoption must be final before the visa interview at the US consulate and trip home to the USA. That means at least one adopting parent will be in country 2 to 3 months. The process of adoption in Madagascar yields an IR3 Visa which qualifies the adopted child to be a US Citizen upon arrival at any USA entry port after the Madagascar Adoption.


The adoption process in Madagascar

Small World walks with you through the entire process of your adoption. Small World’s English speaking representatives meet each family upon arrival in Antananarivo, Madagascar and guide and accompany you through every step of the adoption process.

You will be in Antananarivo, Madagascar approximately two to three months. Our representatives will walk you through the entire process in Antananarivo, culminating in your child’s visa from the US Consulate. Small World representatives will accompany you to the airport for your departure from Madagascar back to your home with your child.

Small World, Inc. prohibits its employees and agents from giving money or other consideration, directly or indirectly, to a child’s parent(s), other individual(s), or an entity as payment for the child or as an inducement to release the child.  Any attempt to do so is grounds for immediate termination and report to all authorities necessary.

If permitted or required by the child’s country of origin, Small World may remit reasonable payments for activities related to the adoption proceedings, pre-birth and birth medical costs, the care of the child, the care of the birth mother while pregnant and immediately following birth of the child, or the provision of child welfare and child protection services generally.

Under no circumstances shall permitted or required contributions be remitted as payment for the child or as an inducement to release the child.  For any further questions concerning our Madagascar program please contact the Madagascar Program Director Wade Williams at wade@smallworldadoption.com.

Requirements

  • Age

    The age requirement for our Madagascar program is that each applicant be at least 25 years old and one of them at least 30 years of age while generally not more than 40 years older than the child. There is no firm restriction on the age limit, but it is subject to a case by case review by the Central authority in Madagascar if the applicant is more than 40 years older than the child.

  • Finances

    Our Madagascar program requires that a family’s income be able to support the addition of a child and is subject to the Home Study opinion.

  • Children

    Madagascar does not allow more than 4 children per family. If you have 3 children Madagascar would allow you to adopt 1 child. If you have 4 children Madagascar will not allow you to adopt. Madagascar has children available for adoption from 2 – 14 years of age. Madagascar has stated to Small World that they “give preference” to families with no children.

  • Marital Status

    Married heterosexual couples who have been married for at least 2 years may apply to adopt from Small World’s Madagascar program.

  • Faith

    In accordance with Small World’s mission statement, our Madagascar program is open to Christian families only.

  • Post Adoption

    Madagascar is intensely interested in the development of children placed for adoption. They require reports at 6 months and 1 year after the adoption plus an annual report each year until the child reaches the age of 18.

    For further information, please contact Kerri Tracy, Director of Post Placement Services.

Fees

Fees for Madagascar adoption paid to Small World:

Application  $300
Pre-Identified Child Investigation (when applicable & per child)  $500
US State Dept. Monitoring (per child)  $900
Home Study $2,250
Home Study Review (for families living outside of TN & MO) $225
Home Study Update (if needed and is not included in the total cost below)$1,200
Agency $7,500
Dossier (Includes shipping all documents, Authentication, Registration, and Translation of all documents throughout the adoption process) $4,000
Letter of Intent (per child) $2,700
Foreign Program (per child unless indicated) $13,000
Post Placement/Post Adoption Services* (per child) $1,350
ChildcareN/A
ContributionsN/A

US Estimated expenses associated with Madagascar adoption not paid to Small World:

Document procurement  $500
USCIS Application $775
FBI Fingerprints ($85 per adult living in the home) $170
Adoptive training & further education$145 – $630

Travel and in country estimated expenses associated with Madagascar adoption not paid to Small World:

Travel Visa – per person $40
Immigration Visa – per child, traveling to the US $325
Passport size photos for US Immigration Visa $25
Visa medical exam – per child $200
Vaccine – Yellow Fever (if applicable) $150 – $350
Airfare from US (2 adults) $8,000
Airfare from country (2 adults & 1 adopted child) $2,000
Hotel/Lodging $2,500 – $4,500
Ground Transportation $500

Total Adoption Cost:

Total Adoption Cost $48,055 – $50,740

Fee and Payment Breakdown

ApplicationPayment must accompany submission of application.
Pre-Identified Child InvestigationIn cases where there is a pre-identified child, payment must be submitted upon submission of the application, and in addition to the application fee. This fee is per child.
US State Dept. Monitoring In compliance with the mandate issued by the US State Department, this fee is collected by Small World and paid to the agency appointed by the US State Department for monitoring and oversight. The US State Department requires that the $900 (per child) fee be remitted following the finalized contract for services with your adoption agency. The payment will not be refunded by the monitoring agency under any circumstance.
Services AgreementThe signed services agreement must be returned to Small World along with the US Dept of State monitoring fee (See Estimated Expenses) as the next step after the client’s application review. Transfer clients submit $1,250 of the agency fee at this time.
Home StudyPayment must be submitted at the initiation of home study services. The home study packet will not be sent, and work will not begin until the home study fee is paid. Payments for updates are due at the time services are requested. For families living outside TN or MO, case worker travel is billed separately and in advance of travel. If additional copies are required or requested, beyond the 2 provided in the home study fee, and additional fee of $50 per copy, will be applied, plus shipping cost.
Home Study ReviewAll home studies are reviewed by our professional reviewers.  If your home study is prepared by an agency other than Small World, a home study review fee of $225 is due at the time Small World enters into an exempt provider contract agreement with your home study agency.
Home Study UpdateAn Update is a re-approval of a family which extends the life of an approval by an additional year. Updates require a new medical evaluation, new criminal history evaluations, in many cases a new home visit and a new approval from the social worker. Typical events that require an Update include a change of residence or 1-year expiration since the last approval. An original home study can only be updated annually for 2 years. A full, new home study is required for year 3.
AgencyPayment must be submitted at the time of the completed home study.  No further work may be performed toward the adoption until the agency fee is received by Small World.  The agency fee for each additional child adopted simultaneously with the first child for most programs is eligible for a 50% discount. Transfer Clients Only: $1,250 is due upon contracting with SW, and the balance is due upon dossier transfer completion
DossierIncludes applicable translation fees. Payment must accompany the first, original documents submitted to Small World for processing. Approved dossier documents will not be sent for authentication/apostille until the dossier fee is paid in full.
Letter of Intent Includes applicable translation fees. Payment to Small World must accompany the document packet indicating that you intend to pursue a specific child for adoption.  Submission of the intent to pursue a particular child for adoption does not guarantee approval by the foreign country.
Foreign ProgramThe foreign program fee includes funds required by the foreign supervised provider, exit documents, applicable translation fees, and program development. Due to exchange rates and external costs, foreign program fees are subject to change. Half of the foreign program fee is due at the time of I800 approval, and the balance is due prior to travel.
Post Placement/Post Adoption Services$900 ($450 per report) in Post Placement/Post Adoption Services, per child, must be submitted when the Foreign Program fee is due. The post adoption services balance, per child, is due prior to travel and includes applicable translation fees. For families residing outside of TN or MO, post placement reports should be arranged with your home study provider. The number of reports per child vary by country. Please consult the program director for PAR Schedules.

NOTE: ALL FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE ONCE INVOICED AND PAID.  DOSSIER, REFERRAL, FOREIGN FEES, AND POST ADOPTION SERVICES ARE BASED ON FEES SET BY THE FOREIGN PROVIDER AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE ACCORDINGLY. 

IF CLIENT HAS A CREDIT WITH SMALL WORLD, ALL FUTURE FEES WILL BE INVOICED AGAINST THAT CREDIT FIRST, BY DEFAULT, UNLESS SMALL WORLD IS OTHERWISE INFORMED BY CLIENT. 

Only one trip is required for adopting in Madagascar. Your trip will take place within approximately 2 months of receiving your referral and I800 approval. Madagascar law requires prospective parents to maintain custody of the child in Madagascar for 30 days after the court date for a probationary period and another 30 days for an objection period before the finalization of the adoption is released by the judge.

After the final decree is released, you will need approximately 1 week to gather all exit documents with the assistance of the Small World representative in Antananarivo (child’s passport, physical, and USA visa, etc.). Our attorney in Antananarivo will request waivers of any unnecessary wait time for the court documents. These decisions are made by the courts in Madagascar, so it is totally out of your and Small World’s control.

For information on Madagascar’s country and culture please click here.

More information on the statistics of Small World’s program is available upon request, including the number of adoption placements per year, number of applicants per year, and where possible, the number of children eligible for adoption. Please contact the Program Director via the info form to the right of this page if you wish to receive to discuss this information.