International Adoption Net

10/14/2026

Introducing Ava, a bubbly 13-year old girl in Eastern Europe who is waiting for her forever family. We’d appreciate you join us in our advocacy to find her a family by sharing this post.

Ava is a lively, sociable, sweet girl who loves drawing, music, outdoor walks, movies, and most of all just being around adults and other children.

Ava loves to be hugged and will often request a hug from others. She enjoys routine and helping with the daily chores of home life. She has a permanent neurological deficit – right-sided spastic cerebral palsy and mental delay. Although she doesn’t yet have developed speech, she understands and follows instructions. She likes to participate in both indoor and outdoor play. She can move her legs quite well on her own, which helps fulfil her desire for activity and social contact.

Ava has been living in a residential treatment center for about 2 years and would benefit from a loving, nurturing home with the ability to have Ava participate in different therapies such as physical, occupational, and speech as well as in specialized education.

If you are interested in learning more about Ava, please contact us as soon as possible at 1-800-982-3778 or [email protected].


To protect each child’s privacy and follow applicable Hague and country requirements, we do not post a child’s actual photograph or confidential records online. The image shown is a likeness created from the child’s photograph, and the summary is a general, non-inclusive overview from the child’s file.

10/14/2026

What are your top two questions you have about adopting a child from India with International Adoption Net? Drop your questions in the comment section below.

10/13/2026

Celebrating the children home from India, and referrals issued, January through September, 2026!!

10/12/2026

IAN Book Recommendation: Adoption Parenting: Creating a Toolbox, Building Connections

Parenting a child who joined your family through adoption adds an extra element to traditional parenting, and this book educates adoptive parents so they can prepare and adapt throughout life.
Whether we’re ready to accept this, our kids come to us carrying loss and grief of a birth family, a culture, a language. The book offers discussion and real-life tips on how to honor your child’s feelings around their history, and support them through it. It discusses the common parenting habits that may not be appropriate for adopted kids. Understanding this early is helpful to parents and children.
It covers real-life situations: sleep, discipline, attachment, FASD, trauma, sensory needs, speech and language delays, and parenting a child coming from many environments (institution, foster care, etc)
This is not a book you read through once and shelf — it's a reference, a toolbox of topics you'll find yourself reaching for again and again, as your child grows and situations change. It's helpful whether you are getting ready to meet your child, newly arrived home, or you've been at this for years.
Have you read it? Share what you learned and how it changed your parenting style and approach to benefit your child.

10/06/2026

Does the number of programs an adoption agency offers matter when choosing an agency?

Yes—but maybe not in the way you think.

It’s easy to see a long list of country programs and associate that with greater size, experience, or expertise. But the number of programs an agency offers doesn’t necessarily tell you how much experience the person handling your adoption has in your specific program.

Some agencies offer a broad range of country programs, including smaller or more specialized programs with only a few adoptions each year. With that broader range, coordinators may work across more than one country.

So the better question isn’t simply, “How many programs does this agency offer?”

It’s “How well does my coordinator know the program I’m adopting from?”

“At IAN, we’ve chosen to focus on a smaller number of long-standing, stable programs such as Bulgaria and India. This allows our staff to build deeper knowledge, greater focus, and specialized expertise in those programs,” says Joan Strauss, Executive Director.

Our program coordinators have years of experience coordinating adoptions in the countries they work with, and they work in those programs day after day. They know the requirements, the paperwork, our partners, the common challenges, and the unexpected issues that can come up along the way.

That day-to-day experience matters. The more cases a coordinator handles in the same program, the more knowledge they gain from actually guiding families through the process from beginning to end.

For IAN families, that means working with someone who doesn’t just know about the program—they know it inside and out.

When comparing adoption agencies, look beyond the number of countries on the website. Ask who will handle your case, how much experience they have in that program, and how many adoptions they—not the agency—helped complete from that country.

Considering international adoption? Give us a call. We’re happy to answer your questions and tell you more about the programs we know best.

1-800-982-3778 | [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

10/05/2026

A book we at IAN highly recommend to prospective and adoptive parents is Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew by adult adoptee Sherrie Eldridge.

The book helps us talk with our children about things that aren’t always easy to discuss: grief over what they’ve lost, questions about their birth family, fear that they could be left again, and feelings they may not yet know how to put into words. It also reminds us that wanting to know or search for birth family doesn’t mean an adoptee loves their adoptive family any less.

No book can tell us exactly how our own child feels. But this one can help us listen better and let them know they can come to us with questions and feelings about their adoption, now and as adults.

"As an adoptive parent of three, I found this book to be very insightful and helpful. It gets us thinking about what our children may feel or think about throughout their lives, even when they haven’t verbalized them. It encourages us to start those conversations or be open to them, answer honestly in an age-appropriate way, listen without judgement and not take their feelings personally." Kelly, employee, International Adoption Net

Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew by adult adoptee Sherrie Eldridge is wildly available in print, digitally, and on podcast.

10/01/2026

Colorado Adoption Home Studies: What Makes Them Different?

If you live in Colorado and just starting, know that your home study must meet Colorado’s requirements and the requirements of the adoption you’re pursuing.

Colorado’s standards can mean a lot of paperwork. We know that can feel overwhelming, but Colorado requirements help us get to know your family and consider a child’s safety and well-being.

Domestic and international adoptions can require different preparation and documents. If you’re adopting from another country, that country may have requirements of its own. Knowing your plan early helps us guide you through the right process from the start.

International Adoption Net (IAN) provides domestic and international home studies for Colorado families. You can choose a placing agency in another state; we’ll work with that agency to make sure your home study addresses the requirements of your adoption program. IAN also works with families pursuing international adoption across all 50 states.

Considering adoption in Colorado? We’re happy to help you understand the next step.

1-800-982-3778 | [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Established in 1999, International Adoption Net (IAN) is a Hague Accredited adoption agency, assisting adoptive families in all 50 states with adoptions in Bulgaria and India, and domestic & international home study services for Colorado residents.

09/30/2026

Considering adoption? Every family’s path to adoption is different, and sometimes the hardest part is simply figuring out which path feels right for you.

For some families, that may be international adoption. For others, private or public domestic adoption may be a better fit. And sometimes families need a little time and information before they know which direction they want to take.

If you’ve been thinking about adoption and aren’t sure where to begin, we’re happy to talk with you about the options offered at International Adoption Net. We provide international adoption services to families in all 50 states, and home study services for Colorado families. We can help you understand the different programs, what the process looks like, and what may be a good fit for your family.

Just know that you don’t need to have it all figured out before you reach out. Sometimes a conversation is the best place to start. Reach out to us at 1-800-982-3778 or [email protected].

09/25/2026

Free Webinar! IRS Adoption Tax Credit- Updates and Resources for Foster and Adoptive Families Tue, Sep 29, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM GMT-5

We encourage prospective and adoptive parents to register for the upcoming webinar hosted by IRS representatives on Tuesday, September 29, 2026. They will provide updates and resources for foster and adoptive parents. Key details regarding the Adoption Tax Credit include a maximum credit of up to $17,280 per eligible child, a partially refundable portion of up to $5,000, a five-year carryforward period for the non-refundable remainder, and a requirement to file using IRS Form 8839.

Register through the link provided

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09/22/2026

Several of our team members at International Adoption Net (IAN) have watched A Mosquito in the Ear, and recommends it to anyone touched by adoption, especially adopting parents.

Based on the book, the film follows an American couple who travel to Goa, India, to adopt four-year-old Sarvari after a six-year adoption process. They have waited a very long time to finally meet their daughter, but the experience is not what they expected.

Sarvari is deeply attached to the orphanage and to the only life she has ever known. Suddenly she is with unfamiliar people, surrounded by a language she does not understand, and expected to leave everything familiar behind. She is frightened, angry, resistant, and at times tries to get away and return to what feels safe to her.

That is one of the reasons we think this film is worth watching. It does not make adoption look simple, and it does not suggest that a child immediately feels like part of a new family simply because the adults have been waiting and hoping for that moment.

Instead, it shows how much patience, understanding, and time can be involved as a child and parents begin learning how to trust one another and become a family.

For prospective and adoptive parents in particular, we think it is a good reminder to consider adoption not only from the perspective of the adults who have waited so long to meet and bring their child home, but also from the perspective of the child who is being asked to leave behind everything and everyone they know. The movie is currently streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

How did you help your adopted child through their transition, or how do you plan to when you meet them?