Staring your adoption research can be an exciting but overwhelming time. Friends and family will have their own thoughts and advice on your adoption process. Additionally, you'll also have hundreds of websites offering different information on the adoption requirements. From personal adoption blogs to professional websites, finding the right one(s) for your research can be tiresome!

It can be difficult to know which adoption website has the most up to date information on intercountry adoptions. While one website may offer wonderful emotional support, it may lack in the updated legal requirements for adoptive parents. On the flip side, while one site may offer updated legal information for intercountry adoption, it may lack in emotional support.

Fortunately, there is one website that can be recommenced for everyone stating the adoption process. Not only does this website provide official and up to date information on the legal side, they also provide links to websites that offer support on the emotional side.

The Department of State's Intercountry Adoption website is filled with information for potential adoptive families. This information is free to access, easy to understand, and most important, accurate and up to date.

There is often much misinformation on the Internet about adoption requirements from different countries. The Intercountry Adoption website offers a Country Information section, featuring well over one hundred countries. For each country listed on the site, you can find detailed information including:

• Who can adopt
  
  
• Who can be adopted
  
  
• How to adopt
  
  
• Statistics
  
  
• Traveling Abroad
  
  
• After adoption
  
  
• Contact information
  
  

The Intercountry Adopiton website also offers an impressive collection of publications for free download. Some of these publications include:

• Intercountry Adoption from A-Z
  
  
• The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption: A Guide for Prospective Adoptive Parents
  
  
• Guide for Social Workers to the Hague Adoption Convention
  
  
• Outgoing Cases Guidelines
  
  
• Web-Guide for State Authorities on Outgoing Cases
  
  
• Hauge Accreditation Technical Guidance
  
  

On the same page as these publications, you'll also find a detailed FAQs (frequently asked questions) list, and a list of the important adoption forms.

These features are just a few of many resources that the Department of State's Intercountry Adoption website offers prospective adoptive parents. They have done a phenomenal job in putting together such detailed information on adoption. In addition, there is valuable information for adoptees, agencies and social workers.

For more information, please visit: Department of State's Intercountry Adoption Website