Married over 25 years and singles over age 35 old may adopt from Nigeria.  Adoptive parents must be at least 25 years older than the child they wish to adopt and singles may only adopt a child of the same gender as the adoptive parent.  Certain factors could keep you from adopting in general or from Nigeria in particular, as each country has its own rules as to who can adopt. Before applying, please consult with Nightlight regarding any sensitive issues that may apply to you, such as a divorce, a mental health issue, or a criminal history.

1. Complete an application to Nightlight Christian Adoptions.
2. Apply to Nigeria’s Ministry of Youth & Social Development
3. Begin your adoption home study and submit form I-600A to CIS.
4. Begin to assemble your dossier. Wewill give you detailed instructions.
5. Once CIS has approved your adoption home study, you will receive your I-171H pre-approval notice.
6. Once your CIS approval has been received and a child is available for you, you will receive a referral of a child in Nigeria.
7. Once you have accepted a match of a child, your dossier will be delivered to the Morgan Hill in Nigeria who will add the child’s paperwork to your dossier and file with theMinistry for approval.
8. Youwill receive permission to travel and go to Nigeria for the bonding period (1-3 months)
9. At the end of the bonding period, you will go to court and receive the final adoption order.
10. Apply for your child’s passport, Embassy doctor appointment, visa appointment at the US embassy and to bring your child home! (Some families choose to do two trips but both parents must go for the beginning of the bonding period and be present for court.)

You receive a referral of a child from Nightlight Christian Adoptions. The referral will include a photo, brief social history of the child, the current health and development of the child, and lab test results for HIV, Hepatitis B & C, Sickle cell, Syphilis and TB. We highly recommend that you have this information reviewed by a doctor who specializes in international adoption before you make a decision. Once you decide to accept a referral, you will be considered “matched” with the child. Your dossier will then be sent to Nigeria to Morgan Hill. The attorney will put together information on the child’s file and add this information to your dossier to file with the Ministry and the court. Once you receive permission to travel from the Ministry, you will then travel to Nigeria for the socialization period. This can be anywhere from 1-3 months. Both parents are not required to remain in Nigeria for that entire time. Both parents must be present at the start of the bonding period as well as for court. During the bonding period, you are the legal guardian of the child and they are not allowed to go back to the orphanage during this time. You may leave the child with local family if you cannot stay for the entire bonding period. After the court order is issued, you can apply for your child’s passport and US visa. Once the visa has been issued, you can return home with your child. (If the US Embassy decides to investigate a case, it can take longer—up to 5 or 6 weeks or longer). Typically, it will be required for families to spend at least 90 days in country.
The in-country stay gives you time to visit and live with your child daily and to begin the bonding process. It is amazing to see how children change while their parents are there visiting with them. The bonding process is very important, and being in the country allows your child to transition frombeing in an orphanage to being with you, his/her new family.

Nightlight Christian Adoptions is committed to preparing families for the adoption of a child with special needs. We provide pre- and post-adoption education and information regarding medical resources.

Within 30 days of your arrival home, you must have a home visit by your home study provider. If your child comes to the U.S. on an IR3 or IH3 visa, their Certificate of Citizenship should be mailed to them. Nigeria also requires a social worker report to be provided to the Ministry (through Morgan Hill) every year for the first five years you are home and self-reports every ear until your child turns 18 years old. These reports include your child’s developmental progress and pictures. This is a very serious commitment; Nightlight is committed to showing the Nigerian government and birth families that children adopted by US citizens are healthy and well cared for. Therefore, Nightlight charges a fee to monitor and process these post placement reports and also requires families to pay for the cost of the post placement reports in advance.

The program fee for a Nigeria adoption is $16,000. Additional estimated expenses of $25,690 – $37,975 will bring the total cost to approximately $41,960 – $53,945. In addition, your out-of-pocket expenses may further be reduced if you receive scholarships or other employer-provided adoption benefits. For additional fee information, please see Exhibit A.

Please contact Lynn Main at lynn@nightlight.org or (502) 423-5780 with any questions.