adoption fraud or scams. The promise of a desperately desired child or the bond to a photograph or video of one can often blind you to any red flags that crop up. A less costly measure of protection is to have any contracts reviewed by a contract attorney before signing. Remember, any contract can be amended or negotiated to better protect and serve your interests.

10. Use the BCIS and State Dept. websites to be up on all the rules, regulations and situations in whatever country you are considering. If anyone you are working with is not on the same page as the authorities, consider it a red enough flag to make everyone stop and get on the same page. In programs where you are allowed to visit the referred child prior to finalizing the adoption, take all possible measures to insure that the adoption will, in fact, be finalized, prior to visiting. This means that you should be sure the child meets the INS definition of an orphan and that other country-specific criteria, such as DNA matching in Guatemala, have been met.

11. Be cautious if you are offered a referral before you have a completed and approved home-study.

12. Be wary if you are asked to sign a blank Power of Attorney. The Power of Attorney should only be one page, if not; you should sign both pages so alterations and substitutions can be avoided.

13a. If the agency networks with another party (agency, facilitator or attorney) for the program you select, make sure that is disclosed to you, along with the identity of the other party, before you pay any non-refundable fees, in case this other party is one with whom you prefer not to work. You might want to apply this checklist to this other party as well. Ask the agency if all their employees, consultants and parties they may network with here and agents in a foreign country have undergone criminal background checks. This is where you should ask your agency about how they review and select their foreign sources along with how long a relationship they have had with their foreign sources.  There may not be a good substitute for a hands-on, agency program that includes frequent visits by the agency program directors to the foreign countries in which they have programs, to monitor their foreign agents and sources in person. 

13b. With implementation of the Hague Treaty around the corner in the US and elsewhere, or already a reality elsewhere, ask about compliance and changes in programs and procedures that the agency anticipates.  This could give you an idea if the agency has considered the future and its long term viability.  Additionally, with shut downs