LAPA (Latin America Parents Association) is a parents support group that assists people in adopting from Latin American countries and provides guidance with post-adoption issues. Our goal is to help people through the adoption process and afterward.

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We are not an agency. We are a non-profit organization staffed entirely by volunteers who are in the process of or have already adopted from Latin America.

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If you are not geographically close to New York City, you would probably miss out on some of the social events, but you would still get invaluable information about viable adoption sources in Latin America and the help of our membership -- people who have already done it.

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Yes. You cannot get the Adoption Source Kit without joining LAPA. A one-year membership is $50 and the kit is $60 so your total investment is $110. This kit has invaluable information on LAPA adoption sources throughout Latin America. Your membership also entitles you to attend our free workshops and to draw on the expertise of our volunteers.

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In order for a source to become a LAPA source, at least three people known to us must have used the source and had a positive experience. The source is also scrutinized by our International Adoption Committee. If all the indications are positive, the committee makes a recommendation to the LAPA Board of Directors and a vote is taken to include the source in the Adoption Source Kit.

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The country you adopt from in Latin America, who you use, and how you go about it depends on a lot of factors: your ages, length of marriage/single, age of desired child, etc. The Adoption Source Kit contains all the info needed to begin a Latin American adoption. Attending a workshop run by LAPA supplements and explains all the info in the kit.

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LAPA is an all-volunteer organization. We do not have an office per se with staff and the usual accoutrements. (This helps us keep costs down.) As a result, it sometimes takes a few weeks to get these things processed. Remember that patience is a virtue that will serve you well during the adoption process!

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Your adoptive parents should have been given all the information the source had on your birth mother, so you should check with them first. Adoptees wishing to search can also contact their source of adoption. LAPA may have available the most current address for that source. However, keep in mind that the source most likely will not be able to provide more info.

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Some sources will place children with single women. For example, Guatemala will place infants and Brazil will place older children with single women.

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