I've thought a lot about starting a blog. It's taken some wrestling with myself and my insecurities to get this far. Who wants to hear what I have to say after all? I'm just a girl who loves coffee and has adopted a child. Big whoop. I've decided though that I can use my voice to share ideas about lots of different topics within both the coffee and the adoption world. So, let me preface this article with a promise.
I promise this page will not always feature highly charged articles. If you stick with me, you'll see articles devoted to specific coffee beans, the best brewing method, resources for adopting families, real world stories from families who have adopted and so on. I have a running list of ideas!
I know. No one wants to see yet another political post/opinion. I'm going to try to keep this as apolitical as I can. Unfortunately, politics and government policy have a direct impact on the adoption community. The very community our company exists to serve. Children are being used as political pawns. It's not the first time and I'm sure it won't be the last. BUT I have a platform and it is our obligation to inform the public and enlist help where we can to further the needs of the adoption community. So here I go....
I know the title of this article may seem over the top and typically dramatic. Unfortunately, every word of the title is true. The Department of State (DOS) has issued a blanket immigration ban on 75 countries. Let me be clear. This is not the first administration to establish immigration bans. The difference is, most other bans have been targeted and narrow. This ban is an extension of the president's original Dec 2025 suspension of Visa Issuance and is extensive, both in the number of countries involved and in halting the process of issuing adoption visas (IR-3, IH-3, IR-4, IH-4). The rational for the ban, and this comes straight from the DOS website, is as follows:
"President Trump has made clear that immigrants must be financially self-sufficient and not be a financial burden to Americans. The Department of State is undergoing a full review of all policies, regulations, and guidance to ensure that immigrants from these high-risk countries do not utilize welfare in the United States or become a public charge." (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/immigrant-visa-processing-updates-for-nationalities-at-high-risk-of-public-benefits-usage.html)
Let's take a quick look at some of the requirements of internationally adopting. Some requirements are more rigorous depending on whether you are adopting from a Hague country. Hague is "an international agreement to safeguard intercountry adoptions." https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/Intercountry-Adoption/Adoption-Process/understanding-the-hague-convention.html
-
Extensive review of the adoptive families financial stability through the home study process.
-
Extensive assessment of the families home environment through home studies
-
Extensive background checks into each member of the adoptive family. Through applications to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
-
Applications for the child's immigrant visa.
This list is not exhaustive. These are just a few of the key steps involved with international adoptions. Each step in the process requires a financial obligation. The financial AND emotional toll on a family seeking to adopt is very real.
We, as a society, don't typically think about the financial burden to an adopting family. It's general knowledge that adopting is expensive. The financial costs typically range from $20,000 to $75,000+ to cover travel, agency/countries fees, immigration and medical exams, in most cases translation and escort fees. The funds needed alone are quite daunting. Now, consider the emotional toll parents endure during the adoption process.
Of course the financial obligations take an emotional toll itself. The uncertainty and anxiety created through timelines and fees making parents wonder if they will successfully bring a child home. If the adoption falls through, how will they raise the funds to start again? They probably won't. In some cases, parents will go through anticipatory grief. Parents may be grieving their inability to have biological children while imagining the past of their future adopted child.
There's also the anxiety about the child's potential traumas and whether they will be able to live up to the the challenges those traumas will inevitably create. Some may have Secondary Traumatic Stress (this is one we definitely experienced): learning about the treatment children face in orphanages can be traumatic for parents. None of this even takes into account the roller coaster of being matched with a child only to have that child slip through your fingertips to another family due to the status of your paperwork. Then you are put right back on the waiting list. At times for years until another child meeting your needs comes up.
Whew, that was a lot. Yet only a glimpse into what it takes to adopt internationally. Back to the catalyst for this article. As I mentioned at the beginning, as of Jan 1, 2026 this administration has expanded on their blanket ban on immigration. While the verbiage states they are "pausing" pending review. They do not provide any kind of timeline as to when the "pause" will be lifted. The ban includes issuing visas to adoptees for the purposes of finalizing legalized adoptions of immigrant children. Some of the countries that are on this list are the very same countries that are part of the HAGUE convention. Which means, the adoptions are heavily vetted from beginning to end. To INCLUDE financial stability of the families adopting. The list includes, but is not limited to, the following which happen to be HAGUE countries
All adoptions that are already in progress, be it just beginning paperwork, or all the way through adoption approval and are literally in country on one of two trips required (one to meet and the second to complete the visa process), are now in great danger due to the ban as it stands right now.
Imagine being one of the families in process at this moment in time. Imagine having spent 5, 10 or 15 years scrimping, saving, raising funds, living a constant roller coaster of emotions and paying tens of thousands of dollars all to have this dream taken away. Imagine the child on the other end of this who is in desperate need of proper care, of the simple act of being loved and touched (yes, in some countries children are not given affection or even held in the manner of a baby during their first crucial developing years of life.). Now they may lose their opportunity to have a family, of getting out of a horrendous environment.
Through adoption process itself, orphaned children are already screened to ensure that they will not be a "burden on the American system". The families that are adopting are heavily vetted for financial and medical stability (of which ALL HAGUE adoptions are. I can tell you for certainty having gone through this particular process personally.) Adoptions visas should be exempt from this ban. Full Stop. Not doing so results in unnecessary and cruel outcomes.
You don't have to believe me with any of these facts. I've provided links to all my sources below. None of which are from media outlets. Just so anyone that is worried about media bias can feel a little less worried that the story is one-sided.
What would YOU do, if you could help? I've got a couple of ways for you to help that won't cost you a thing. I'm encouraging everyone who has taken the time to read through this, what I feel is a very important article, to follow the link I'm providing below. The National Council For Adoption has created a template letter to submit to your local representatives. All you have to do is follow the link https://www.congressweb.com/NCFA/takeaction/oneaction/lettergroupid/31/, click on "take action", fill out your address and zip which will generate your local representatives as recipients. You can uncheck the box so that you would receive future emails (I know everyone hates spam!) the form auto fills your name in the letter. How much easier can it get? And, if you want to be even more effective, use this form letter to generate your own, personalized letter that will be sure to get more attention.
Second, spread the word. I encourage you to share this blog with anyone you think would be willing to send in a letter. Let's flood Congress with enough letters and cries from the public that they have no choice but to listen to their constituents to exempt adoption visas from this already extensive ban! It's been proven that if our representatives are put under enough pressure from the public, they WILL stand up and do something.
Sources:
https://www.congressweb.com/NCFA/takeaction/oneaction/lettergroupid/31/
https://www.uscis.gov/adoption/suitability-and-home-study-information