About Waiting Children

Consider a Waiting Child

With over 45 years of adoption expertise, Wide Horizons is the partner you can trust to grow your family. We work with families across the United States to provide loving homes to vulnerable children from around the world.

Who Are Waiting Children?

Waiting Children are kids who need a little extra help finding just the right family. They are children who are ready to be adopted NOW, but Wide Horizons does not have a family identified to match them with. While the majority of the children we place for adoption are not Waiting Children, considering a child on our Waiting Child photo listing may open your heart to a child who really needs a family. There is no definition of who becomes “waiting”, but the kids tend to be one or more of the following:

adopt a healthy child
physically healthy child age 7+ years
adopt a child with medical needs
children with medical needs
adopt a sibling group
sibling groups

Waiting Children Stories

No Longer Waiting

Bringing Carly Home

Bringing Carly Home.

An American Adoption Story. Starring Dianne and Bill… and introducing baby Carly!

Boys Rock That Extra Chromosome Too!

Boys Rock That Extra Chromosome Too!.

For boys who have Down syndrome, it's much harder to find a forever family than for girls who have it. If you're ready to open your heart to one of these boys, you'd better be ready to experience a new kind of love!

Children with Special Needs Share Special Bond

Children with Special Needs Share Special Bond.

Isaiah and Veronica were both waiting to be adopted. And, both children had something else in common: a genetic disorder, Achondroplasia, which results in dwarfism.

Advantages of Adopting a Waiting Child

Waiting Children are kids who need a little extra help finding just the right family. They are children who are ready to be adopted NOW, but Wide Horizons does not have a family identified to match them with. While the majority of the children we place for adoption are not Waiting Children, considering a child on our Waiting Child photo listing may open your heart to a child who really needs a family. There is no definition of who becomes “waiting”, but the kids tend to be one or more of the following:

  • Family involvement: Most families are directly involved in identifying the “right” Waiting Child for their family.
  • Affordable: Families earning under $200,000/year adopting a Waiting Child through Wide Horizons might qualify for a $5,000 subsidy, if funds are available, plus additional grants up to $10,000.
  • Flexible: Many countries are willing to waive or relax parent eligibility criteria for the hardest to place children.
  • Fast: Unlike in the conventional process where you may wait on a list of families, these children are waiting now. You could have a child in your home in under a year.

“We will be forever grateful to Wide Horizons for advocating for our son, Jacob, on their Waiting Child list. We researched as much as we could about Cerebral Palsy. We were able to find rehabilitative specialists in our area and decided to move forward with pursuing the option of an older child. Now, it is difficult to believe his CP is truly considered a special need. Jacob is an amazing boy, he has received awards for kindness at his school, is clever and funny with a truly compassionate soul. His baseline emotion is happiness and he embraces life with an infectious enthusiasm. It breaks my heart to think we might have missed out on knowing this wonderful little boy if we had let an arbitrary age or fear of CP dissuade us from becoming his parents.”

—Jane on Jacob, Adopted through the Wide Horizons For Children China Program


It’s as easy as 1-2-3!

You can request to review a waiting child’s file no matter where you are in the adoption process. 


Speak to a consultant today!

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