From the steppe and desert lands of western and central Kazakhstan, the country rises to high mountains in the southeast along the border with Kyrgyzstan and China. It is intensively agriculturally developed, but much of the country's land area is used for pasture, with sheep and goats as the main livestock. Manufacturing includes cast iron and rolled steel; mining and oil drilling are also important.

The government  is a republic with a parliament consisting of two chambers; its head of state and government is the president, assisted by the prime minister. Named for its earliest inhabitants, the Kazakhs, the area came under Mongol rule in the 13th century. The Kazakhs consolidated a nomadic empire in the 15th-16th century. Under Russian rule by the mid-19th century, it became part of the Kirgiz Autonomous Republic formed by the Soviets in 1920, and in 1925 its name was changed to the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Kazakhstan obtained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and during the 1990s was attempting to stabilize its economy.

Adoptions Procedures
The country of Kazakhstan graciously allows children from six months of age and up to be adopted by foreign families.  Children are Caucasian and Asian in ethnicity and all children are adopted through an orphanage program.  Children generally receive a high standard of care and are in good emotional health.  While we cannot provide any guarantee as to health of an adoptive child, we can arrange for your child to be examined by a western-trained physician for an additional expense. This examination can provide you information to make the best decision for your family.

There are no age restrictions for adoptive parents.  However, preferences are given to families with parents between 25-55 years of age. Parents cannot have a history of more than two divorces.

After submission of your dossier, we will typically receive a letter of invitation to travel within 8 weeks. After receiving an invitation and choosing to accept, you will travel to Kazakhstan. There will be one trip of 3 to 8 weeks, depending upon how long you take to choose a child once in Kazakhstan.  Pre-identification of children is strictly forbidden.  You will be walked through this process with our "in-country" professionals until your time of departure.

Adoption Costs
Adoption costs are broken down into practice fees, international fees and estimated travel costs.  As with any adoption, HCA charges an practice fee of $5,000.00 payable in two installments.  The optional document preparation fee is $1,875.00.   Practice costs are fixed from the time a contract is signed by the prospective adoptive parents. 

Of course, in-country fees can be subject to change.  However, an increase in the international fee is extremely unlikely once the adoptive process has begun.  Fees for international adoption in Kazakhstan vary from approximately $16,000.00, including your International fee, humanitarian aid donations and foreign costs. Typical costs are about $16,000.00. There is a one time required donation of $1,000 to help offset the cost of Homecoming’s charitable efforts.

Contact us today to request information or to ask questions about our program in Kazakhstan.