Thanks for stopping by!
We are an American couple living in Qatar, who have adopted a baby from La Creche in Tangier, Morocco. Because we have a contact in the orpanage in Tangier, we did not use an agency. Coupled with the fact that we are US citizens residing outside of the country, we really struggled with figuring out exactly how to get this process going. After taking a few years to decide to adopt, 3 months of steady research, calls to agencies, lawyers, US State Dept, USCIS US and Athens, and numerous email exchanges with the most helpful people I’ll probably never meet, and about 6 months of gathering all of the information and documents, we’re finally on our way!
Our process took 4.5 months because I chose to stay in Morocco 3 months before Ayoub was released for adoption by the courts. We were so excited to have a child and couldn’t wait 3 months to be with him full time! (There were no issue of establishing residency as with orphanages in other Moroccan cities). And then there was a government strike which delayed the process by 10 days bringing our total time there to 3 months (we chose to be there) and 6 weeks (4 for adoption process (we only had to be in country for 2 of those weeks) + 10 day gov’t strike delay).
How did we manage this? I run an online company so my work is portable. My husband stayed in Qatar to work and visited us every month. He was in Tangier toward the end of our stay when we both needed to appear before the Moroccan judge and at the US Embassy to get Ayoub’s visa to travel to the US.
This blog was created for 2 reasons:
1. A great way to document our journey; and
2. Help others understand the international adoption process, especially folks not using an adoption agency or those residing outside of the US.
Contact
We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe to our blog (to the right) and feel free to leave comments below. You may also email me at Raana(at)SilverEnvelope.com (be sure to put “baby maghrib” in the subject line)
Stay tuned!
Raana & Farhan
PS: The photo in the header was taken by Farhan during our trip to Tangier (Tanger), Morocco last summer. Enjoy!
PPS: What’s a “Baby Maghrib”?: Maghrib is the Arabic term for the area in Northern Africa including Morocco. Since we’re looking to adopt a Moroccan baby, we thought why not?!
sallams phoppu janoo
Walaikum Assalam Khadija! Welcome to our blog…hope you come and visit often, inshaAllah!
Love,
Phuppo Janoo
All the best Ranaa…
Thanks so much UmmOn!
Assalaamu Alaikum Raana,
I wanted to thank you and your husband for making this blog. My husband and I have found it to be so informative and helpful. MashaAllah your new son is beautiful!
I wanted to know if you could provide us with some more information regarding the orphanage and the adoption. My husband and I are both Muslim and are truly wanting to adopt a baby from Morocco.
If you could contact me via email, I would love to have a chat with you and InshaAllah, I hope our dua’s are answered as yours have been.
Thank you.
Mariam Bukhari
It is great to read your blog. I wanted to know if you have your son with you in Qatar, or are you still in Morocco? Can you offer any advice to a parent who will be going to Morocco to get her son and completing the process. I know I must get a passport, have him visit a DR., file the I 600 form, get his visa, and have documents translated. Do you have any advice that may make this go smoothly? I wish you all the best and am so happy that you have your son. You all look like such a happy family.
We too are wanting to adopt from Morocco. We are currently trying to raise the funds to do so. I spoke with two couples that have adopted from Meknes and that is where we would like to adopt from. Insha’allah it will work out for us the way it has for you.
How were you able to get the investigation completed by the Consulate in your home country with the courts being on strike? I got the approval for the adoption of my son 5 weeks ago and am still waiting for the initiation of this Consulate investigation. I have contacted the Consulate in NY and they don’t seem to have any idea about this investigation. Can you share a bit of this part of your process. Also you can email me at LeotaLily@yahoo.com with any help. Thank you and congratulations.
Hello Raana
First of all Mabrouk l3wacheer !
Second ,I’m really intrested to know more about you orphanage & adopt through agencies !!
Huge thanks
My husband Aly and I just returned from Morocco after submitting our documents to the court. We read your Blog before we left and were grateful for the information you provided, we read it again upon our return and obviously didn’t realize how much detail you offered that we did not connect with until we found ourselves in similar situations, example, proving you are Muslim. We wanted to congratulate you on completing this process and bringing home Ayoub. We hope parenthood is everything you dreamed of and more. We would love to speak to you and hopefully get more information from you on the process after the Judge accepted your file and the “research” that was required to be completed by the Police, the Mosque and the local Mukkata. Let me know if I can share my # or you can send yours and we can talk soon. Thanks.
Waiting Mom of Two Boys – A Story you would not believe
salam, i would like to ask how can someone adopt ? what is the step by step procedure? i live in the US and i received your email from kind friends. salam
Wsalam Faten and thank you for your message. I’ve detailed the steps to adopt here on the blog. You can visit our Steps page
as well as How to Adopt & Fees
InshaAllah that will be a good start for you. If you have any questions after you read over this info, feel free to contact me. I would be happy to help!
Best wishes,
Raana
Hello!
Are you back in the US? We are from VA too and adopted our son Mamoun from Meknes. He is the light of our lives! We would love to touch base with you and have a VA group of children that could get to know each other. We are very anxious to go back to Morocco to adopt a sibling. We used an agency previously. Your blog is EXTREMELY helpful. We are looking into possibly doing this on our own. Any advice? Neither myself nor my husband speak French or Arabic and it makes us a little nervous as far as ensuring everything is correct.
Thank you again and I would love to email.
All the best to you and your beautiful family.
Erin
Hi Erin! Thanks so much for your comment. I’m delighted that you found my blog helpful. Congratulations on Mamoun!! How old is he and when did you bring him home? I’ve heard good things about the process at Meknes and would love to know more from you.
I’d love to give you advice in person…I see from your email that you’re in Henrico…my parents live in New Kent. I’m flying back to the US next week for 6 weeks and would love to meet you and your family!! I will get in touch once we’re settled.
Best wishes,
Raana
wish to adopt from Morocco,
how can I go about without an agency ( for obvious reasons ), and no contacts in Morocco ?
how far is L a Creche orphanage ,in Tangier from US Consulate in Casabalanca, Morocco?
Which are are the closest orphanges from Casablanca (in and around),
I gather, that we do have the choice of selecting the gender and a healthy baby (ies) ? !
How much will it cost typically in US dollars for the entire adoption/guardianship process in Morocco (excluding the costs at the USA end) ?
What is the miniumum expected as donations at the orphanages when no agency is used.
Dear Nancy:
I’ve answered your questions as best I could below:
1. how can I go about without an agency ( for obvious reasons ), and no contacts in Morocco ?
Please see out “steps” page: http://babymaghrib.wordpress.com/our-steps-to-adopt/
and our ‘how to” page: http://babymaghrib.wordpress.com/la-creche-de-tanger/how-to-start-the-adoption-process/
2. how far is L a Creche orphanage ,in Tangier from US Consulate in Casabalanca, Morocco?
Tangier is about a 3 hour drive from Casablanca.
3. Which are are the closest orphanges from Casablanca (in and around),
I gather, that we do have the choice of selecting the gender and a healthy baby (ies) ? !
I’m not familiar with orphanages in Casablanca.
4. How much will it cost typically in US dollars for the entire adoption/guardianship process in Morocco (excluding the costs at the USA end) ?
Please see our “how to adopt & fees” page: http://babymaghrib.wordpress.com/la-creche-de-tanger/how-to-start-the-adoption-process/
5. What is the miniumum expected as donations at the orphanages when no agency is used.
A donation was never discussed nor requested on any of our visits. We did donate out of our own choice.
Best wishes,
Raana
Would you be willing to share the name/contact information for the translator you used in Morocco? I just received my home study and need to get it translated for La Creche … Thanks! Great blog!
Hi Kimberly:
Congratulations on completing your home study! We didn’t have any of the translations done ourselves, Madam Haddad (Fatima) took care of that for us. We sent her everything in English via email (.pdf) but our email correspondence with her were in French thanks to Google Translate. Good luck!
Dear Raana,
My husband, Shahbaz and I have just started our adoption process from Morocco and I have found your blog more helpful than a lot of other mediums. I really appreciate the details you give and you make it so interesting to follow your beautiful story. You have helped me stay positive and hopeful.
Thank you very much, I know I will be revisiting the blog often.
Hi Carole:
Thank you for your comment. I’m so happy to hear that the blog is helpful and that you’ve begun your journey to your little one. If you have any questions along the way, do not hesitate to contact me.
Best of luck with everything!
Raana
Assalamualaikum Raana,
we met at the ISNA convention on July. I need your help please. Need to talk to you regarding the nursing of the adopted baby. Please let me know how to contact you. I would really appreciate that. Thank you so much.
Seephat from Philly suburb.
Walaikum Assalam Seephat:
I’ve emailed you my contact info and hope to answer any questions you may have! Give me a ring when you’re ready.
Best,
Raana
Salam
My husband and I are looking to adopt from Morocco. I have started the Home Study process. We have been married for 17 years. How does one contact La Creche de Tanger…Also what is best method of communication.