A Family in Bloom Adoption became involved with adoptions from Cameroon in 2014. This is not a country with a large number of adoptions, but is appropriate for and will be most successful for certain kinds of adoption situations. For this reason, our agency has remained selective with those families and cases A Family in Bloom Adoption represents from Cameroon.

Who Can Adopt

The main target group is:

• Dual citizen Cameroonian-Americans involved with kinship adoption cases, that will meet the US Immigration of orphan status
• There may on occasion be other situations for Americans living and working overseas in Cameroon that will have a good foundation for international adoption.

Our agency is not working with any particular orphanage in Cameroon for matching and placement purposes at this time.

A Family in Bloom Adoption’s foreign supervisor provider attorneys will be involved with the adoption process abroad. This includes a review of any pre-existing paperwork on a designated adoption case and working directly with the Cameroonian government departments.

All adoptions are finalized abroad for incoming cases to the US. The US Embassy in Yaounde has the final adjudication and issuance of adopted child visas.

Below are the requirements from the Cameroonian government for international adoptive parents:

Minimum Residency: While there is no requirement that the prospective adoptive parents reside in Cameroon before being matched with a child, the Cameroon Ministry of Social Affairs may require prospective adoptive parents to travel to Cameroon for a bonding period of at least 3 months to get acquainted with the child to be adopted.

Age of Adopting Parents: Cameroonian law requires that a single prospective adoptive parent or one peson in a married couple must be older than 40 years of age in order to adopt. If the couple has been married ten years, at least one person must be older than 35. If neither of these requirements can be met, the couple may submit a medical certificate from a US or local physician that confirms their infertility in order to have the age requirement waived. For single-parent adoptions, the prospective adoptive parent must be at least 15 years older than the child. If the adoptee is the child of the prospective adoptive parent’s spouse, the age difference can be 10 years. This age difference requirement can be reduced by exemption from the President of the Republic.

Marriage: Married couples and single people may adopt.

Minimum Income: The prospective adoptive parent(s) must provide evidence of financial capacity to supprt the adopted child. Such evidence can include a home study from the United States with bank statements, evidence of assets, pay slips, and other financial documents.

Other Requirements: Both parties in a married couple must agree to the adoption. One spouse may not adopt without the other spouse’s consent. Prospective adoptive parents must submit a medical certificate from either a US or local doctor showing that they are medically fit.

About Cameroon

Due to its diversity culturally and in the natural world, Cameroon is colloquially known as “Africa in miniature.” The different climatic geographical regions include the oceanside beaches, deserts, rainforests, mountains, and savannas. Those who are musically inclined may be knowledgeable about the country’s distinct styles of music, such as Makossa and Bikutsi. A picture of the Cameroon soccer team is included on this page because of their successes and their citizens’ passionate affection for them. Political factionalism has led to serious consequences in the last years within the country. This has been one reason families have been looking at adoptions from Cameroon in the last years.

Please contact us to learn more about our international adoption services.