We've all seen pictures of Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and their trio of children—two of whom were adopted overseas. Madonna, Meg Ryan and Frances McDormand are among others who have brought international adoption into the spotlight. Beyond these highly publicized multicultural families, you likely know someone who is parenting a child from another country. Beginning in the early 1990s, when China opened up as a place for adoptable babies and children, the number of international adoptions in the United States skyrocketed, peaking at close to 23,000 in 2004, roughly three times the number in 1990, according to the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs. Despite intercountry adoption's growing popularity, the number actually dipped to about 21,000 in 2006, due in part to reformed child-welfare systems allowing for more domestic adoptions in some countries and longer waiting periods in others, says Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, a national organization devoted to improving adoption policy and practice.Of course, the undeniable celebrity "endorsement" has done wonders for the image of international adoption, and domestic adoption as well. Seeing the rich and famous (who we imagine can have anything they want) choose to adopt has helped reduce the stigma and secrecy surrounding adoption and encouraged the general public to view it as an exciting way to create a family. Another possible reason for adoption's growing popularity: An increasing number of women delay motherhood, perhaps to establish their careers, decreasing their chances of conceiving and carrying to term as they get older, suggests Pertman, who is also the author of Adoption Nation: How the Adoption Revolution Is Transforming America. Also, single, independent women who have good careers and incomes may choose this route to become moms.If you've thought about adopting internationally, you've no doubt realized it involves a lot more than hopping on a plane. It means embarking on a series of journeys—first the one inside yourself, then to more government offices than you knew existed and, finally, to your child. For Fern Dorsey and Richard Cuneo, who adopted two children from Korea, it was well worth facing the challenges along the way. "It's hard to imagine loving anything or anyone as much as we love our kids," says Fern, 44, president of Vickers Stock Research Corporation in Glen Cove, NY. "We felt connected to them from the moment we saw their pictures, and after they arrived we fell completely in love with them."

The first step is to learn all you can about your options and how the process works. "Prospective adoptive parents need to educate themselves and do their homework," says Pertman. "You have to understand the institution you are about to enter and the processes you have to go through." Fortunately, a great deal of information is readily available—in books, on websites, through adoption agencies and from other parents. Here, four key questions to consider:Domestic or international?People choose to adopt internationally for a variety of reasons. Some are wary of the openness required in many domestic adoptions—meaning that you meet and in some cases have ongoing contact with the baby's birthmother—or the fact that it's legal in some states for a mother to change her mind about parenting for a month or more after giving birth. "I was uncomfortable with the openness factor of domestic adoptions," says Christine White, 40, a freelance publicist and writer in Weymouth, MA. She and her husband, David, chose international adoption and have a 4-year-old daughter from China (where many babies are relinquished anonymously at birth due to stringent laws forbidding abandonment, as well as the one-child policy historically prevailing there).Also leading some Americans overseas: Mothers and some agencies in the United States who are placing babies for adoption sometimes prefer to choose parents younger than the ages that are acceptable for many international adoptions. Others who seek to adopt are drawn to a particular country because of their own heritage or an affinity for a certain culture.If you want a newborn, though, generally you must adopt domestically. In international adoptions, relinquished babies are almost always placed well after birth, and it's rare to receive a baby younger than 4 to 6 months.Consider carefully how comfortable you—as well as your significant other and close family members—are with the idea of parenting a child of another race, a likely scenario when you adopt internationally. "When we started thinking about adoption, I had come through seven years of infertility," says Liz Falker, the author of The Ultimate Insider's Guide to Adoption. "At that point, I felt like I couldn't handle the visibility of adopting a child who looked nothing like me, so we adopted a newborn domestically in 2002 and a second in 2005."While it may be difficult to explore these feelings, it's critical for the sake of the child. "I've seen prospective parents decide not to adopt transracially because their extended fami-lies didn't approve," says Louise Schnaier, director of international adoptions for the Spence-Chapin Services agency in New York City. "Having the acceptance and support of important people in your family is a must. The child must be loved and embraced for who she is"—and not just when she arrives. It's also crucial to consider the racial and cultural issues that may confront your child as she grows. When you become a transracial family, you'll suddenly become aware of things you may not have thought of before, says Schnaier: the racial makeup of the schools your child will attend, your neighborhood and the people you socialize with; the racism and stereotyping children of color often face. And your child's heritage will become indelibly entwined with your own—all the more reason to choose a country and culture you feel you can embrace. Of course, it is possible to adopt a child of the same race internationally, but culture and heri-tage are still factors to consider.Logistics figure into the decision as well. Can you take time away from your job to travel across the globe to pick up your child? Are you comfortable telling your boss you may need to travel soon, but you're not sure exactly when? While a few countries escort babies to the United States, some require lengthy in-country stays, sometimes more than one. Which country?Jennifer and Rolando Brizzi of Rhinecliff, NY, have adopted from two different countries for two different reasons. Their daughter, Sofia, 5, was born in Vietnam, and their son, Marco, 5, is from Ethiopia. "We chose Vietnam because it was, at the time, supposed to be a quick process and you could get fairly young infants," says Jennifer, 46, a freelance writer. "The second time, we chose Ethiopia because it was one of the few countries that escorted children here, which was important because we weren't comfortable taking our two-year-old to a Third World country."Along with race and ethnicity, considerations when choosing a country should include the age of available children, their gender (if you have a preference), the length of waiting periods and whether the adoption programs run smoothly. "We originally wanted to adopt from Cambodia," says Christine, "but at the time there were growing concerns about the ethics of the adoption process there, so we ended up choosing China, which had a very stable program."Each country also has its own acceptability requirements for prospective parents. Some aren't open to singles or gay moms or dads; others have age limits or stringent health requirements. "We were open to adopt within any race or country, but we discovered that many countries were not open to us because my husband and I have physical disabilities," says Deborah Dagit, 47, chief diversity officer for Merck & Co. in Whitehouse Station, NJ. "We ended up using Kids to Adopt agency in Vancouver, WA, which specializes in helping special-needs parents adopt special-needs children from overseas. We now have three children from Russia and Kazakhstan, and we feel good about how our family came together."The health of the child you adopt may be somewhat dependent on the country you select. For example, it's well documented that babies in South Korea, Guatemala and Taiwan live with foster parents and are generally in excellent health. Children who've lived in orphanages—the norm for most other countries—are prone to ailments like rickets, malnutrition and parasites, as well as developmental delays. And some countries, particularly those in Eastern Europe, have high rates of fetal alcohol syndrome. Testing is now available in all countries for HIV. However, most medical issues tend to be resolved rather quickly once the child receives proper nutrition and care, says Jane Aronson, MD, an adoptive mom in Maplewood, NJ, and a pediatrician specializing in internationally adopted children. She adds that 50 to 75 percent of the children she sees arrive with some kind of developmental delay (such as not sitting up or not speaking at age level) but that most catch up over time: "I'd say that about ten to fifteen percent of that original group are still struggling with language delays or behavioral issues after age three." But like any other mom or dad, parents of these children are generally ready to do whatever it takes to support their child's physical and emotional development.Sometimes circumstances end up choosing a country for you, as they did for Stephanie Dower, 42, a writer and former software developer in Columbus, OH. "We began the process of adopting a baby from China," explains Stephanie, "but before we received the referral, I learned via an online adoption group that a set of triplets was available for adoption from Vietnam. We knew we wanted several children eventually, so we were intrigued. The triplet adoption fell through, but shortly after that we got a referral for twin girls from Vietnam." Stephanie's daughters are now 7. She and her husband went on to adopt a boy from the Philippines, now 5, and are in the process of adopting another son from India.Which agency? So you've done some soul-searching and research and decided on a country. Now you must find the agency that will lead you to your child, as nearly all U.S. international adoptions are handled through agencies. You need to be a careful consumer. "As with anything else, you want the services you receive to be conducted in a thoughtful, efficient way," says Pertman.There are hundreds of adoption agencies in the United States, and thanks to the Internet and interagency networks, you don't have to use one that's near where you live. It is important, however, to do thorough research before signing on with one. Start by going to a relevant website such as www.theadoptionguide.com/process/finding-an-agency, and seek the accredited agencies that work with the country you are interested in. (Accreditation is a sign that the agency meets high ethical and business standards.) Choose an agency that has been around for several years, and find out how many placements it has made from your country. The longer an agency has worked in a country, the more streamlined the process will be. It's also smart to use an agency that deals with more than one country, in case your preferred country ceases international adoptions after you've begun the process.Visit agency websites and call them. "If they ask for all fees up front or say that the process is quick and easy, stay away," warns Julie Tye, president of The Cradle, an adoption agency in Evanston, IL. Be wary of any kind of obfuscation as well. "Transparency is the sign of a good, child-focused agency," she adds. "You should be able to ask any question regarding its financials or frequency of disrupted adoptions, and they should also be willing to give you names of families to call as references."Word-of-mouth input on agencies is also valuable and can be found by joining a listserv or support group of parents who are adopting or have adopted from the country you're considering. Find adoptive parent groups at the website of the North American Council on Adoptable Children.Even if you end up with a competent agency, pursuing international adoption requires an ability to roll with the punches, because things do happen that no one could have predicted. A country can close suddenly, waiting time for a referral may increase, or, as happened recently with China, the qualifications for parents may become more stringent. Can I afford this?Adoption requires a significant financial commitment. Though costs vary from agency to agency and country to country, expect to pay in the vicinity of $15,000 or less to more than $30,000 to adopt a healthy infant domestically or internationally. A 2005 survey done by Adoptive Families magazine found that the majority of domestic newborn adoptions cost less than $20,000, while more than 75 percent of international adoptions cost more than that. China and Korea are at the lower end of the spectrum, often costing less than $25,000, and Russia and Kazakhstan are higher, generally costing $30,000 or more. Included in these figures are agency fees, country fees and travel costs. Fees are reduced, often drama-tically, when you adopt children with special needs. To help defray costs, some companies offer adoption reimbursement up to $12,000. There's also a federal tax credit for adoption expenses of up to $10,960, depending on your annual gross income. Grants and low-interest adoption loans are available from some organizations (check out www.giftofadoption.org and www.achildwaits.org), which can help make the process more affordable.If you hang in there and keep your sense of purpose in mind—and your sense of humor—you will most likely become a parent in under one year to two years, according to a recent Adoptive Families poll. And just as with childbirth, you'll forget the hard parts over time. I can attest to this: My husband and I adopted our daughter, now 6, from Vietnam. Just ask me, or Working Mother publisher Joan Sheridan LaBarge, or executive editor Teresa Palagano, or deputy editor Barbara Turvett, or almost any other parent who's adopted internationally—and we'll tell you that you'll never, for even a moment, doubt that it was worth it.The Top Six Countries Countries become open to international adoption for several reasons, including war and the orphans it leaves, poverty and the stigma of unwed motherhood. When circumstances shift, a particular country may close altogether or have fewer available children. China, for example, has been the biggest sender of adoptable children since the mid-1990s, but, due possibly to changes in government policy and economics, its numbers are beginning to drop (and parental requirements have become stricter), says Adam Pertman of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. Americans have been adopting from South Korea since the 1950s, making that the oldest program in the United States. In recent years, the numbers of adoptions from Russia, Kazakhstan, Latin America and Africa have also been significant.China (6,493)    Typical age of available children     12 months and older; mostly females    Requirements to adopt Married couples under age 50; net assets of $80,000; stringent mental and physical health requirements    Approximate total cost  $20,000-$25,000    Approximate waiting time—from completion of paperwork to referral    18-24 months    One trip of 10-14 days

Guatemala (4,135)    Typical age of available children     mostly under 12 months; about half females    Requirements to adopt Married couples or singles, preferably under age 50    Approximate total cost  $25,000-$30,000    Approximate waiting time—from completion of paperwork to referral    0-4 months for boys; 4-10 months for girls    Usual travel requirements One trip of 2-3 daysRussia (3,706)    Typical age of available children     8 months and older    Requirements to adopt Married couples or singles    Approximate total cost  $30,000-$40,000    Approximate waiting time—from completion of paperwork to referral    0-6 months for boys; 6-18 months for girls    Usual travel requirements Most often two trips of varying length

South Korea (1,376)    Typical age of available children     4 months-4 years    Requirements to adopt Married couples (at least 3 years), ages 25-45    Approximate total cost  $20,000-$28,000    Approximate waiting time—from completion of paperwork to referral    8-12 months    Usual travel requirements Travel is optional; escort available

Ethiopia (732)    Typical age of available children     3 months and older    Requirements to adopt Married couples (at least 5 years), no more than 40 years older than the child    Approximate total cost  $15,000-$21,000    Approximate waiting time—from completion of paperwork to referral    6-24 months    Usual travel requirementsTravel is optional; escort available

Kazakhstan (587)    Typical age of available children     6 months-3 years    Requirements to adopt Married couples or singles    Approximate total cost  $30,000    Approximate waiting time—from completion of paperwork to referral    0-4 months for boys; 6-10 months for girls    Usual travel requirements30-45 days in country, may be broken into two trips