One solicitation for advice that comes up often on groups and forums where international adoption is the focus is from parents in the process of subsequent adoptions wondering whether or not to take the kids they have along on the trip for the new one.

Justifiably concerned over issues of health, parents ask about the safety of local food and water, preventative measures against easily contractible diseases like malaria and cholera, the likelihood of incidents of crime and random violence, war, official corruption and loads of other nerve-wracking concerns that cross the minds of folks from safe, comfy places about to step into a completely different, and sometimes threatening, world.

Some are so nervous about circumstances in the birth country of their child that they choose not to visit themselves, opting instead for an escort to bring the child to them, and never in a zillion years would they think of taking a child INTO the country, no matter what the reason.

Escorting is not an option for some countries, as parents (one or both, depending on the country's adoption laws) must be present. In some cases, parents are required more than one visit, and others stipulate prolonged periods of residence. For more information on specific country requirements, visit the country section of the international adoption pages at Adoption.Com. or the US State Department's country specific site.

Ages of the children ... both the one at home and the new addition ... have to be taken into account when deciding about travel.

Toddlers may not be the best airplane companions, especially with Ethiopia, China and other birth countries being 30+hours of mind-and-butt-numbing tedium at 30,000 feet the only option for getting from Point A to Point B. Food and sleep issues also come into play, as not all kids are as fond of fried spiders and fish eyes as mine is, and adjusting for eight, or ten, or twelve, time zone changes is jet lag squared ... or to the power of however many zones waft away in your vapor trail.

Older children may not be too keen on the food, either, and parents may have worries about subjecting them to the harsh realities of poverty and deprivation during formative years where they're old enough to see, but possibly not to integrate the bleak truth before them. If the child is bio, or from a different birth country, there can be long-term implications of such exposure, some of which may eventually cloud the relationship between the siblings.

Also necessary for consideration are the needs of the new child ... and we'll get to that in the next post.