The Deaf Adoption News Service, a special interest group of the World Federation of the Deaf, has been around since it began with a handful of subscribers in early 1994. DANS is a text-only free listing service for waiting foreign and domestic deaf and severely hard of hearing children.
The best way to find out about currently available waiting deaf and hard of hearing children is to subscribe to the DeafHOH-Adoption discussion list. The children listed here are only a sample of available children, and some may no longer be available at the time you inquire.
If you contact an agency about a child on the list, please tell them you found out about them on this list. That will encourage the agency to continue to identify waiting deaf children so that the waiting deaf children of the world will have a better chance at finding families. Also, if you do adopt one of the children or find out that a child on the list has already been adopted, please let me know so that the child can be promptly removed from the list. Pictures of children already home (their families found out about them through the DANS network) can be seen on the We Are Home page.
It is easy to list a waiting deaf or severely hard of hearing child on DANS. All that is needed is to e-mail me the child's sex, date of birth or approximate age, and region of origin. First names are optional. No photographs needed as I do not post them on this site. Descriptions of the child's hearing loss, how the child communicates, and the child's personality are also helpful.
In addition, an Adobe PDF file about the DANS network is available. Click here to download the PDF file: DANS.PDF. (A Spanish-language version is also available upon request).
Note: The children listed here may or may not still be available. This is not a comprehensive listing of all waiting deaf and hard of hearing children known to be available. Whenever possible, I will make a note of their status, if known. If you know that a child has been placed or is available, please let me know. The discussion list is an invaluable means for learning more about deaf adoption, and also carries news of waiting deaf and hard of hearing children in need of adoption.
I do not have the time to surf the web looking for listings of deaf and severely hard of hearing children. If you see one you feel should be included on this website, please e-mail me with the URL for the child's listing and it will be added.
Domenic, 10, USA. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 09/06/03.
Shane, 11, USA. Read description. Added 09/06/03.
Boy, 15, Eastern Europe. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 09/06/03.
Kwamane, 13, USA. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 5/24/03.
Misha, dob 1991, Asia. Added 03/21/03. See also this page.
Andrew, dob 4/17/87, United States. Listed on the web site of MNAdopt.org, Child ID #1939. Status unknown; a check of database on 02/15/03 showed him to still be in the database, with an updated photograph.
Robert, 15, African American, United States, ID number C300917. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 04/06/03.
Mark, 15, African American, United States, ID number C301606. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 04/06/03.
Timothy, 16, Caucasian, United States, ID number C301350. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 04/06/03.
Jeffery, 14, NC01078337, United States. Hard of hearing. Read description and follow instructions. Added 09/06/03.
Jennifer, age 12, South Asia. She communicates by using made-up gestures,
not organized signing, said to be profoundly deaf. Contact: Mary Lou
Eshelman, Wide Horizons For Children, Inc., 38 Edge Hill Road
Waltham, MA 02451, Direct Line: 781-419-0313, Fax: 781-899-2769 E-Mail: marylou@whfc.org
Added 09/06/03.
Danielle, 15, USA. Read description and follow instructions. Added 7/6/03.
Girl, 9, Asia. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 5/25/03.
Emily, 11, USA. ID number C401913. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 5/24/03.
Kristina, Eastern Europe, 14, deaf. Kristina is 14. She suffers from congenital deafness, but uses a language of gestures very well. She is sociable, has a superb sense of rhythm, likes to dance and draws beautifully. She is a pupil of an orphanage. Her parents were deprived of parental rights. If she could only find a family! Patricia Beristain Eastern Europe Program Director, patricia@hihiadopt.org, HAND IN HAND INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS. Added 02/15/03.
Tameeka (NC01921740), dob 1998, United States. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 11/08/02. A check of the website on 2/15/03 found her still listed.
Girl, Africa, mute (deaf), 1999. Added 02/15/03.
Girl, South Asia (G02-0135), dob 1995, deaf. Agency: Holt International, http://www.holtintl.org. Added 02/15/03.
So Jung, Date of Birth: April, 1997, Asia. When she's watching TV, spunky little So Jung likes to mimic the dancing of singers and move her lips to sing along. She has marked delays in development but is able to walk and eat independently. She has difficulty hearing and her lovely face shows the post-surgical scar from repair of a bilateral cleft lip and palate. For more information, contact Family Finders Program at World Association for Children and Parents (WACAP), phone 206-575-4550 or email familyfinders@wacap.org.Added 03/11/03
Norese, ID 5101503674, hard of hearing, November 1999, USA. Added 09/06/03.
Gabriella, Ronnie, and Ariana. Gabriella wears hearing aids. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 5/24/03.
Trent and Quinton, 11 and 10, African American, United States (5901000183). Both have hearing loss. Read description and follow contact instructions. A check of the database on 02/15/03 found them still listed.
Chance and Devarje, 4 and 2, African American, United States (TX 11522). Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 04/06/03.
Niya, Ashley, Lamar, African American, United States (MO014602). Read description and follow contact instructions. Description mentions sign language, not known if any child is hearing impaired. Added 04/06/03.
Travis, USA, VA01308982, 06/93. Read description and follow instructions. Added 09/06/03.
Margaret, USA, 12/7/92. Read description and follow instructions. Added 07/6/03.
Dorothy, USA, MA011866. Locate by ID number. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 5/25/03.
Robert, USA, MO014632. Locate by ID number. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 5/24/03.
Shatara, USA, 2207. Locate by name. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 5/24/03.
Emily, USA, 1176. Locate by name. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 5/24/03.
Cynthia, USA, LA01A0104. Locate by her case number. Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 5/24/03.
Antwuan, USA, WI LR5561. Do a search on boys ages 0 to 9. Read description and follow instructions. Added 5/24/03.
Alice, 3, Caucasian, United States (TX 12866). Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 4/06/03.
Jacqui, 2, Native American, United States (c4925). Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 4/06/03.
Ziara, 5, African American, United States (ID number A101149). Read description and follow contact instructions. Added 4/21/03.
Earl , date of birth 1993, United States. Read description and follow contact instructions. Check of database on 02/15/03 showed him to still be in the database (child ID #440)
Emmanuel, AZ01292, January 2001, USA. Read description. Added 09/06/03.
Corey, TX0110267, March 1996, USA. Read description. Added 09/06/03.
Valerie, dob 5/7/2002, USA. Read description. Contact Three Rivers Adoption Council. Added 09/06/03.
There is a discussion list for families that have adopted deaf children or that are in the process of adopting deaf children. News of waiting children of all ages gets posted to this list before being placed on this web site. Some are children listed by DANS, others are children that come to the attention of list subscribers, and some are posted by adoption agency representatives.
