Yes the adoption actually happens in the child's country, but new laws require the laws of the residence country of the parents (i.e. Qatar) to be considered as well. I guess to protect the kids they want to make sure the country where the parents actually live think the adoption is ok...

Jasmine, thanks for the tip. But our sponsor probably doesn't care what size our family is- they don't cover school, extra plane tickets, etc... I'll check though...