Positive News from Ethiopia
(reposted from adoption forum)
We are thrilled to share positive news from Ethiopia. Earlier today
Minister Zenebu, along with other high level MOWCYA officials, met with
agency network representatives. In this meeting it was clearly expressed
from Minister Zenebu that she does not plan to work to stop adoptions,
but desires to focus on eliminating bad practice in Ethiopian adoptions
and focus on good practice. She stated that both MOWCYA and the
Ethiopian Government do not plan to shut down adoptions within Ethiopia.
She encouraged agencies to continue their work as normal.
We know this news comes as relief for many adoptive families in
process. Our agency will continue to work on behalf of Ethiopia’s
orphans and vulnerable children to place them into Christian homes. We
expect MOWCYA will likely hold more meetings in the weeks to come and
will continue to keep families updated with any new information. We are
seeing several regions issuing clearances for children to be adopted and
are hopeful more will start soon.
America World is in full support of improvements to uphold the most
ethical practices in adoption. We care deeply about adoptions operating
with integrity and transparency, and will continue to support MOWCYA in
their efforts to implement better parameters around adoption processes
and safeguards against fraudulent practice.
http://adoptedbydes ign.typepad. com/blog/ 2014/01/positive -news-from-
ethiopia. html http://adoptedbydes ign.typepad. com/blog/
2014/01/positive -news-from- ethiopia. html
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Accuracy For Adoptees Bill Passed
The Accuracy for Adoptees bill has been signed into law! So if you've had
a birth date change at the state level for your adopted child, it will
be recognized when getting their passport and Certificate of
Citizenship. Link to site is the title below, with the summary.
Accuracy for Adoptees Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require that a certificate of citizenship or other federal document issued, or requested to be amended, reflect the child's name and date of birth as indicated on a state court order, birth certificate, certificate of foreign birth, certificate of birth abroad, or similar state vital records document issued by the child's U.S. state of residence after the child has been adopted or readopted in that state.
Shown Here:Passed House without amendment (12/23/2013)
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)Accuracy for Adoptees Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require that a certificate of citizenship or other federal document issued, or requested to be amended, reflect the child's name and date of birth as indicated on a state court order, birth certificate, certificate of foreign birth, certificate of birth abroad, or similar state vital records document issued by the child's U.S. state of residence after the child has been adopted or readopted in that state.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
get your child's Certificate of Citizenship
FIRST go read the story on this blog.Grasping at the Wind. Story about a failed vacation due to improper citizen documentation claim by the vacation company. http://graspingwind.blogspot.com/2013/10/bon-voyage.html?spref=tw
THEN you can read my comments on it below. Won't make any sense if you don't read their post first.
I would like to say that considering the number of internationally adopted kids, every company that could possibly have a citizen requirement should have the stipulations spelled out clearly. Very clearly. There is no excuse for this having occurred. 1. the company should have had the information in all their documents for all clients prior to boarding. 2. they should have some provision for the family since the company is the one who had failed to communicate what documents were needed. 3. a refund guarantee should have been offered immediately. 4. I do commend the company for being careful as it could sway child kidnapping and abuse, but this was pretty clearly not that situation. They may have to abide by Interpol as they are going through non US waters. Interpol is very stringent on this sort of thing, even with biological kids.
With that in mind, what most adoptive parents don't know is that very little will prove the citizenship of a child. While the adoption does make your child a citizen the documents to prove that vary greatly and it is the whim of the organization what proof they will accept as there is no national standard enforced. Your child comes in with a particular visa that makes them a citizen in conjunction with a state validation of foreign adoption (also called other things). This makes them a citizen and the green card they got should show that but not everyone takes that. So, you go with this info and get a passport (or passport card) for your child, that is good. It needs renewed and by the time you have renewed it every few years until your child reaches adulthood you have spent nearly as much as a COC would have cost and you now have to trust that your child will be responsible with his or her documents and renew the passport every few years. Good but not good enough in my opinion. Many kids now come in and automatically get a Certificate of Citizenship, that is awesome. I would encourage all parents to go to the furthest extent in order to have the documents to prove their child's citizenship. That would be the Certificate of Citizenship. While not required it is the ONLY document universally accepted as proof. A terrible way to make money off adoptive parents who have already put out a lot of money. Yep. But worth it in the end if you don't come home with the visa that gives you one automatically.
Here is what the family had (and my experience with why that was not enough, but should have been):
- An original, embossed birth certificate issued by State Vital Records. (this is a Certificate of Foreign Birth in most counties and states. It is often considered a mere formality and in some cases is taken and in others it is declared a "souvenir document" and rejected, it is NOT proof of citizenship in any case. A Certificate of Foreign Birth is not really a Birth Certificate and thus your child will never have an actual Birth Certificate, as sad as that is.)
- His current Ethiopian passport with entry Visa (Child Citizenship Act of 2000 allows an adopted child’s foreign passport with US entry stamp as proof of US citizenship). (while this DOES indicate and proclaim citizenship, there is not a law binding on any entity to accept this as proof, even though it is. It is understandable that this would need to be accompanied by another document such as the adoption certificate in order to differentiate the child as a citizen by adoption rather than a child on a different form of visa. Many would not be able to distinguish between the variations of visa's allowed and what reasons they are given for. The employee would need trained on this to accept it. Which was obviously not the case.)
- High resolution scan of his USCIS (green card) on phone. They didn't take the original because it wasn't listed as a required document . (the green card gives permission to enter and live in the US -in this case permanently, not always the case- it does not prove or grant Citizenship for all organizations rules, however it is supposed to do the same as a COC in this instance, especially when combined with all the other info they had available. I have to say that I would have taken this with as a precaution as it is a rather important document proving the right to be in the USA and leaving our shores is risky business without it. A copy or scan of this is just not going to cut it. If they had had it that would have worked. Too bad they did not think of it and the company did not mention it.)
- High res scan of his social security card and adoption decree; also offered to fax / email / overnight. (the social security card does not prove citizenship ever, you can get one with a green card for work. The adoption decree from a Validation or Readopt does guarantee citizenship, however it is not used as proof in any setting that I am familiar with, why I don't know, it is silly.)
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Girl Adopted, video
Girl Adopted.
If you have not seen this video you really need to set aside the hour to watch it on your computer. It is up until Oct 29. You can also buy it through Nov. 5. 2013. http://flavors.me/girladopted
If you have not seen this video you really need to set aside the hour to watch it on your computer. It is up until Oct 29. You can also buy it through Nov. 5. 2013. http://flavors.me/girladopted
Friday, June 7, 2013
free June 2013 Adoption Today magazine on line
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From Rainbow Kids
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Friday, May 31, 2013
Local opportunities this summer- Denver, CO
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 The Adoption Exchange14232 East Evans Avenue Aurora, CO 80014 1-800-451-5246 State Office Locations Colorado, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah |
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Sunday, May 19, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
The Dark Matter of Love
The Dark Matter of Love
A movie you can download and watch regarding adoption and the tricky issue of love.
I am intrigued by this and am interested to see what it says. Maybe you would like to do so as well.
Here is the post from Rainbow Kids:
The Dark Matter of Love
A movie you can download and watch regarding adoption and the tricky issue of love.
I am intrigued by this and am interested to see what it says. Maybe you would like to do so as well.
Here is the post from Rainbow Kids:
The Dark Matter of Love
Heard about it yet? This documentary is making waves in the adoption community. Watch a trailer, download the movie, and read an interesting commentary on Huff Post. I'll be watching as well.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
New adoption book:
For Immediate Release
Announcing New Book for Adoptive Families
ZIMMERMAN, MN, February 1, 2013 — Adoptive Parent Intentional Parent: A Formula for Building & Maintaining Your Child’s Safety Net by
Stacy Manning is an invaluable resource for all adoptive families. The
author's breakthrough concept of intentionally creating a safety net to
help adopted children heal combines the value of knowing yourself, the
power of knowledge, specific tools and techniques that work in everyday
life, and the keys to maintaining the net over time. This book is unique
in that it arms parents with hands-on, everyday tools to use, along
with the knowledge needed to help build a safety net. “Every child who
has been adopted has suffered a breech in attachment; no adopted child
is exempt,” states author, Stacy Manning. Manning offers tools,
knowledge, support, and hope to all adoptive families.
About the Author
Author
Stacy Manning is a mom of six teenagers, three biological and three
adopted, and is a post-adoption family coach and educator. She has
worked with hundreds of families with adopted children, including those
struggling with difficult behaviors due to trauma, RAD, FAS, and grief.
Stacy specializes in empowering parents to be the healing force their
child needs with education, support, and tools to use in everyday life.
Stacy works one-on-one with families across the United States, coaching
them via phone, Skype, or in person, teaches workshops/webinars, and
offers training to families in the process of adoption. Stacy believes
that adoptive parents are their child’s best chance at healing and her
goal is to teach them how to be intentional parents who are armed with
the specific knowledge and tools they need to best help their child.
Contact
For more information about Adoptive Parent Intentional Parent: A Formula for Building & Maintaining Your Child’s Safety Net, please visit www.tohavehope.com or contact Hope Connections at (763) 633-1477.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
23 and me DNA testing
I have just learned of this really neat tool that can be used for genetic testing for inherited health risks as well as family history genetic mapping. Personal DNA testing. This is a really cool tool for adopted kids who have no family history. In one case I heard of the family actually learned that the kids they had adopted at two different times were actually relatives. Pretty cool! It could really benefit your child as they grow up with medical precautions. Filling out the 'family' form will be less in the unknown category with this useful test. I just looked at the site and had to post it here as a great resource. Check it out.
https://www.23andme.com/howitworks/
From their site:
All of the laboratory testing for 23andMe is done in a CLIA-certified laboratory.
https://www.23andme.com/howitworks/
From their site:
Our Technology and Standards
23andMe is a DNA analysis service providing information and tools for individuals to learn about and explore their DNA. We use the Illumina OmniExpress Plus Genotyping BeadChip (shown here). In addition to the variants already included on the chip by Illumina, we've included our own, customized set of variants relating to conditions and traits that are interesting. Technical information on the performance of the chip can be found on Illumina's website.All of the laboratory testing for 23andMe is done in a CLIA-certified laboratory.
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