I have written about the Certificate of Citizenship (C of C) some parents opt to procure for their internationally adopted children, and the debate continues over the importance of having such a document.

The cost to obtain a C of C jumped considerably at the end of last month, and many parents feel it's overkill with a passport being considered to be more than enough proof that their child has the full rights of a citizen of the United States of America.

A... more

Continuing to follow changes to India's adoption program I've been writing about for a while now, India adoptions authority, the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) has submitted a draft of amended adoption guidelines to the Ministry for Women and Child Development.

The "Guidelines on Adoption of Indian Children Without Parental Care -- 2007" proposes changes... more

International adoptive parents, either in the process or with kids long home, will be interested to note that the USCIS has released a new schedule of fees that go into effect on the 30th of July.

With an increase in charges on the way, many parents who have been debating the merits of the Certificate of Citizenship ... some see this document as vital while others insist it's not necessary ... are deciding now to go ahead with the process... more

A dossier is a packet of documents needed to complete an international adoption. A typical dossier will contain 10-15 documents such as:

home study (do this ASAP) immigration pre-approval adoptive parents’ birth certificates adoptive parents’ marriage certificate letters verifying employment adoptive parents’ bank statements INS approval form (the I-171-H) reference letters

All these documents must then be individually authenticated, based upon the foreign country's requirements. Normally, each document will need several government stamps: a stamp by your local notary public, a certification by your... more

Utah international adoption agency, Focus on Children, as been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of adoption fraud. The indictment names seven people including agency owners Scott and Karen Banks of Wellsville, Utah, and covers the period between March 2003 and June 2005. Specifically addressing the adoptions of 37 children by US families of Samoan children , it alleges coercion on the part of the agency was used to obtain children from birth families.

Samoa is not the only birth country Focus on Children deals with, however,... more

Continued from here ...

This story on a large study ... almost 70,000 children of families with depressive parents ... will, I'm sure, be mentioned in connection with adoption in future. This could be a major concern, so I'm hoping the study will be looked at closely from many angles, and that the research gets a thorough... more

From a reader:

Question: Hi, I was wondering, regarding international adoption - which countries allow one parent to have been (in the past) taking anti-depressant meds? I understand China does not allow this. Are all international options off limits to those that this applies?

The upcoming imposition of new adoption regulations in China, starting the first of May, that preclude anyone with a history of... more

Apologies in advance for the repetition to all who've been reading along from the beginning, but to you new-ish here this week's entries are meant to give a smattering of what goes on here, but certainly not the whole picture. I hope to publish most days from Singapore in addition to these wanders down memory blog, but can't promise anything. Starting with international adoption-related information, this post about dossier prep from the 9th... more

Continued from the previous post.

Reuniting twins and full sibs, easier to establish than half-sibs and cousins, must feel like a miracle, no matter how complicated the resulting relationship may be. And even if distance and schedules and such are difficult with children, the adults they will too soon be will enjoy an unexpectedly fuller life with the sister or brother part of it.

Much of the web information available addresses mainly children... more

With years passing as fast as they do, I set a schedule for myself for things that need doing month to month. Twice a year, once in February and again in July, my 'to do' list begins with three letters: PPR.

A commitment to Post Placement Reports ... PPRs ... is a requirement of the adoption process for quite a few countries. Along with the rest of the many documents included in dossiers for Cambodian adoptions are two promising to submit PPRs every year until the child reaches the age of eighteen; one goes to the Minister... more