Thursday, October 30, 2008
Mexico City Airport
In-Country Stay: UPDATED
The state in Mexico where we plan to adopt prefers that at least one parent stay in Mexico through the entire adoption process after we meet the children. Both parents have to be present for the necessary bonding period of one to three weeks. At least one of us has to be prepared to stay there for three months, but it could be more or less. We just can't know, as any number of things can impact that.
Other states in Mexico prefer the parents to return to their home after they have had an opportunity to bond with the children. Then the parents will wait at home, without their children, until the final adoption decree is scheduled. The parents could be separated from their children for well over six months. Then the parents return to Mexico to finalize everything.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both models. Option one will only work for families that are able to be away from home for many months. But lots of families just cannot do that. P and I are going to struggle to meet this requirement, but it is possible for us, since I do not work outside of the home. P will try to stay as long as possible with us, but there is a chance he'll have to return home for part of the time because of work. If it comes to it, he is going to try to work remotely via Internet. But that may not end up working out. It will be very hard on me if P has to return home, since P is my lifeline. Fortunately, we are blessed that we have a lot of family in Mexico that will make sure I am well attended in the event that P has to leave. But it would be very hard on us. Most importantly, he and the kids would be denied vital bonding time with each other.
The second option would likely turn out to be less expensive, since it is obviously cheaper to live in your own home for many months rather than paying for transportation, hotels, restaurants or a short lease apartment. Some people just cannot be away from their homes for three months if they have children at home in school or if both parents work, etc. But it would be difficult being separated from ones children for many months.
I would not be surprised if there are different possible scenarios that I don't know about in other states.
No matter which route is taken, there is still the matter of having to travel with the children to possibly two other cities after the adoption is finalized to complete all of the necessary paperwork before returning home. At least that is what we are faced with. It could be different depending on which city the adoption takes place in within Mexico. We will have to Mexico City for visits to several different government agencies for very important paperwork. We know there are special procedures to follow when requesting passports for children who will moving out of the country.
After spending around a week in Mexico City, we will possibly have to travel all the way to the border of Texas at Ciudad Juarez in order to get the special American travel visas that are needed for returning home. If this is still the case, it is quite daunting to do all of that traveling after the adoption is finalized. Many children do not handle change well and many children do not travel well. We need to be prepared for a potentially challenging road home!
UPDATE: The US State Department's Information on Adopting in Mexico website has just been changed. The link is on the sidebar. It has the newest information about the adopting in Mexico.
We will continue to research all of this, however, to be absolutely certain of everything. We will keep researching and re-researching. If we get new info, we'll post a new update on this posting.
We have accepted that these are the steps that are necessary to take. So much of this experience is going to depend on our attitude. We need to embrace it as a once-in-a-lifetime adventure!
Other states in Mexico prefer the parents to return to their home after they have had an opportunity to bond with the children. Then the parents will wait at home, without their children, until the final adoption decree is scheduled. The parents could be separated from their children for well over six months. Then the parents return to Mexico to finalize everything.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both models. Option one will only work for families that are able to be away from home for many months. But lots of families just cannot do that. P and I are going to struggle to meet this requirement, but it is possible for us, since I do not work outside of the home. P will try to stay as long as possible with us, but there is a chance he'll have to return home for part of the time because of work. If it comes to it, he is going to try to work remotely via Internet. But that may not end up working out. It will be very hard on me if P has to return home, since P is my lifeline. Fortunately, we are blessed that we have a lot of family in Mexico that will make sure I am well attended in the event that P has to leave. But it would be very hard on us. Most importantly, he and the kids would be denied vital bonding time with each other.
The second option would likely turn out to be less expensive, since it is obviously cheaper to live in your own home for many months rather than paying for transportation, hotels, restaurants or a short lease apartment. Some people just cannot be away from their homes for three months if they have children at home in school or if both parents work, etc. But it would be difficult being separated from ones children for many months.
I would not be surprised if there are different possible scenarios that I don't know about in other states.
No matter which route is taken, there is still the matter of having to travel with the children to possibly two other cities after the adoption is finalized to complete all of the necessary paperwork before returning home. At least that is what we are faced with. It could be different depending on which city the adoption takes place in within Mexico. We will have to Mexico City for visits to several different government agencies for very important paperwork. We know there are special procedures to follow when requesting passports for children who will moving out of the country.
After spending around a week in Mexico City, we will possibly have to travel all the way to the border of Texas at Ciudad Juarez in order to get the special American travel visas that are needed for returning home. If this is still the case, it is quite daunting to do all of that traveling after the adoption is finalized. Many children do not handle change well and many children do not travel well. We need to be prepared for a potentially challenging road home!
UPDATE: The US State Department's Information on Adopting in Mexico website has just been changed. The link is on the sidebar. It has the newest information about the adopting in Mexico.
We will continue to research all of this, however, to be absolutely certain of everything. We will keep researching and re-researching. If we get new info, we'll post a new update on this posting.
We have accepted that these are the steps that are necessary to take. So much of this experience is going to depend on our attitude. We need to embrace it as a once-in-a-lifetime adventure!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
More about adopting in Mexico
One thing that we are finding out about Mexico is that the very youngest children have a great chance of being adopted domestically (meaning adopted by other Mexicans). Simply put, it is common for Mexicans to adopt babies. The children start losing their opportunities to be matched with families when they are older or part of sibling groups. So, adopting in Mexico is a great fit for us, since we are open to adopting siblings and are open to children older than toddler age.
It can take a long time for children to be cleared for international adoptions because Mexico tries very hard to find homes for them within their country. We think that is commendable. Interestingly, even though P was born and raised in Mexico and is still considered a Mexican Citizen in Mexico, that does not put us at any advantage for being matched with the youngest children, since he resides in the US, not Mexico.
We will be adopting through the DIF in Mexico, which is the governmental agency in charge of child welfare. The administrative and judicial expenses of adopting through the DIF in Mexico are paid for by the Mexican Government. This safeguards against corruption. That doesn't mean that the adoption won't cost anything. There are many expenses, including our American agency fees, travel expenses, cost of living while we are in Mexico, and lots and lots of other things.
It can take a long time for children to be cleared for international adoptions because Mexico tries very hard to find homes for them within their country. We think that is commendable. Interestingly, even though P was born and raised in Mexico and is still considered a Mexican Citizen in Mexico, that does not put us at any advantage for being matched with the youngest children, since he resides in the US, not Mexico.
We will be adopting through the DIF in Mexico, which is the governmental agency in charge of child welfare. The administrative and judicial expenses of adopting through the DIF in Mexico are paid for by the Mexican Government. This safeguards against corruption. That doesn't mean that the adoption won't cost anything. There are many expenses, including our American agency fees, travel expenses, cost of living while we are in Mexico, and lots and lots of other things.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
What Will Happen Next?
The timeline on the sidebar shows some of the steps we have completed thus far. There are many more steps ahead for us.
Since Mexico and the US are both governed by The Hague Convention international adoption laws, some of the steps have to do with complying with that. Actually, those laws only very recently took effect in the US, so not only are we pioneers because we are in a pilot program, but we are also among the first American families to have to comply with the new laws. So there have been lots of surprises!
Anyway, each country is unique in how adoptions are processed, and in Mexico it even varies by state. So, these are the steps that we anticipate in the future months, subject to change at any moment, when we get the latest, newest information!
Since Mexico and the US are both governed by The Hague Convention international adoption laws, some of the steps have to do with complying with that. Actually, those laws only very recently took effect in the US, so not only are we pioneers because we are in a pilot program, but we are also among the first American families to have to comply with the new laws. So there have been lots of surprises!
Anyway, each country is unique in how adoptions are processed, and in Mexico it even varies by state. So, these are the steps that we anticipate in the future months, subject to change at any moment, when we get the latest, newest information!
- Receive approval to adopt from our Hague Accredited adoption agency
- Hague Accredited Adoption Agency approves homestudy and writes a cover letter to make the homestudy Hague Compliant
- File form I-800A with the CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services). This is to get pre-approval from the US Gov't to adopt orphans from another Hague Country
- Compile documents required by Mexico for our dossier (file)
- Get all dossier documents apostilled (a very official way to authenticate them by sending them back to the State where they originated to be validated)
- Get dossier translated into Spanish by certified translator
- Submit dossier to Mexican government (The DIF) for approval to adopt
- Once we are approved, we will be put on a waiting list to be referred (matched)
- We receive referral with background and medical information on the children to review. Then we accept the referral.
- We have more documents to prepare, another form to file with the CIS, will need to get new FBI background clearances, etc.
- We travel to Mexico. This is a huge step. We will meet the children and have a bonding period with them where we visit them, supervised, at their orphanage. Within 1 to 3 weeks, we will have legal custody of the children and they will stay with us in our rented apartment. Then the legal proceedings in the courts begin to finalize the adoption. Within about 3 months, the adoption will become final. Then we go to Mexico City to get the children identification/passports with their new last names. Then we must travel to Ciudad Juarez to visit the American Consulate there. The children will be given medical evaluations by an embassy doctor. Then they will be issued very special visas to enter the US legally.
- We go home! After we arrive home, we will have to formalize the adoption in our home state, get US identifications, social security numbers, etc for them.
- Our homestudy social worker will visit our home and will write post-placement reports which will be mailed to Mexico.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Our adventure begins!
Why Mexico??? The simple answer is that P was born and raised there!
We are in what is called the Paper Chasing phase of international adoption. We started the process in June 2008 and are still gathering all of the documents and obtaining all of the approvals we need from the US before our dossier (file) is submitted to Mexico.
It hasn't been very common for Americans to adopt from Mexico, but we think that will change. We are paving the way, as a part of one of the new pilot programs for adoptions in Mexico, and are excited to begin this adventure!
We keep learning a lot along the way, sometimes the hard way, so we hope to be able to share and document our experiences, as we know there are many people interested in adopting from our precious Mexico. Still, we don't claim to have the answers, as things differ greatly by state within Mexico. Each day we learn something new. But each day also brings us closer to our children.
We are in what is called the Paper Chasing phase of international adoption. We started the process in June 2008 and are still gathering all of the documents and obtaining all of the approvals we need from the US before our dossier (file) is submitted to Mexico.
It hasn't been very common for Americans to adopt from Mexico, but we think that will change. We are paving the way, as a part of one of the new pilot programs for adoptions in Mexico, and are excited to begin this adventure!
We keep learning a lot along the way, sometimes the hard way, so we hope to be able to share and document our experiences, as we know there are many people interested in adopting from our precious Mexico. Still, we don't claim to have the answers, as things differ greatly by state within Mexico. Each day we learn something new. But each day also brings us closer to our children.
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