The links that follow this post outline the steps in the Viet Nam adoption process up to this one; and this one is a BIG one! Getting your referral is an amazing, surreal experience that can have a variety of emotional impacts on one’s life.

Things have changed recently in Viet Nam adoptions and child-family matches are now being made by Vietnamese officials instead of the American adoption agencies. Once your paperwork has been processed and approved by the seemingly trillions of people who will pass it along, you will be matched with a child who fits the criteria of child... more

After you have completed steps one through five (see below for links) in the Viet Nam adoption process, you will begin to compile your dossier. Most adoption agencies will advise you to hold off on collecting documents for your dossier as many have expiration dates. Getting documents too early could force you to start over again on them if they do expire; this causes much more of a headache and financial strain than you need this far into the process.

A dossier is the set of documents that will be sent to Viet Nam and essentially be your family’s file for your adoption in country.... more

This week we’re going over the steps involved in a Vietnamese adoption. So far, we have covered making the decision to adopt, deciding on Viet Nam, choosing an adoption agency and completing the home study process. Now we’ll move on to the process as it has to do with the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.) Basically, your home study grants their approval for you to adopt on a state level, and USCIS will grant approval on a federal level. They will also be the entity that examines your child’s paperwork to ensure that they are truly eligible for adoption according to their standards.

The first form that you will complete for USCIS is the I-600A (Application... more

After you have chosen your adoption agency and signed a contract with them, the next step is to get started on your home study. Although the home study culminates with an actual in-home visit by a social worker, there is also a great deal of paperwork and educational hours to complete. Some adoption agencies are also licensed to perform home studies in the state in which they reside. In our case, our adoption agency was not licensed to do home studies in our state, so they recommended a home study only agency to work with.

Home study requirements vary according to what state you live in and what country you are adopting from. The number of times you will be required to meet with your... more

Step 3 in the Viet Nam adoption process is choosing an agency. Choosing an adoption agency to work with to complete your adoption from Viet Nam is a topic that I discuss often. It is extremely important to make your decision wisely and after much research. The agency that you choose today will be the ones representing you and your family in Viet Nam and placing your child with you; your relationship with them is an important one.

According to the US-Viet Nam Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) only adoption agencies that have been licensed by Viet Nam are permitted to work in... more

This post is #2 in the series of posts that will take you step by step through the process of adopting a child from Viet Nam.

After you have made the decision to adopt a child, you’ll next have to decide where that child will be from. Assuming that you have already decided that an international adoption is for you, you will next need to ask yourself what country you would like to adopt from. Have you always had your heart set on adopting from a certain part of the world? Do you qualify to adopt from the country that is your first choice?

Countries have their own set of requirements regarding adoptive parents. Age, sexual orientation, length of marriage, health issues and number... more

This week I’m going to take some time and go through the step by step process of adopting a child from Viet Nam. The first step is the one of making the decision to adopt. Deciding to adopt a child is a completely personal decision, and one that adoptive parents come to from many different places. Just as having a biological child is a huge decision, deciding to adopt a child requires (and deserves) a great deal of thought and consideration. Raising a child is a life changing experience (for you and the child) and I wish all parents (biological included) took the time that we adoptive... more

A few days ago we rescheduled the home visit portion of our home study with our social worker for this Sunday morning. We’re excited to see her and move forward in our second adoption; but having a home visit inevitably seems to dredge up a bit of nervousness on the part of adoptive parents. My husband and I are no exception. While we’re not nervous, per se, we did realize that we needed to discuss a few things before Sunday to be sure we were still on the same page. So that led to tonight’s post about conversations to have with your partner if you are adopting as part of a pair.

The... more

Adopting a child from a foreign country comes with a set of risks that one would be foolish to not acknowledge. I frequently hear comments about families who state that they chose international adoption to avoid the risks that go along with domestic adoption. Mind you, many of the so called risks in domestic adoption are actually perceived risks that only affect a very small percentage of domestic adoptions. My goal of this post is to shine some light on and spread awareness of the risks that exist in international adoption.

There are a lot of worried people in the Vietnamese adoption world that are unsure about how to really find out about an adoption agency. As I mentioned in my earlier post, some agencies have families who have been issued NOIDS (notice of intent to deny) and this has caused a sense of panic among PAPs (prospective adoptive parents.) It’s hard to know who to trust and which agencies are ethical, but we have the power to do as much research as possible and find answers to the tough questions. If you are researching or currently working with an adoption agency that you are unsure about, continue... more