The adoption tax credit is a topic that is discussed very frequently on adoption forums, among adoptive parents and within adoption agencies. Unfortunately, most of those discussions are due to people’s confusion about the credit and it’s difficult to get straight answers about it unless you’re an accountant or have one who truly understands it. It can be extremely confusing because it is not a tax deduction, that most of us are familiar with. A tax credit works differently and can provide you with some reimbursement of your adoption expenses.

The adoption tax credit is a... more

A new helmet law has been passed in Viet Nam requiring the wearing of a helmet when on a motorbike. Annual governmental reports state that traffic accidents in the country result in approximately 13,000 fatalities (half of which are caused by brain injuries) and 11,000 injuries. I cringe to think that I zipped around Hanoi without a helmet!

The government’s Resolution 32 states that all motorbike riders (drivers and passengers) must be wearing a protective helmet. The resolution went into effect on December 15th and will be enforced on every road in the country. Those not... more

Most of us in the adoption world have heard of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, but I for one, was confused by it. The term ‘Hague’ is thrown around regularly when international adoption is discussed, but I never really understood what that meant, other than it had something to do with regulating international adoption. On Wednesday the United States ratified the Hague Convention. In an effort to find out what all of this means, I did some research because I’m tired of being confused and wanted to know how/if this ratification would affect my family... more

Yesterday the United States became a full member of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. Starting April 1, 2008, the US will follow the guidelines laid out in the Hague concerning intercountry adoptions with other member countries. You can read the full Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 here. According to the Hague’s main website, Viet Nam is not a member country.

Although the US had... more

United States Ambassador Maura Harty recently gave an interview to Vietnam Television in Viet Nam. The US Embassy in Hanoi has posted a transcript of the interview on their website here. Relations between the US and Viet Nam were discussed, as was the current state and future of intercountry adoptions.

With prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) worried about the future of Viet Nam’s adoption program, we’re looking for any information we can find. The current Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which is the agreement between the US and Viet Nam that opened up the doors to intercountry adoptions is coming up for review. The MOU is... more

CNN recently did a piece on their channel titled “Families in Adoption Limbo” that focused on a family who has been affected by the current state of Vietnamese adoptions. The French family adopted their son Oliver in Viet Nam, but was issued a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID,) meaning that the United States Embassy is not issuing him a visa to come to the United States. His parents have already adopted him and he has been in their... more

The Joint Council on International Children’s Services (JCICS) held a summit last week to discuss the current state and future of adoptions in Viet Nam. Representatives from adoption agencies, JCICS, the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security and USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) were in attendance. I blogged a bit about the response we got from our agency here, and now the JCICS has posted a summary of the summit on their website for the public to view.

The summit was a forum to discuss the current state... more

Last Wednesday the Joint Council on International Children’s Services (JCICS) held a summit to discuss the current and future state of adoptions in Viet Nam. Representatives from several U.S. government offices met with representatives from adoption agencies working in Viet Nam to try and come up with a plan to ensure that adoptions from Viet Nam continue and are done in an ethical manner.

If you are a prospective adoptive parent (PAP,) you have probably already heard from your agency. If you haven’t, you may wish to contact them and get their opinions on how the day went and the topics that were covered. I was extremely pleased to wake... more

*There was more flooding in central Viet Nam last week, and more lives were lost as a result of the torrential rains. Forty eight people were killed, several are missing and over two hundred are injured. The Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai was assessing the damage and organizing the effort to provide food, water and shelter to those left homeless. He also addressed the environmental impact of the floods and noted their efforts to prevent illness from spreading.

*A bomb... more

As I posted about a few days ago, the Joint Council on International Children’s Services is holding a summit to discuss the state of adoptions in Viet Nam. They have just announced the details of the summit and I thought it would be of interest to many readers of this blog. If you are a prospective adoptive parents (PAP) who is currently adopting from Viet Nam and haven’t heard about this summit from your agency, I would recommend contacting them. It is so important that all agencies attend, and I would be incredibly shocked if there are any that choose... more