In continuing on with our detailed posts about each step in the Vietnamese adoption process, we’re now on to the Giving and Receiving. The Giving and Receiving ceremony is one of my favorite aspects of Vietnamese adoptions. It is essentially the giving of a child to their new family. The Giving and Receiving, or G&R as it is often called, is when your child legally becomes your child in the eyes of the Vietnamese government. You will walk away from your G&R ceremony with your child who is now officially adopted.

Giving and Receiving ceremonies vary widely and some are more elaborate than others. Since adoptions in Viet Nam are handled at the provincial level, G&R ceremonies differ from province to province. Some will include the child’s birth parents or another biological relative. Others include your child’s caregivers from their baby center. Still others will have only the provincial officers present. There can be a large group of families all having their ceremonies at the same time, or (as in our case,) it can be only your family.

The ceremony will be done in Vietnamese and translated to you by your agency staff. We were asked if we still wanted to adopt the baby by the province official, but had trouble understanding the translation. Once it was made clear to us what was being asked we quickly (and probably too loudly) said “Yes!” There were many documents to sign and we signed our names in the big book of adoption for Ella’s province. The documents were stamped and signed by the officials and we were done. Our ceremony was short and sweet, but there are others that are lengthy. We were offered fruits, snacks and drinks at the end of the ceremony.

It can seem like a bit of a whirlwind, so be sure to take lots of pictures and if you can get someone to videotape the whole ceremony, I’d recommend it. It’s invaluable to us to have all that footage of Ella being “given” to us and us “receiving” her, in Vietnamese. I’m excited to see what our next G&R will be like, as it will be held in a different province and we will likely share the ceremony with other families. I appreciate the time that the ceremony gives newly formed families to let the reality of their new union start to sink in. The officialness and of it all and the emotions that go right along with the experience is remarkable.




photo credit - Rebecca H.

More Reading:
Receiving and Accepting Your Referral
Compiling Your Viet Nam Adoption Dossier
The USCIS Process for a Viet Nam Adoption
The Viet Nam Adoption Home Study
Choosing a Viet Nam Adoption Agency
Deciding to Adopt from Viet Nam
Making the Decision to Adopt