After the Giving and Receiving ceremony, your son or daughter is now officially adopted and your child in all contexts of the Vietnamese law. Your life together as a family will begin in Viet Nam, and the time you spend in country will be an extremely memorable experience. Hopefully your adoption agency will take care of all the paperwork and appointments necessary for you all to be able to come home, and you can spend your time bonding and getting to know each other.

If possible, try to spend some time in your child’s province. I wish we had spent time in Ella’s province, and hope to do so when we go back this time. Speak to your agency about your desire to do this ahead of time and they may be able to arrange a trip for you.

As important as it is to sightsee and explore your child’s country of birth, it’s equally as important to listen to your new child and follow their cues. Spending your days cooped up in your hotel room because you’re not interested in or are nervous about getting around town is worlds different than staying in because your new child is feeling ill or is having a hard time adjusting to their new family. I view the time spent in country as a welcome luxury. It would be extremely difficult; even impossible, to take two to three weeks off work and removed from your day to day life to do nothing but get to know your new child, so try and take advantage of the time you’ve been given.

If you’re not a minority at home, while you’re in Viet Nam try to take a step back and realize what it feels like to look different from just about everyone else you’re surrounded by. As a Caucasian American woman, I am rarely in the minority in my daily life. I was vaguely aware of the fact that I was the one that stood out and was stared at because of my skin color while in Viet Nam. I should have given it more thought and been more aware of how I felt being different.

While you are learning how to best care for your child and they’re getting used to you, there will be work going on behind the scenes. Your child’s Vietnamese passport photo will be taken, their passport will be applied for and processed. You will accompany your child to their exit medical exam and will ultimately receive your child’s visa to come into the United States. Now that the I600 petition is being processed prior to travel, your stay in Viet Nam and the paperwork and appointments required should be lessened a bit.

Enjoy your time together as a new family!

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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