Tag Archives: international adoption

A Big Difference for Adopting Parents: the Adoption Tax Credit Renewed and Expanded

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Whatever you think of the new health care legislation, adoptive parents will realize one benefit: the Adoption Tax Credit, which was set to expire this year, will be renewed through December 21, 2011. The maximum reimbursable limit for adoption-related expenses was raised from $12, 150 to $13, 170. In addition, the Adoption Tax Credit will benefit families who have no taxes or a very small amount of taxes due, because it is now refundable. The credit lessens for adopters with income of over$ 180,000 per year, and continues to lessen as incomes go up until it is eventually phased out. … Continue reading →

China Adoption Today

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For several years, Americans have adopted more children from China than from any other country. Agencies recommend China to their clients as having a stable and predictable adoption process. Well, the good news is, it’s still stable and predictable. The bad news is, the time families wait for a referral is now measured in years instead of months. In December 2006, I wrote about China’s imposition of new requirements for adoptive parents. Most notably, these stipulated that singles were no longer eligible to adopt (China had been a popular option with single mothers until that time), and neither were people … Continue reading →

What Problems Do Parents of Russian Adoptees Face?

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Most of the world is justly horrified by the fact that Torry Hansen sent her adopted Russian son back to Russia. I admit I don’t know how I would respond if my child threatened to kill me. But as I said in my blog on Wrongful Adoption lawsuits, once an adoption is final, the parent-child relationship is final. If my biological child suffers brain trauma and becomes a danger to others, he may have to live in a residential treatment center, but I would still visit him, try to assist in his healing process, contribute financially to him as much … Continue reading →

Should There Be Dual Citizenship for Internationally Adopted Children?

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My last blogs were about the boy sent back to Russia and in which jurisdiction the abandonment occurred. (You can click here if you missed last week’s update .) I learned from his adoption agency’s website that children adopted from Russia to the U.S. have dual citizenship in both countries. This was news to me. Adopting from Korea, we were advised to inform our agency when the adoption was finalized so that they could sent a request to South Korea to remove her from the Korean citizenship rolls. This was especially important because all male citizens in South Korea serve … Continue reading →

Can We Emphasize Culture Too Much?

The latest issue of Adoptive Families’ magazine has an article by Mei-Ling Hopgood. She writes from the perspective of an adult adoptee, having been adopted from Taiwan in the 1970s and raised in the U.S. by white parents, together with her two brothers adopted from Korea. I’ve written before about the discomfort I sometimes feel regarding how much to emphasize my daughters’ birth culture. Many young adult adoptees are now speaking out and saying that they either thought of themselves as “white” or desperately wanted to be, that they had a tremendous shock in high school or college when others … Continue reading →

China Adoption Book Review Series: Kids Like Me in China

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What does a nine-year-old think and feel about her adoption? What thoughts and feelings does she have on revisiting the orphanage where she lived during the first year of her life and meeting her caregivers? My recent China Adoption Book Review Series (The Lost Daughters of China, China Ghosts, and Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son Parts One, Two, and Three, has covered writings by adoptive parents and from researchers, journalists and academics into abandonment, orphanage care, and domestic and international adoption in China. With Kids Like Me in China, we get to hear from an adoptee. Ying Ying Fry … Continue reading →

Why I’m Blogging My Health

I’ve talked about “liveblogging” your health: writing openly and publicly about your health issues as they happen (or as close to “live” as possible). A writer friend of mine blogs his experiences with cancer — the good, the bad, and the ugly, no holds barred. Former Pets Blogger Courtney Mroch wrote very openly about her experiences with her cancerous “hitchhiker”. One advantage of liveblogging a health issue — or other important goings on in your life — is that lots of people can get the news quickly and easily. They can stay up to day with your progress without you … Continue reading →

What is Humanitarian Parole?

My last blog spoke of hundreds of orphans whose adoptions were in progress at the time of the earthquake being granted “humanitarian parole”. Humanitarian parole is a temporary admittance to the U.S. granted on an individual basis when immediate travel to the U.S. is believed to be necessary to “ensure the care the individual requires”. Perhaps we are most familiar with the term applying to children who need medical treatment unavailable in their home countries, whether they are in the process of being adopted or only seeking to be in the U.S. while under medical care. As I mentioned in … Continue reading →

Writing a Family Tree Book

There are several reasons that you may want to write a family tree book. You may want to include the stories you’ve learned about your ancestors while researching your family tree. You may also know that it would be a nice item to pass down to future generations. You could write a family tree book by simply creating a document in a word processing program on your computer and doing it yourself. This is very simple to do. Using your preferred word processing program, create a new document. If you wish, you can add clipart or photographs within the document. … Continue reading →

Help Further the Cause of Adoption Research?

White parents who have adopted Asian children are being sought for a research study about adoptive families conducted by the University of Maryland at College Park. The survey is being conducted by a professor and a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University. The study, approved by the University’s Institutional Research Board (IBR) aims to help researchers learn more about international adoptive families and about the challenges faced by White parents in raising a child of a different race/culture. This is a one-time survey, completed on-line, which takes about 20-40 minutes to complete. I completed my survey … Continue reading →