A new rule from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has some Americans leaving China and Ethiopia without the children they adopted there.
The new CDC protocol requires that internationally adopted children over the age of 2 be tested for tuberculosis in the country of origin before the U.S. can grant a visa. If they test positive, they must be treated and determined not to be infectious before the CDC will allow them to travel to America.
If a child test positive for tuberculosis, the child needs to get a waiver showing the child is not contagious. These tests must be performed by doctors designated by the CDC. TB sputum cultures are difficult to process and can take several months to show results.
International adoption groups are concerned that the situation is likely to discourage Americans from adopting in countries where tuberculosis is endemic.
A good summary of the new rule and it’s effects on international adoptions can be found here: CDC Tuberculosis Rule Slows International Adoptions
Story County will be one the sites in Iowa for the nationwide Adoption Saturday, this November 21st. Adoption hearings will be held at the Ames Municipal building, 515 Clark Avenue. This special event will run from 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. (Noon). I will be one of the lead attorneys handling most of the adoptions that day. Dani L. Eisentrager of Eagle Grove, Iowa will also be there taking care of adoptions for people from the Ft. Dodge, Webster City area.
We hope to have two judges available so that everybody who wants to can have their adoptions finalized on Adoption Saturday.
If you are planning to adopt, I really encourage you to do so on Adoption Saturday. From having been at several of these in the past, it is really a fun and exciting time. Having all the adoptions take place at once adds an extra level of fun to what already is fun and joyous occasion. Don’t worry though, each adoption takes place individually. It is not one judge doing twenty adoptions at once.
If your adoption is a private one, that is, not through the Department of Human Services, you have to be a Story County resident to be able to finalize your adoption on Saturday. If your adoption is through the Department, it does not matter where you live, as long as you are an Iowa resident.
At this time, I know that Polk County is also holding their Adoption Saturday on the 21st. As I find out about other locations, I will post that information here and on Twitter.
An open adoption is where family members from the adoptive child’s former family maintain some kind of contact with the child. This contact can range from the adoptive child’s new parents sending pictures and a brief note to face to face contact between the child and the former family members.
Open adoption is not legally recognized in Iowa. Even if there is a written agreement to allow some sort of open adoption, the agreement is not enforceable and the Iowa courts will not legally recognize such an agreement. Once the adoption is final, the adoptive parents have the final say on who the child has contact with and on what terms, regardless of any agreement or promise made before the adoption.
After the adoption hearing, the adoptive parents, now the parents of the child will receive a certified copy of the final decree of adoption. This can be used as a birth certificate until the new birth certificate arrives. In two (2) to six (6) weeks, a new birth certificate will arrive from the state where [...]
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The step parent and relative adoption process are essentially the same as the “traditional” adoption with two (2) major differences:
1. In a step parent adoption, the biological parent who is losing their parental rights, if that parent agrees and signs a written consent to the termination of their parental rights, the termination of parental rights [...]
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The following describes the adoption process for the traditional “stranger” adoption process; either done privately or with the assistance of the Iowa Department of Human Services. Step-parent and relative adoption is discussed elsewhere.
1. The preplacement home study is completed.
2. A suitable child is located
3. The parental rights are terminated and the appeals period has passed.
Steps [...]
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As we go through this section, I refer to “parents” and “child”. This is only done for ease of usage. A single person can adopt. More than one child can be adopted at a time (my record is four (4) children adopted at once!). Parents can be one or both birth parents or one or [...]
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‘Horrifying,’ Mom Says Of Seeing Son’s Photo In Online Adoption Scam
By Mark Memmott
Jenni Brennan of Abington, Mass., tells WCVB-TV in Boston that it was “horrifying” to see her son’s photo being used in an online adoption scam.
Seven-month-old Jacob was safe at home, but someone had lifted his photo from her blog and was sending it [...]
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