The Sun-Sentinel reports on the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption.

It's a Guatemala-oriented story, because there's a large Guatemalan presence here in South Florida. But of course, China gets a mention.

The new rules are going to slow things down, the newspapers say.

All this will likely end once the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions takes effect in the United States. The United States will then require all foreign adoptions to meet tougher international standards, which Guatemala ratified in... more

As a word geek, I became irrationally exuberant upon discovering this old entry on Language Log about Chinese Philadelphia Food and the cultural significance of Cantonese vs. Mandarin. And, of course, how to translate "cheesesteak" into Chinese characters. And where to order the best Chinese one in Philly. Even though I don't normally eat meat....

If you happen to be reading this in the United Kingdom, The Herald has an interesting story on international adoption. I know the red tape is different in... more

Grim day for would-be China travelers.

Item 1: is everywhere, but yes, Carry-On Only traveling is going to be really difficult for a while, which is a real pain in the expletive.

Long... more

Quick note to frazzled parents-to-be: There's a rather helpful discussion on assembling paperwork over on the adoption.com forums.

The bureaucracy is intimidating, and always will be, but people get through it all the time.

Odi advises:

1-Order 3 birth and marriage certs. It is cheeper to get the second and third now than having to reorder. You need originals for your dossier and for the 1-600 from our government and then maybe an extra one just in case. 2-Check each Notary... more

There's a new angle on the ratification of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions -- news sources from all over are reporting that it's going to cause a slowdown in adoptions from Guatemala:

The U.S. will then require all foreign adoptions to meet tougher international standards, which Guatemala ratified in 2003 but has yet to implement.

"We don't want adoptions to stop but we believe the current system does not provide enough protection to the child's needs," said John... more

You want to know how to get a Social Security card for bouncing young adopted Chinese child? The Social Security Administration has the application online.

But as for what to do with Line 8, well, that's sort of up in the air right now.

Oh, and although the application's online, the thing still has to be smeared onto a dead tree and mailed to the government or even better handed over in person with your authenticated, original documents, instead of confining the whole business to clean, elegant electrons and submitting with buttons.

Last time, we would have... more

Traveling families -- as if you didn't have enough to worry about....

USA Today and Fox "News" bring notice today (or, uh, on Friday) of the latest mysterious "something might (or might not) happen somewhere so keep your eyes open and pulse rates elevated, America" announcement.

I merely repeat it here because it applies, this time, to China -- specifically, the three major cities in China where there's a big Western presence.... more

So, browsing the adoption.com newswire brings this humble subtropical typist grim tidings of the latest humiliation for Florida's Department of Children and Families.

Sometimes people ask me why we didn't adopt domestically, and I just give a rough overview of the Rilya Wilson story. Various family members have been intimately familiar with the inner workings of the Department... more

From a recent comment:

As you know, China adoption is getting backlogged resulting in I-171H expirations. There is an active campaign to contact U.S. Sen and Reps on this. Now, Sen. Sam Brownback serves on the subcommittee for immigration and is a China adoptive parent. Several parent groups are trying to now focus their efforts on getting his help. Could you please write a little something about the expiration of these approvals and why it is important? We are estimating $2000 plus for each family that expires in extra fees. Thanks!

So. What's an I171-H? That's your Homeland Security paperwork (specifically, the U.S. Center for Immigration Services,... more

* This site is new, but could be useful: Adoption Search. It's an index of adoption-related stuff on the net, all in one easy-to-search location. Including, uh, this blog here.

* I've just been browsing a bit through Wikipedia's "Adoption" Category, which makes for interesting reading, and even more interesting links out to other sites. Articles range from Adopted Child Syndrome (a controversial diagnosis of which I'd never heard before) to ... more