April 2016

April 26, 2016. Please Do Your Post-Placement Reports. Many Countries of Origin require adoptive parents to file post-placement reports with them for years after the adoption of a child. We now learn that Kazakhstan officials are actively seeking out missing PPRs from U.S. parents who adopted from that country between 1999-2010. One adoptive parent writes: "There are hints that at least some of the officials are interested in the possibility of opening up again to US adoption, but the PPRs have become a symbolic stumbling block." Although this effort can be difficult, adoptive parents must remember that they did agree to provide PPRs and the lack of PPRs remains a (not the) reason why Kazakhstan adoption to the United States has not resumed. For more information please go to the FRUA Facebook page.

April 25, 2016. State Department Warns Families Against Adopting From the Congo (DRC). The Department of State has issued an alert strongly urging new families not to begin the process of adopting a child from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While some pipeline families have been able to bring their children home, the exit permit suspension for children adopted by foreigner remains in effect. While DOS has pledged to continue to work with the DRC on creating a viable international adoption program, there are no guarantees that such a program will be created. More Information.

April 21, 2016. Government and Other Notices: Haiti. On March 31 the Haitian Central Adoption Authority, L'Institut du Bien-Etre Social et de Recherches (IBESR) informed the Department of State "that it intends to process to completion any transition dossier filed by February 15, 2016, because IBESR has provisionally matched or plans to provisionally match, children with these specific U.S. families but final processing steps are still necessary before IBESR can issue an official referral." DOS has interpreted this announcement as raising the possibility that some U.S. families with provisional matches or who will be provisionally matched but who did not receive an official match form IBESR by April 1, 2016 may still be eligible to have their cases proceed as transition cases. DOS promises further updates but any family that may be affected by this development should email DOS's Office of Children's Issues at Adoption@state.gov. More Information.

April 19, 2015. How to Help the Adoptee Citizenship Act Move Forward. This year we have a real chance to get the Adoptee Citizenship Act passed. This bill will give retroactive citizenship to internationally adopted children for whom American citizen parents failed to obtain citizenship (not an automatic procedure before the Child Citizenship Act of 2000). This year we really have a chance to get the bill passed. Maureen Flatley has written an excellent guide to what needs to be done:

1. Lead sponsors should be on committee of jurisdiction aka Judiciary Committee. (In case of ACA only one Senate sponsor, Sen. Klobuchar is on Judiciary but she is in minority.)
2. Make sure Committee Chairs in House and Senate are onboard. (Goodlatte (R-VA) in House, Grassley (R-IO) in Senate. As Mr. Goodlatte was part of original ACA carve out, expect stiff opposition from him.)
3. Work to ensure House and Senate leadership understand and support the issues. In the case of ACA, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) would be critical to obtaining a vote.
4. Ensure bipartisan sponsorship. (Senate bill has four sponsors, one Republican. Proposed House bill has one Democrat to date.....not nearly enough to move.)
5. Build inclusive coalitions. Every bill - regardless of topic - needs every possible supporter it can have.
6. Engage in affirmative Member education answering questions, not launching attacks.
7. Be realistic and understand the process. ACA has four Senate sponsors and one House sponsor w/ no support from Committee Chairs or leadership. 530 Members of Congress remain to be persuaded.
8. Keep writing letters and reaching out w/ special emphasis on Leadership and Judiciary.

April 18, 2016. Lawsuit Alleges Sperm Bank Completely Lied About Donor. Canadian couple Angela Collins and Elizabeth Hanson used Georgia sperm bank Xytex for the first child. They were very impressed by Donor #9623 whose profile stated that he had a master's degree in neuroscience, was pursuing a PhD and had no health problems. In reality that Donor, #9623 had a history of schizophrenia, and narcissistic personality disorder, had not graduated from college and had been convicted of burglary. This lawsuit, which eerily reassembles mystery writer Lisa Scottoline's new book Most Wanted, illustrates the lack of verifiable screening of sperm donors, as opposed to egg donors and surrogates. More Information.