When we got to the airport at Port-au-Prince we needed to show our passports before even entering the airport and went through a bit of security right there at the entrance to the airport. The ticketing counters were right there, easy to find, and we had no problem at all checking our bags on and getting on our flights back home. The employees spoke English and it all went very smoothly. Since you should be there a couple hours early we had some time to kill so we went upstairs in the airport where you will find a couple of snack bars and some little shops that were so fun to look through, including duty free shops that people were walking out of with big boxes of liquor! :) The only downside of this (for me anyways) is that smoking is allowed in that area and since I'm extremely allergic to cigarette smoke I had to leave and head to the terminal before I became terminal.
Then when it was time we went to our gate. Once again you walk outside, up the stairs and onto the plane. On the way back we filled out a different and easy form (since we were US citizens). When you get off your first flight back in America you will have to go through Immigration again. This again was no biggie except for waiting in lines. You will give them the form you filled out and your passport. If you have a connecting flight you have to go and collect your luggage (yes, even if it's on the same airline and tagged for the next flight) and take that luggage through customs again. Again, no biggie...just more waiting in lines and this time with your luggage. After getting through customs they have locations that you just take your suitcases and hand it to someone with the airline your flying with. I did not have to wait for this or have anything done. Your bags are already marked for the connecting flight when checking in at Port-au-Prince. So I just walked over. Left my suitcase and headed towards the terminals. From then on it's all back to "normal" flights home. :)
Friday, April 20, 2007
Traveling to Haiti: The roads
I borrowed the above pictures that I found online to show some of the different types of tap tap's we saw. basically if it moves...it could be a tap tap!My camera was on the fritz. I wish so much that I could have video and pictures for you of what it was like to be on the roads of Haiti! It was like being in another world!! I was so fascinated by all that was around me and tried to take it all in. One thing you learn quickly in Haiti is there are no driving laws...and if there are any they sure are not enforced! It was CRAZY. I thought it was really fun but could see how someone would find it terrifying (I just happen to really like a good adrenaline rush). Our driver just flew through the streets laying on his horn and every car and person better get out of our way. There was no order. There was one road that had lanes but no one paid any attention to them and drove where ever there happened to be a space. It was hysterical to watch. The view along the drive was sometimes absolutely fascinating and at others so heartbreaking. I couldn't believe the things they could carry on their heads without even using their hands! It was amazing. At some places the sides of the street were covered with food, clothes, or other items to sell. Small outdoor "markets". This is how the birth mom of our children used to make her income too. It was also amusing to watch the tap taps! I've seen lots of pictures of them and heard stories of them but it was unreal to see them in person! Tap Taps are the Haiti version of public transportation! Some are just old pick up trucks that tons of people pack themselves into the back of (you wouldn't believe how many people were packed in!) other tap taps looked more like a bus type vehicle (sort of) and is in really bright colors and wild designs. As we got more away from the downtown area it became much sadder as everywhere you looked there was huge piles of garbage everywhere and people had the saddest looks on their faces as if they were all tired and discouraged. There were some of the "markets' just about anywhere you went. On the less busy streets our driver continued full speed ahead. What made this a little scarier for me was that the streets are now filled with people instead of other cars. We would plow ahead towards them while our driver laid on his horn. People would just continue to walk towards us and our driver would continue flying towards them and I was sure we were headed into a tragedy, but every time... at the very last second... the people would look up and slowly step aside just as our car would get to them. I think I might have held my breath the whole time!!! :) It was terrifying and exciting and I can't wait to do it again. haha.
I thought it was funny that on the way back to the airport (for this treat I got to sit in the front seat with my daughter on my lap, talk about adrenaline!!) I saw two vehicles full of UN troops. What was funny about it was that they were in nice looking SUV's but had taken black masking tape and obviously torn chunks of tape off and used it to write a very sloppy UN on the side of SUV's! Have budget cuts come to this? My three year old could have probably made it look better! :)
I thought it was funny that on the way back to the airport (for this treat I got to sit in the front seat with my daughter on my lap, talk about adrenaline!!) I saw two vehicles full of UN troops. What was funny about it was that they were in nice looking SUV's but had taken black masking tape and obviously torn chunks of tape off and used it to write a very sloppy UN on the side of SUV's! Have budget cuts come to this? My three year old could have probably made it look better! :)
Friday, April 13, 2007
Traveling to Haiti: Port-au-Prince Airport
Above picture is BirthMom-Vilcianne, Vilner 1, Jude, 9, Lovenie 2, Me, Jacques 15, and Stephanie 11. Our family in Hait!I know this is a bit out of order in my posts but I just got back from Haiti a couple days ago and met our 5 children and the birth mom of 4 of them. If you are interested in reading about my personal experience with this you can check out my blog at www.makefunofyourday.blogspot.com . Otherwise on this blog I will stick to traveling matters.
This was my first trip ever to Haiti and I was extremely grateful that a friend who had been there MANY times allowed me to tag along with her! She was headed to bring home her 14 year old daughter (her 3rd daughter adopted from NLL) so I got a really good example of how it all works. If you get an opportunity to go with someone that's done it before- jump on it! I would have felt very lost without her.
On the airplane ride into Port-au-Prince the flight attendent started handing out these long blue forms. I had no idea what these were. They are immigration papers. I kept cheating and looking at my friends answers because I was so confused about this form! :) One thing I do think is good to know for this form is to have the information with the address and phone number of where you will be staying in Haiti on you or in your carry on because you will need it to fill out this form. I did not have this information on me so was glad I got to copy off of my friends information. I'll know for next time and hopefully reading this... you will be prepared also!
When you fly into Haiti you will be exiting the plane down stairs outdoors and then will walk into the airport from the back of the building. You go right to immigration windows (you can't miss it). This is where you hand them the form you filled out on your flight and your passport. After all the stressing I did about trying to figure out the form they hardly glanced at it, stamped it, looked at my passport, and gave me the bottom part of the form that tears off and put it in my passport. Honestly I was not ever sure what that was for but I do know that my friend seriously cautioned me not to lose it or I might have problems when trying to leave Haiti, so hold on tight to that piece of paper!
After immigration we went to claim our luggage (also easy to find). Near the luggage claim you will see a bunch of carts. If you want one you just hand someone at the counter a dollar and they will bring you a cart. The wait for our luggage took forever! Me and my friend both waited worriedly when neither of us (with 4 suitcases) had any of our luggage show up. They would drive up with in a truck about the size of a small U-haul and unload suitcases. You could see them doing it through the windows. When a truck would get empty my friend and I would pray "Please let there be another truck" again and again until at last (I think it was the 4th truck) our luggage finally showed up! We were so relieved. So be prepared that you may have to wait and watch for more trucks if you don't get your luggage right away. On the way out of the airport you will be stopped and asked for your baggage claim which should be stickers that were stuck on the sleave of the tickets the airline gave you when you checked in so keep that handy. Then... you are out! When you get outside porters will come up to you and be very pushy. I actually did not experience much of this because I was meeting my two oldest children for the first time while friends took over with the luggage. A couple of porters did tag along even though we told them we didn't want their help and then were very insistant with me that I pay them for their help (I was so distracted by the kids that I don't know for sure, but I don't think they did anything more then follow us to the car!). My son pulled me into the car and that was the end of the discussion with the porters! :) We were then on our way to the orphange where I could meet our other waiting children!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Adoption Fees and additional costs- Independent Adoption- UPDATED
I will try to give an idea of what kind of fees we have encountered and when they needed to be paid. As with all of my other posts...do your own research as well, ask around, and make your own decisions. I will just share what we have done and learned along the way!
New Life Links current adoption fees: $9000 per child, $2500 "deposit" due with dossier, balance due at exit of IBESR. This may vary greatly by different Orphanages and some of them may even be willing to work out different arrangements if you ask.
FEES DURING DOSSIER GATHERING:
Largest fee during this time will likely be your Home study fees (please see my post on home study tips). This will range from around $1000-$2500 depending on the state you live in and if you can use an Independent Social worker or if you have to use an Adoption Agency.
Fees for ordering birth certificates, marriage certificate, and divorce decrees if you need to for your dossier: varies by State
Notary fees: Please see my Notary tips post to help save money on this. It can range from free (if you find someone to donate their time or have a friend that is a notary, or have a bank that notarizes for free as a service) to up to $20 per document. This can really add up so it's worth it to read about my tips and save as much as you can here. I have heard of people hiring a traveling notary to meet them at doctors offices, or other place and this can cost quite a bit. I personally think that is unnecessary, but you should do your own research on this and make a decision of what you feel comfortable with. Make sure to budget for almost every document to be notarized.
Medical Exams: If you have medical insurance you would just budget what your co-pay would be for an appointment for each person in your family.
Police clearance letters: Our charge was only $3 each but I think this varies a bit as well but will likely be very inexpensive.
Psychological Exams: For us, our health insurance covered this and it was only a $25 co-pay for each adoptive parent (please see my post for Psychological Exams for more information). I have heard of others paying around $300 to outrageous amounts for this (defiantly unnecessary to spend a lot on this!).
Passport photos: You need 4 for each adopting parent for your dossier and will want to get 2 additional each if you need your passports as well. I don't remember exactly how much this was but I'm thinking it was about $16 total for my husband and me to each get 6. I've heard of some people that do this online and have seen a website that claims you can do it for free with your digital camera and online. I have not done it but it might be worth looking into and asking about. It sure sounds easy and FREE. :)
State Certified/Authenticated documents: according to our orphanage (and what we did) we only needed 5 pages certified/authenticated by the state at $10 per page (may vary with each State). This was only $50 total for us but I have heard of others that insist that according to their orphanage/agency that every single one of your documents that have been notarized need to be certified and apostilled as well and that would really add up! If your agency or orphanage is asking for this it might be worth it to question them about this requirement.
Authenticated: The same papers that you have state certified need to be sent to the Haitian Consulate to be Authenticated. This fee is $25 a form. Again, some parents have done every single page of their dossier and this could turn into a huge fee but if you only do the required documents the fee is just $125
UPDATED 6-19-07- Seems that now many parents are having their Psych Eva. on one letter as husband and wife instead of two seperate letters. This would make the above two fees a bit less and would be 4 documents instead of 5: always good news :)
Translation: All your dossier will need to be translated into french before mailing. I will include a post soon about this and with referrals. Our orphanage, NLL, offers to do this for you for a flat fee of $500. This is what we paid. However, since then, I'm convinced we could have had it done cheaper sending it elsewhere. I have seen the fees range from $10-$15 per page, another for $250 flat rate, and we paid $500 flat rate for ours (see how much I'm learning after the fact, hope it will help some one else!).
Your ready now to mail your dossier!!
Immigration Fees:
Currently the fees to file your I-600A or I-600 (I'll go into more info on this in it's own post) is $545 filing fee and an additional $70 for each adopting parent for the fingerprinting fees. So the average total for this (assuming 2 parents and no other adults in the house) is $685. If you have any other adults living in your home (roommates, or children over 18) you also need to pay an additional $70 each and have them fingerprinted.
If you are adopting multiple children that are siblings you only pay the one filing fee! However, if you are adopting children that are not related you must pay a separate filing fee for each child.
A common question/confusion about paying for the I-600A & I-600 is do you pay with each form you file? I'm happy to say the answer is NO. If you pay the fee for the I-600A and it has not expired you do not need to pay the fee again when you file the I-600, yes, I'm sure. :)
Passports: If you have current passports you do not need to worry about this fee. If you need a first time passport the total fee (not including photos) is $97 and if you just need to renew an old one it is $67 per passport. If you need your passport expedited it is an additional $60 fee but you should not need to worry about this if you remember to get your passport while starting the adoption process. You should have plenty of time to get it without the expedite fee. Our orphanage states that the child(ren)'s passports are included in the adoption fees so you will not likely have to pay an additional fee for this unless your orphanage tells you otherwise.
Visa for your child: This is paid while you are in Haiti picking up your child(ren) to bring home. The fee is $380 per child. UPDATE 4/11/07 I was just in Haiti a few days ago with a friend picking up her child. I asked her when she came back if she had to pay cash (a question that comes up about this) and she said that they are able to accept credit cards now, but in her opinion you may want to bring the cash anyways and not rely on the credit cards machines to be working. So... that's just the news I have received, I hope it helps you make a decision on what is best for you!
Travel expense:
Your hotel and airfare to go to Haiti and bring them home. I won't even try and give you an estimate on this because it varies so much depending on where you live, and so many other factors.
New Life Links current adoption fees: $9000 per child, $2500 "deposit" due with dossier, balance due at exit of IBESR. This may vary greatly by different Orphanages and some of them may even be willing to work out different arrangements if you ask.
FEES DURING DOSSIER GATHERING:
Largest fee during this time will likely be your Home study fees (please see my post on home study tips). This will range from around $1000-$2500 depending on the state you live in and if you can use an Independent Social worker or if you have to use an Adoption Agency.
Fees for ordering birth certificates, marriage certificate, and divorce decrees if you need to for your dossier: varies by State
Notary fees: Please see my Notary tips post to help save money on this. It can range from free (if you find someone to donate their time or have a friend that is a notary, or have a bank that notarizes for free as a service) to up to $20 per document. This can really add up so it's worth it to read about my tips and save as much as you can here. I have heard of people hiring a traveling notary to meet them at doctors offices, or other place and this can cost quite a bit. I personally think that is unnecessary, but you should do your own research on this and make a decision of what you feel comfortable with. Make sure to budget for almost every document to be notarized.
Medical Exams: If you have medical insurance you would just budget what your co-pay would be for an appointment for each person in your family.
Police clearance letters: Our charge was only $3 each but I think this varies a bit as well but will likely be very inexpensive.
Psychological Exams: For us, our health insurance covered this and it was only a $25 co-pay for each adoptive parent (please see my post for Psychological Exams for more information). I have heard of others paying around $300 to outrageous amounts for this (defiantly unnecessary to spend a lot on this!).
Passport photos: You need 4 for each adopting parent for your dossier and will want to get 2 additional each if you need your passports as well. I don't remember exactly how much this was but I'm thinking it was about $16 total for my husband and me to each get 6. I've heard of some people that do this online and have seen a website that claims you can do it for free with your digital camera and online. I have not done it but it might be worth looking into and asking about. It sure sounds easy and FREE. :)
State Certified/Authenticated documents: according to our orphanage (and what we did) we only needed 5 pages certified/authenticated by the state at $10 per page (may vary with each State). This was only $50 total for us but I have heard of others that insist that according to their orphanage/agency that every single one of your documents that have been notarized need to be certified and apostilled as well and that would really add up! If your agency or orphanage is asking for this it might be worth it to question them about this requirement.
Authenticated: The same papers that you have state certified need to be sent to the Haitian Consulate to be Authenticated. This fee is $25 a form. Again, some parents have done every single page of their dossier and this could turn into a huge fee but if you only do the required documents the fee is just $125
UPDATED 6-19-07- Seems that now many parents are having their Psych Eva. on one letter as husband and wife instead of two seperate letters. This would make the above two fees a bit less and would be 4 documents instead of 5: always good news :)
Translation: All your dossier will need to be translated into french before mailing. I will include a post soon about this and with referrals. Our orphanage, NLL, offers to do this for you for a flat fee of $500. This is what we paid. However, since then, I'm convinced we could have had it done cheaper sending it elsewhere. I have seen the fees range from $10-$15 per page, another for $250 flat rate, and we paid $500 flat rate for ours (see how much I'm learning after the fact, hope it will help some one else!).
Your ready now to mail your dossier!!
Immigration Fees:
Currently the fees to file your I-600A or I-600 (I'll go into more info on this in it's own post) is $545 filing fee and an additional $70 for each adopting parent for the fingerprinting fees. So the average total for this (assuming 2 parents and no other adults in the house) is $685. If you have any other adults living in your home (roommates, or children over 18) you also need to pay an additional $70 each and have them fingerprinted.
If you are adopting multiple children that are siblings you only pay the one filing fee! However, if you are adopting children that are not related you must pay a separate filing fee for each child.
A common question/confusion about paying for the I-600A & I-600 is do you pay with each form you file? I'm happy to say the answer is NO. If you pay the fee for the I-600A and it has not expired you do not need to pay the fee again when you file the I-600, yes, I'm sure. :)
Passports: If you have current passports you do not need to worry about this fee. If you need a first time passport the total fee (not including photos) is $97 and if you just need to renew an old one it is $67 per passport. If you need your passport expedited it is an additional $60 fee but you should not need to worry about this if you remember to get your passport while starting the adoption process. You should have plenty of time to get it without the expedite fee. Our orphanage states that the child(ren)'s passports are included in the adoption fees so you will not likely have to pay an additional fee for this unless your orphanage tells you otherwise.
Visa for your child: This is paid while you are in Haiti picking up your child(ren) to bring home. The fee is $380 per child. UPDATE 4/11/07 I was just in Haiti a few days ago with a friend picking up her child. I asked her when she came back if she had to pay cash (a question that comes up about this) and she said that they are able to accept credit cards now, but in her opinion you may want to bring the cash anyways and not rely on the credit cards machines to be working. So... that's just the news I have received, I hope it helps you make a decision on what is best for you!
Travel expense:
Your hotel and airfare to go to Haiti and bring them home. I won't even try and give you an estimate on this because it varies so much depending on where you live, and so many other factors.
What is IBESR?
Once you get on the chat sites you will see this acronym being thrown around a lot and a lot of people excitedly stating that they are OUT of it. :) So what's this all about?? This question came up on the Haitian Angels chat site today so I thought I would share it while I'm thinking about it and have some information on hand.
This won't help much unless you speak French but what IBESR stands for is "Institut du BienEtre Social et de Recherches" . There that should clear that question up! Just kidding:) You may also hear of this part of the process as the Big Black Hole. Here is a great description of it's purpose that was posted on HA: Its french for the the equivalent of the department of family and children's services, and are responsible for approving each international adoption and ensuring that the adoptive family meets criteria, that the child is eligible for adoption, and that the adoption itself is legitimate, according to Haiti's adoption legislation of 1974.
During the time that we (and many others) hit the point of getting into IBESR it had allegedly a very corrupt director who had since been removed from his position and replaced. Many of our files were held up first by him and then because of the delay of getting a new director, getting her trained, and then she had to play a lot of catch up. Since she has been in the position everyone seems to be very pleased and the process has really picked up with much shorter wait times and frustrations for people now in or going into IBESR. It may even lose it's other title as the Big Black Hole if she keeps up the good job!
For much more information that will especially be priceless once your paper work hits the step of IBESR... A very helpful and smart adoptive mom started an unofficial IBESR blog. It's fantastic! It gives updated information about IBESR and any changes as well as giving file #'s that she knows of (from chat sites and being told by the adoptive parents) that come out of IBESR. It is so exciting to watch and see the numbers close to your file number getting out and knowing that your time may be coming soon. Here is her blog: http://ibesr-updates.blogspot.com/
Getting out of IBESR is exciting because it usually signifies the beginning of the end of the adoption!
This won't help much unless you speak French but what IBESR stands for is "Institut du BienEtre Social et de Recherches" . There that should clear that question up! Just kidding:) You may also hear of this part of the process as the Big Black Hole. Here is a great description of it's purpose that was posted on HA: Its french for the the equivalent of the department of family and children's services, and are responsible for approving each international adoption and ensuring that the adoptive family meets criteria, that the child is eligible for adoption, and that the adoption itself is legitimate, according to Haiti's adoption legislation of 1974.
During the time that we (and many others) hit the point of getting into IBESR it had allegedly a very corrupt director who had since been removed from his position and replaced. Many of our files were held up first by him and then because of the delay of getting a new director, getting her trained, and then she had to play a lot of catch up. Since she has been in the position everyone seems to be very pleased and the process has really picked up with much shorter wait times and frustrations for people now in or going into IBESR. It may even lose it's other title as the Big Black Hole if she keeps up the good job!
For much more information that will especially be priceless once your paper work hits the step of IBESR... A very helpful and smart adoptive mom started an unofficial IBESR blog. It's fantastic! It gives updated information about IBESR and any changes as well as giving file #'s that she knows of (from chat sites and being told by the adoptive parents) that come out of IBESR. It is so exciting to watch and see the numbers close to your file number getting out and knowing that your time may be coming soon. Here is her blog: http://ibesr-updates.blogspot.com/
Getting out of IBESR is exciting because it usually signifies the beginning of the end of the adoption!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Okay, I KNOW it's not "Logical"!!!-- UPDATED
Stephanie, Jude, and Lovenie's little brother Vilner: Will his mother want him to be adopted as well?
Jacques snuggling with a little girl at the orphanage. How could we not love him? :)
You don't need to tell me we are crazy. I already know about that! When we prayed about adopting Lovenie we had no idea that she had siblings. The very idea of adopting this young disabled girl considering my health and our financial circumstances at the time made NO SENCE at all! However, God called us to it and had never been more clear about anything before. While working on the adoption paperwork for Lovenie I felt like God kept telling me that there was a sibling we were supposed to adopt. This was a nagging feeling that just wouldn't go away but I knew that Lovenie didn't have siblings in the orphanage. A few months later we found out she had not only one but two siblings on an adoption waiting list as they could not even get into the orphanage. We KNEW without any doubt that God was calling us to adopt them too. How could we do this?? Again.. It just didn't seem logical, but God confirmed it and confirmed it and we should have them all home very soon! We already couldn't imagine our life without them.
So here's where it gets really crazy... God has brought a teenager into our lives that I have become unexplainably attached to. Now some people can explain this away as emotions but I see and even interact with many other orphans that do not have a home yet and while I pray that they find a home I do not feel that we are called to be their family. However, with this boy the feeling is overwelming! His name is Jacques and his story is on a post on my other blog at www.makefunofyourday.blogspot.com (March 21st post) with two other teen boys looking for a home. I can't explain the intense love I feel for this boy. I would never imagine feeling this way about a teenage son and could never have imagined considering it. Jim and I are talking about him and praying and asking God to make it really clear if we are to be his family. We do not feel that God has given us a clear answer so we will continue to pray until He does. I have prayed that God would take away this desire if it is not His will but instead of taking it away He has made it stronger and stronger until I can think of almost nothing else (just as He did with Lovenie). On top of all of this... Our children have a baby brother we just found out about. We are wondering if the birth mom will want him to be adopted as well. SO... we are currently praying about wisdom on adopting a 15 year old and 1 year old at the same time. If anyone would have told me that we would be considering this there is no way I would have believed you! I told my husband I wanted one or two children when we got married. :) We just want to follow God's plan for our life and the lives of these children. Please be praying for our family as we wait on the Lord for answers!
UPDATE 4/4/2007- For anyone wondering how this turned out.. a couple days ago my husband spoke with the director of the orphanage and we committed to the adoption of both of these boys! So for anyone trying to keep track here is our tally:
3 bio sons ages 8,6, and 3
3 siblings we are adopting from Haiti ages 11, 9, and 2- Currently in 2nd legal
1 little brother of the above siblings age 1
1 teenager not related to above siblings, unsure of his age somewhere between 13-15?
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Psychological Exam Tips
I remember dreading having this done because it seemed like everyone else on the chat sites had a really hard time with this step. I guess we were extra blessed because this also went very smoothly for us. I guess my biggest tip is this: Check your health coverage. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that this would be covered by our health care plan and only cost us a $25 co-pay! I have read of many people that have not been so fortunate (or didn't know to check their health care plan) and ended up spending $300 to over $1000. If you can not get your health care to cover this then it's worth getting on a local chat site and requesting a referral. Then call around and make sure that you are getting the BEST price and jumping through the least hoops. I believe you have to use a licensed Psychologist but that is the only requirement (not a therapist). I have heard stories of some parents going through outrageous amounts of testing that is totally unnecessary. Here is what we did. We scheduled an appointment with a Psychologist, went in and had a short interview, filled out a written test, and left around 2 hours (or less) later...done. This letter will need to be notarized, authenticated/certified by the Secretary of State, and Apostilled by the Haitian Consulate.
UPDATE ON 3/28/07: I have been hearing a lot of talk on the chat sites that some orphanages are requesting only one letter for both parents. It would be worth looking into seeing if you can do this. If you can submit just one page you would cut back as much as $20 for the additional notary, $10 for the additional State Certification/authentication, $25 for the additional Apostille, and even an additional $10-15 if you are paying per page to have your dossier translated. This would total a savings of around $70! You may even find that the Psychologist might charge you less for the one letter-- worth looking into!
Here's an idea of what ours look like:
UPDATE ON 3/28/07: I have been hearing a lot of talk on the chat sites that some orphanages are requesting only one letter for both parents. It would be worth looking into seeing if you can do this. If you can submit just one page you would cut back as much as $20 for the additional notary, $10 for the additional State Certification/authentication, $25 for the additional Apostille, and even an additional $10-15 if you are paying per page to have your dossier translated. This would total a savings of around $70! You may even find that the Psychologist might charge you less for the one letter-- worth looking into!
Here's an idea of what ours look like:
Clinical Record
Name: (Your name here) Provider: (Name of Psychologist, title) Date:
Personal Data
Social Security # Birth Date: Treatment Status: Active
Address Age: Previously Treated: No
Address Continued Gender: Pri. Care Physician:
State Race: Employer:
Zip Military Rank: Psychiatrist:
Your home phone Treatment start date: Referral Source: (Our insurance was here)
Work phone Setting: outpatient
ASSESSMENT
Interviewer: (name of psychologist) Interview Date: Person Interviewed: Patient
Psychosocial History:
Family: Description of your family and family life here.
Development: Brief overview of how I was raised and information about my parents and siblings.
Socio-Economic:
Brief description of my life from the time leaving my home to when I married
Psychiatric:
(your name) experiences no current emotional distress. She has no treatment for psychological reasons.
Medical:
Brief description of your medical condition
Assessment Summary:
There are no psychological reasons to suggest that (your name here) should not continue with the adoption process.
Psychologists Signature
Typed Name and title
Licensed Psychologist
She had promised to have this notarized for us and mail it to us. You might want to ask when calling around if they can do this for you. However, ours never got around to sending us a notarized copy so we took it to a notary and wrote on it... This is a true, exact, and complete copy of the original document. Then we had our signature to that statement notarized. We have done this with many documents and have no problems at all with this. However, some people will insist you can not do it this way. I'll update if we end up running into any problem with doing this but are currently at the end of the adoption and have had no problem with it as well as knowing others who have done the same and have had no problem with it that have their children home. Remember, I'm just sharing what we did... Use your own judgement in these kind of decisions.
In hindsight: I'm learning that this letter could probably just have been a simple letter on the Psychologist's letterhead stating that they have interviewed you and find no reason why you should not be able to adopt. Keeping in mind that everything you have done needs to be translated into french, this could be a good thing for everyone.
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