From Ethica:
According to CIS, On April 1, 2008 an internal USCIS field memo was inadvertently given to the public regarding a new policy requiring DNA testing for known birth families. CIS maintains this memo was not forwarded to adoption service providers. However, some adoptive families were alerted to the new requirement upon receipt of their I600 petitions, and they then forwarded the information to their agencies. USCIS has confirmed that a public statement was scheduled to be released at the same time however there were delays with revisions and in obtaining clearance. They are expecting that the statement, along with a Q&A, will be released sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday.It is our current understanding that USCIS expects that DNA testing will expedite the process, allowing orphan status confirmation for example, in cases in which investigations cannot be completed due to non-cooperating Vietnamese authorities. Ethica will be having additional talks with USCIS and DOS in the coming days to clarify the rationale and basis for this policy as well as the consequences to Vietnamese adoptions. We hope to address the adoption community’s concerns and will share information as we receive it. Thank you for your support and patience.
47 Responses
Okay, I normally stay out of this kind of stuff, but they think this new requirement will speed up the process? Seriously? Since when has adding another layer of red tape ever expideted anything? I am so supportive of making sure adoptions are ethical and above board, and the idea of baby buying and selling is absolutely disgusting to me, but really, telling us this will make things go faster? *Snort* Didn’t they also say something like that when they started the new I600 procedure back in November? Maybe not, but I seem to remember something like that. And, again, I support ethical adoptions, but could it be that the Vietnamese provincial governments aren’t cooperating with investigations because the US government is grossly overstepping its bounds? I mean, if some Vietnamese government official showed up at our homes or places of employment and started asking questions about our procedures and thoroughness and whatnot, how many of us would feel the need to cooperate? I’m not saying I don’t think corruption exists in adoption, especially in SE Asia, because I do believe it exists. I just don’t think it is being dealt with very appropriately on any side. And then to add more layers to what is already a bureaucratic nightmare that doesn’t serve the children AND ask us to drink the “it will expidte things” kool-aide, it’s just too much.
I also question how they think they will get around “non-cooperating Vietnamese authorities.” Are they planning to search out birth parents on their own and not go through the proper provincial authorities?
Also – I know that for the “blocked province” that my agency works with – most of the children are abandoned (and I don’t mean relinquished). So how will DNA testing help in this case? Unless they intend to only allow adoption of relinquished children in the future.
What about relinquished children whose parents’ may have put false name on record. If they search for birth parent and cannot locate due to false name (or just simply can’t find them). Would that child then not qualify for orphan status or would that child then be considered abandoned??
So many unanswered questions and possible situations…
I agree with the statements above. I am also concerned about the social aspects of asking a mother to prove it is her child. Though a reasonable request, I doubt it will go over well. Vietnamese families, like many SE Asian families, have belief systems mostly based on honor. It certainly is not honorable to have an unwed mother, illegitimate child … etc. This is a society that shuts down when in fear of losing face or revealing any personal information to strangers. How do you think that a young mother will feel when she is asked to prove her motherhood… therefore place her name and family reputation on a legal document to what is often considered a shameful moment in her life.
It is already brave enough of her to leave her child to adoption rather than ending her pregnancy via some back room nurse. It is brave of her to face the social stigma of her unplanned pregnancy and still choose what it best for the child.
Now of course I’m talking about one specific situation. Others, some do warrant further investigation, I will not touch. What I am worried about is the social pressure put on these honorable women (not baby thieves) that will now abandon their child in fear of bringing shame to her family in some legal document. Whereas in the past they did leave a name, some medical history etc. Leaving a tiny (though minute) chance of finding her again when the child is older and is looking to meet his/her biological parents.
I believe in giving children a good home full of love and understanding, this includes understanding an adopted child’s need to know more about his/her past. Abandoned children have little to hope for when it comes to enlightenment. Therefore I hardly feel like this is a “Better” solution. There must be a better solution out there than scaring women into hiding and abandonment. I agree something must be done… but what?
What we can be sure of is that America is taking little consideration for the outside world and the cultures it inculdes. It is time WE became the good guys and learned a little respect.
Nicki,
I understand that it is now official, the birthmother must travel to one named address in HCMC for the DNA test. What happens to birthmothers who live in the Northern Highlands?
Brendan
Hopefully we will better understand all of the details when CIS releases its public statement and Q&A. Originally it was believed that birthmothers could go to either Hanoi or HCMC to preform this test.
Correction I am glad to report that there is a Hanoi address as well.
Ok, so where’s the official announcement from the USCIS that was to be released on Tuesday or Wednesday? It’s already Wed. night in VN. This is the umpteenth time that the CIS has made promises and commitments (either on its website or through its mouthpieces) that it fails to keep. This latest breach of promise, coupled with changing the rules mid stream on an apparent whim, only erodes trust in a process that has not done its bidding for either the orphans or the PAPs. All in all it has become a debacle, the result of crazy, irresponsible decision making.
The announcement is not coming out of Vietnam. Lets wait until end of business before sending out the troops 🙂
I am assuming this update is coming out on the USCIS website in the Press Room?
Can I ask a question, not trying to start anything, just want people’s opinions….Is this DNA thing the start of no longer processing abandonments and requiring that all referrals given to US parents are relinquishments? Could they make such a change? Just curious and nervous. Thanks.
I don’t *think* so but I admit it was my very first fear when I read the leaked memo. If you look at how CIS has functioned in other countries like Guatemala where they require DNA for relinquishments, they are still able to process abandonement cases. I am hopeful that the promised Q&A will address this concern.
E.
I don’t know….but it feels like the calm before the storm. I haven’t seen any I600 approvals yesterday or today on blogs or any of the boards.
Brenda
Someone in my agency got I-600 approval today!
There were approvals issued the same day that memo was leaked and there were approvals issued this week so I think things are still moving at a consistent pace forward.
Thanks for sharing the info Nicki. Has there been any further word from USCIS on when they will be releasing their official announcement regarding DNA testing? I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but it is outrageous to me that they have implemented this policy and are notifying adoptive parents of it, but that they “officially” state what the policy is, much less the reasons for it and the problems it seeks to address. Okay, I’ve vented and feel a little bit better!
I know nothing other than what Ethica posted. Now that Tue/Wed have come and gone without word, I am extremely frustrated as well. I know it probably takes time to compile a a decent Q&A and to firm up and get proper clearances for whatever they plan to publish. That would all be fine and good if they hadn’t already implemented it.
Someone from my agency just got I-600 approval today!
I’m relieved to hear there are I600 approvals still being processed. It does seem like that should have gotten all their ducks in a row BEFORE they implented the the new policy. You would think they would have gotten the clearances and public announcements all ready….then announce and implement.
Good god….my spelling is horrendous on the last post…sorry.
Linh Song recently posted on LVC that USCIS indicated it might take another week or so before they release a public statement on the new DNA requirement. She also said that USCIS clarified the testing will be for relinquished children in which birth families are known. She noted, “If we use the statistic from the Embassy that 85% of adoptions are abandonments, then we’re looking at only 15% of the cases.†Dick Graham of IAAP replied that his agency’s abandonment/relinquishment ratio is closer to 50/50. So, this got me thinking…
I wonder if the agencies with a “clean†record of adoptions in Vietnam; the ones for which it is nearly impossible to find a negative comment about; the ones that people report are praised by USCIS staff in VN; the ones that nearly everyone would put in the “ethical†category — I wonder if it is these agencies’ families that are going to be most affected by this change because these are the agencies that actually have more relinquishments. I seem to remember from past discussions about agencies whose ethics were questioned that they pretty much dealt in abandonments. Extending something others have commented on regarding the wider effect of a few agencies operating unethically — the bad apple agencies that got us here in the first place will largely escape any fallout from the new DNA procedure since their referrals are mostly all “abandonmentsâ€, while those agencies who actively work to preserve families and maintain birth family identities through relinquishments are left with the burden of the additional requirements.
Gina – I share your concern. Our agency has reported a steady 50-50 split between abandonments and relinquishments. I don’t they are perfect, but do think they strive to be ethical and respect the birth families’ role in the adoption process. I wish that USCIS or Ethica or someone would document where this 85% statistic comes from – if it is just from one province, or if the actions of a few agencies are so totally swaying the numbers to one side. I honestly don’t see how any birth mother would chose to subject herself to this invasive and scary procedure (I keep trying to put myself in their shoes and the thought of giving my dna to a foriegn government is deeply troubling), when abandonment is such an easier option. I can’t believe that USCIS isn’t aware that the DNA requirement is likely to have this result, and wish that they would share exactly why it is they think that targeting relinquishments will help offset the abandonment rate that they find problematic. Like Elaine said earlier, I am having a lot of trouble drinking that kool aid.
I’ve just never understood why if the corruption/unethical behavior is confined to 6 or 7 agencies, such sweeping across-the-board changes that affected EVERY agency had to be implemented. Why not just closely scrutinize the cases from the “bad” agencies and process the “good” agencies efficiently?
I just get the feeling that the US thinks that there are systemic problems with the VN side that go beyond a few agencies. 🙁
I am not sure that a high abandonment rate implies an unethical agency in every case. Some provinces seem to be prone to more abandonments than relinquishments. I think some provinces have different laws than others. Just a consideration.
That’s a good point, Jenny. Provinces and also orphanages undoubtedly have different operational customs. I want to clarify that I do not believe a high abandonment rate equals an unethical agency, and I apologize if that’s how it came across. Rather, the agencies pegged as unethical seem to have a pattern of referring a much higher rate of abandoned children.
Interesting point here. I do know that not all of the NOIDs issued last fall were for abandon babies, many were for babies that had been relinguished. In fact one of the agencies that got a couple of NOIDs has stated that all of its NOIDs were for relinquished babies.
I have to agree with Alix- why not scrutinize those with suspicious behavior? Didn’t this happen before the last shut down? I am not sure, but I thought certain agencies and facilitators were scrutinized and investigated….it seems like that should be happening now.
I’ve been following the new DNA testing info (and rumors) since the leaked memo first appeared on BOCH. I actually find it pretty disheartening. I realize that, according to the statistics, this will “only” affect about 15% of all cases. However, I think the effect it could have on those cases is profound. Simply because “most” cases won’t be affected does not mean we should not be concerned.
We are home with our son, but he was legally relinquished in a remote, poor province that was a seven hour drive from Saigon. The investigation that was conducted by the VNese officials into his relinquishment took a very long time, mostly because of limited resources and becuase his first mom had to be located to receive some sort of counseling and to confirm her decision. I guess this took a while. We waited nine months between referral and travel. We used an entirely legitimate agency and I believe everything was ethical. If the DNA regs had been in place at the time, I cannot even fathom what would have happened. How much longer would he have spent in the orphanage? Would it have even been possible to get his first mom to take a SEVEN hour one-way trip to Saigon? (It’s only 150 miles, but it takes seven hours.) And oh my gosh, I can’t imagine putting her through that. My heart ached when I learned, during the wait, that she had to be contacted months and months after relinquishing him to affirm that decision. To ask her to take a 14 hour round trip from her small province to a major city to undergo DNA testing, quite frankly, blows my mind. It makes me sick to think that we might not have him with us at all if this were in place at the time.
We can all agree that adoptions need to be ethical and legitimate, but I finally vocally question CIS’s latest move. Not just because it would have affected us. We were affected by the 1600 change and I kept my mouth shut. This, however, makes little sense to me. It is my opinion that the agencies that engage in unethical behavior will simply no longer have relinquished children to refer. And the relinquished babies that are referred by ethical agencies will get the short end of the stick, spending, yet again, extra time in the orphanage and possibly not being able to come home at all if the DNA test proves too difficult for the first mom.
I have to agree with the above comments that state that it is the agencies with good ethical track records who will be affected the most here. I spoke with my case manager the other day (and we work with one of the agencies commonly referred to as an ethical one), and he told me that ALL of the referrals from our agency since Vietnam opened back up have been relinquishments. It is so frustrating to know that those children referred by our agency will have to spend even longer in an orphanage just because they weren’t abandoned…and it seems like the agencies with ethical issues will avoid this requirement in most cases. I just don’t understand the reasoning of our government in this circumstance. It seems like those who engage in unethical behavior will just skip the relinquishing with a false birthmother altogether and just stage more “abandonments”.
Profiteres will always take the fastest and easiest route to make their money. Up until recently that route in Vietnam adoptions has been by placing anonomously abandoned children, even if that meant stageing the abandonement of a relinquished child. We see that reflected in the stats. In order to swing the pendulum the other way we must make it less profitable to place anonomously abandoned children for adoption…we must make that route harder then the route for a first mother to place her child for adoption. Since profiteres would also infiltrate that process by bringing in “fake” firstmothers, the need for DNA testing is obvious. While we often hear of the cultural differances and the burden and heartache this will place on firstmothers and they won’t go through the process, I disagree. I believe that regardless of culture or economic status, firstmothers world wide have the same things in their heart…to have their child loved and cared for by a loving family, for their child to be safe, for their child to have a good life, and I believe, as shown in other countrys that these firstmothers will do what ever they need to do to make that happen. I think we need to stop regarding international firstmothers with a 50’s mentality. I am reading more and more stories of APs searching out and finding firstfamilies and many reporting that while APs are being told that international firstmothers don’t want contact, they want to move on with their lives, it is to dangerous for them to be found, and firstmothers being told that it is the APs that don’t want contact, that it is better for the child not to know about their firstmother/family….much like adoption used to be in the U.S.
So while making the changes in Vietnam adoption is going to be hard at first, in the end by making adoptions of anonomously abandoned children a harder process, and adoptions for relinquished children a more straight forward process, we will see the pendulum swing in the other direction and adoptees will have a more accurate history and profiteres will have a much harder time staying in business.
Penny
Penny,
The only way DNA testing is going to change the numbers to more relinquishments and less abandonments is if the USCIS no longer permits adoptions of abandoned babies. I haven’t heard anything about them doing that yet. Is that coming next…?
We are adopting an older relinquished child. No one has discouraged us from contacting his birth mother in the future. In fact no one has mentioned a thing about it and her address is right on the relinquishment documents. I consider us and our son to be very lucky that it will be very easy to write and exchange letters in the future. I very much want her to know that he is very loved and that we are taking good care of him.
Brenda
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Has anyone else heard from their agency saying June 1st is a confirmed deadline for dossiers to be logged in …I was called today by my agency and told their was another meeting between CIS and Vietnam…June 1st is the last day 🙁
Unless I’m very much mistaken, the Vietnamese DIA, not our own CIS, is the only institution who can legally make a determination about when dossiers will or will not be processed. And isn’t it DOS who will be negotiating with the Vietnamese government? It doesn’t make the information incorrect, I’d just want to get the confirmation from a more appropriate source. There are so many rumors flying around my head is spinning.
I do apologize if I did not use the correct names of government insitutions.. I am going to confirm again with my agency… this was not presented to me as a rumor but as a decision that was just made and that I needed to get in touch with our INS office to see if we were going to get our I171 approval in time to get it to Vietnam bofore the deadline..
Monica
Monica, I just received an update from my agency and it states that Vietnam has indicated it will offer referrals until June 1st. So either we’re with the same agency or now at least 2 agencies have this June 1st deadline.
Please feel free to email me at alixromanov@yahoo.com if you want to discuss further…
Brenda congratulations and how wonderful that your son will have access to his history and that there is the opportunity for future contact with his first family. As far as the process being harder for anonymously abandoned children, I think with the shut down of provinces that had a high number of anonymous abandonements, and with the prevention or hampering of field investigations, I would say that the process has become harder for those children that have been anonymously abandoned. I think the DNA testing, while not perfect by any means, is a step in helping to lower the chances of corruption in relinquishments. I am more familiar with Taiwan adoptions and what I see in the Taiwan program is that it is very rare for a child to be anonymously abandoned. A child whos parents can not be identified may not be released for adoption sometimes for years, if ever. I think because of this that women that choose not to parent do go through the process of relinquishment even though it can be very gruelling. They do what ever they have to do so that their child can be placed with a loving family as quickly as possible.
Penny
Alix, you and Monica are saying 2 different things. Monica is saying that her dossier has to be in country by June 1st and you are saying that VN will “offer referrals until June 1st” Are both of you really hearing 2 different things? Can you share where your agencies have heard these things? Dr. Long is the one who would be making the final determination and there would need be some “official” notification from him.
So are you saying if you have a logged in dossier, but have not accepted a referral or been “matched” by June 1st then you’re out of luck?
No one knows. It seems that some agencies’s contacts in the DIA have suggested that dossiers submitted by the deadline will be processed; other agencies with different contacts are hearing that referrals granted by June 1st will be honored. In other words, everyone is still in limbo until the DIA makes an official announcement. And limbo is emotionally exhausting, isn’t it?
My agency said they had heard nothing about June 1st. Wondered what you meant by saying that dossiers submitted by the deadline will be processed–did you mean deadline of June 1st or the deadline Sept. 1st? My agency is still saying Sept. 1st is the magic date and that dossiers submitted by that date will receive referrals. Wish I knew what the June 1st date meant…
The lack of information on the DNA requirement is MADDENING. Anyone heard anything?
I’m starting to worry that we have heard nothing about the DNA requirement. It’s possible they are reconsidering. It’s possible they are also just slow. But it worries me that things are so silent right now. I hope it doesn’t mean anything negative… (caveat – I am a worrier so take this post with a grain of salt!)
Sorry for my previous double post 🙂
We are taking the attitude in our planning that the agreement will not be renewed. We are just trying to be cautious. The lack of official information coming out is seen as a negative to me. It has been awhile since anything positive has come forth in regards to the entire Vietnamese adoption process.
I called my agency and was told specifically that our dossier HAD to be logged in by June 1st. We are waiting on our I171 approval for an identified special needs child. .
Monica
hi does anyone know what the general wait time is from log in with the DIA to referral. i have just been officially logged in but my agency wont commit to a time frame. i dont know if its generally 1 month/6months/etc
thanks
audrey