[jstumbo]

My wife and I are thinking about adopting a cousin of hers baby when it is born. The cousin is not married to the father and the father ran away.

According to the official in the village, when the child is born, we just need to take the child with a letter from the mother saying she does not want the baby. We then have to place ads in the paper for 3 months to allow any other familiy members to come forward to claim the baby.

At the end of that time, they then will grant us a legal adoption.

They say that it does not matter that I am a US citizen, that we can still do that.

What happens then? I have been reading up about the process if a US citizen wants to adopt a chinese baby, but do we need to go through all the checks, and the rest fo the government stuff, even though I would have an official adoption decree from the village?

What would happen at the embassy then? Could we get a US passport for the child since I would be the adoptive father? I assume we would need a chinese passport and exit permit?

Anyone have experience with adopting like this, or adopting where one spouse is a chinese citizen and the other is a US citizen?

Thanks,
Jim

[jessibird]

Do you plan to live there (in China) or here in the US? You will have to go through all US laws of adoption and immigration and from everything I have read I am not sure you can do that (US adoption laws are very clear and the Hague adoption rules come into play). I am not sure though-so I do wish you luck in finding answers...

[sak9645]

It's very simple.

From the Chinese perspective, if you are living outside China, even if you are still a Chinese citizen, you are "overseas Chinese" and would have to adopt like foreigners do. You can get expedited processing, but that's about all. There might be certain relaxations of the rules for relative adoption, but I'm not sure that the child of a cousin is considered a close enough relative for these rules to apply.

From the U.S. perspective, if a U.S. citizen wishes to adopt and immigrate a child from China, he/she must comply with Chinese, U.S., and Hague laws. There's no way around it.

Even if you get a decree of adoption from the provincial (not village) authorities, you would not be able to get a visa for the child to come to the U.S. unless you complied with all U.S. immigration requirements and had paperwork that satisfies Chinese and American law and complies with the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption. Both China and the U.S. have ratified the Hague, and ALL international adoptions from China to the U.S. are governed by this treaty.

Sharon