[zaye00]

I am open to adopting from a dofferent state than where Im from. On average how long will I be out of state. I know I have to wait until the ICPC clears.Can it clear 1st before we travel?

[sandymomof2]

The time it takes ICPC to clear varies from state to state
(both yours and the state where the baby is born).
We've been through it twice - the 1st time (CA & NJ)
took a week. The 2nd time (MN & NJ) took 2.5 weeks, but
there were office Christmas parties, etc. going on that
caused some papers to sit on a desk for a couple days.
We were not allowed to come home until it was approved.
I was told by our lawyers that it can be anywhere from
a few days to 3-4 weeks. We flew on Continental and
they won't let a newborn fly until he/she is 1 week old.
Hopefully the lawyers would have the paperwork in progress
before the baby is born, so the amount of additional
paperwork required after the birth will be minimal.
We had the judicial surrender done for the TPR
before we traveled home, so we had to wait for the court
appearance which took a week in MN since it was in kind
of a remote part of the state and I don't think the judge
worked everyday. I think the main thing is to make sure
the lawyers or whoever is representing you and the birthfamily
are experienced with this sort of thing.

I'm sure others have lots to say about this topic as well!

[sara0716]

My DH and I are looking at our adoption coming from a different state also, and I was just wondering if the time spent there could be counted as travel and if we could use those reciepts for our tax credit.
Sara

[rightmom]

We are lucky enough to have adopted 6 times (all newborn) and in 5 states, but Texas is big enough and diverse enough that we still feel like our experiences in Dallas and Houston were very different.

The fastest turn around time we had was 4 days and that was in Alabama where the birthmother can change her mind for the first 7 days and the agency wouldn't even let us go there until on that 7th day! ( This was my cheapest flight since I could actually book it 7 days in advance!) So during that time I made sure that both the agency in my home state and the attorney's office in Alabama had our paper work ready. This made everthing go much faster.

When I helped at an agency for a while I was amazed at the amount of paperwork that has to go to each of the 2 states involved in an adoption! We copied over 100 pages for one situation!

Paperwork is generated in the state where the baby is born---then it is sent to that state's capital---then that office sends part of those papers, with some of their own added, to the "receiving state" and then the receiving state reviews the papers and sends more papers back to the baby's state! I am lucky to live in Utah where the laws allow the office here to telephone the baby's state and give a verbal yes and tells the adoptive family "to come home" and then they still mail the paperwork back to the baby's state. Some states do not allow the telephone call and you have to wait for the paperwork to travel again. Most states use the "overnight mail" concept, but the agency I helped had to provide all of the overnight mail packets (prepaid, of course!) or it would have gone slow boat!!

I truly found that the best way is to stay in contact EVERY DAY that you are away from home with the agency/attorney handling the ICPC and keep all telephone numbers so you can reach them! The people we work with are always amazed that I can "find them" and I think What? You called me on this number and I just wrote it down!

For my state, ALL expenses with the adoption are deductible on taxes--I have receipts for the obvious: plane, rental car, hotel, but also for the not obvious--Wendy's, Skippers Food, Wal-mart for formula and food for our hotel room that had a microwave and fridge, gas for the rental car---flowers for our birthmoms (we've done this every time!) All of these things count and they sure do add up!

Good luck! Adoption is great!

Rightmom

[mlbsands]

we got ICPC approval to leave the birth state the same day as the papers were signed and th next day we got approval to enter MD..

what states are you dealing with?

[tb1braswell]

Help!!!! We want to go home.....
We are dealing with Oklahoma as the birth state and Georgia as the receiving state. Have any of you dealt with GA as a receiving state and will they notify you by a phone call with permission to travel home. Also, can you leave the birth state and get to the stated line of the receiving state?

K goes before the court today for TPR and so now we are looking at an additional 5-6 days here (been here since Friday) for all of the overnights of ICPC.

[mlbsands]

Although we had a quick ICPC we also wanted to find out out when we could leave NV.. you can leave the sending state as soon as you get permission from that state.. you just cannot enter your state without getting approval to enter..

So.. we have tickets to come home that Thursday.. we got approval Tuesday to leave Reno.. but when we boarded the paln Thursday AM we did not have permisson to go home to Maryland.. so, I just planned on staying with my mom in VA (only 1 hour away) until the permission came thru.. turned out the permission came thru by the time we landed so I just went straight home..

Also.. we hand carried our paperwork to the ICPC office..that save at least 1 day on the frint end and most likey 2 days since they saw us and wee happy to review the paperwork right there..

Good Luck.

mandy

[tb1braswell]

Thanks, Mandy. Did you offer to hand carry the paperwork or did the agency recommend it?

[34andhopeful]

SARAH - Every expense you have is counted for the tax credit. Even your meals and you get milage if you drive. Keep all receipts as if you were on a business trip.

Good luck.

What we did, we had a failed adoption in 2002 ( December) and a successful one in January 2003.

When we did our 2003 taxes we ammeneded the 2002 taxes and got THAT money back - with interest!

[mlbsands]

We actually asked if we could hand carry and they said that was a great idea.. in fact when I dropped off the paperwork I went in by myself (my mom was in the car with the baby).. they asked where he was and wanted me to bring him in for them to see him..They said that they so rarely get to see the babies that they would really like it..

So.. they actually reviewed my papwerwork while I went out and got him..

I have 2 other fiends that also adopted from the same area within week so me.. they did they same thing (hand delivering them) and they too got cleared to leave NV within 1 day..

Good Luck