[hchikamori]

Hi,

My wife and I are parents of two biological children, both boys, and my wife would like a girl to complete our family. And considering the fact that it might be too risky for my wife to conceive again, we're considering adoption.

I was born to two full-blooded Japanese; my dad hails from Kochi. I have a Japanese "koseki" and my wife also has that advantage due to marriage to me. My wife is full Caucasian.

I've noticed that a lot of state-run Japanese orphanages have either full-blooded orphaned, abandoned children, as well as those of mixed-race. I was considering the fact that any adoption would have to introduce the children to the fact that they have a heritage in Japan and I feel that I'd be able to give any child my wife and I adopt a sense of heritage, as well as the benefit of a loving home.

This probably won't happen for a couple of years yet, and the process itself will take a few more years, so it will be a while yet. However I would like to find out as much as I can so that forewarned is forearmed.

------------
Hugo

[susanandsteve]

Hugo, Where do you live? My husband (full-blooded Japanese American, lived as American in Japan from 3 to 14 when father was transferred to Toykyo) and I (Caucasian) live in Seattle and are trying to adopt domestically, and want to adopt a baby that is Asian or part Asian. We have been contacted once by a Japanese woman willing to come to the US to give birth but that didn't work out.

Susan
[Edited To Remove the URL to a “Hopeful Adoptive Parents Profile” or “Dear Birthmother Letter” website.]

[sak9645]

... to bring a pregnant woman to the U.S. from a foreign country, so that she can give birth and place her baby with an American couple.

The USCIS will NOT grant a visa to a woman if it suspects that she is going to give birth in the U.S. and place her baby for adoption.

One concern is that there is too much opportunity for exploitation of birthmothers. And, yes, such exploitation does happen.

As an example, a woman is not a birthmother until she relinquishes her baby AFTER birth. Much as she may talk about making an adoption plan, while she is pregnant, she may change her mind when the child is born and she sees how beautiful he/she is. IT IS HER ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO DECIDE TO PARENT THE CHILD.

Yet if someone has paid her expenses to come to the U.S., put her up in hotels, taken her to places she has wanted to visit, gotten her good medical care, and so on, the woman may feel beholden to the adoptive parents and as if she cannot go back on her agreement to place the child.

And some prospective parents and facilitators have gotten very coercive in such situations. Some parents have said that they won't pay for the woman's airplane ticket home, or for her hotel, or anything, since she allegedly "reneged" on her agreement -- often leaving her even unable to buy food. Some facilitators have even confiscated women's passports. The women, usually knowing little English and having no contacts with Japanese people in the U.S., often are unable to contact the police or the USCIS for help.

In short, bringing a pregnant woman to the U.S. to deliver, for purposes of adoption, is considered a big no-no. Most recently, agencies and facilitators got into trouble on this score with regard to women from the Marshall Islands, where there are some unusual legal issues. But you will occasionally see solicitations regarding Russian and other foreign women.

Do not try to adopt a Japanese child in this fashion. Go with an ethical adoption that honors the laws of the U.S. and Japan.

You may not be able to find a U.S. agency with a Japan program. Because so few children in Japanese orphanages are legally free for adoption and immigration into the U.S., because they have not been abandoned or officially relinquished, most agencies do not work there.

This is an important issue. When you adopt, you must observe the laws of both Japan and the U.S. When it comes to U.S. law, you need to understand that the government will not issue an adoption visa to a child who does not meet the definition of an "eligible orphan" under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. If you adopt a child under Japan's law, and he/she is not eligible for an adoption visa, you would have to live overseas with him/her for two years, before applying to bring him/her home on a regular visa.

If you go to the website of the U.S. State Department, however, you will see a discussion of how to adopt legally from Japan. You CAN do it on your own, or with the assistance of an attorney. It includes information on the issue of immigration of the child into the U.S. The web address is http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption_japan.

The information is a little old, and there may be some changes, with regard to the Japanese part of the process. So contact both the U.S. Embassy in Japan and the Japanese Embassy in the U.S. for updates.

Sharon

[hchikamori]

Hi, Susan,

My wife and I just live north of you across the 49th parallel. WA was the only selection I was able to put in on this board.

I would not consider bringing over a pregnant mother from Japan, even if that were allowed in Canada. I would much rather go over and see the child in her original country.

First of all, I am also looking into asking any of the Canadian adoption agencies that deal with the Japanese orphanages to find three certain last names. "Nakagawa (my paternal grandmother's maiden name), Chikamori, or Mimoto, (my mother's maiden name)," the reason for this being, that my family takes care of its own. If I find a child with either of these names, I will find out the "koseki" (citizenship) records and find out if this particular child is originally of my family in Japan. This way the adoptive child is going to a family member, albeit in a different branch of the family. Not to mention that there will be h@ll to pay for the abandoning parent if there is a family member in a state-run orphanage. (Think "removal from the family records" That is possible...) In our culture there is a standard of "we take care of our own...first."

If there isn't, then I will look into adopting a daughter out of any other family that requires someone to adopt the child into a loving family.

Let me know how your adoption story goes, Susan.

[onelittleone]

We just brought our 3 1/2 week old son home. My husband is US military and we are stationed here in Japan. As far as american cases go. We have to go to family court here in Japan which takes anywhere from 6 months to 1 year.
It sounds like you know alot about family registry here in Japan. Our birthmother gave another boy up for adoption to a Japanese couple. Is there anyway to find them? Second, if he wants to find his birthmother, Is there a way to trace the family records to find where she is. We know her name and where she is currently living. Is it possible to find her is 20 years? Lastly, do you think it would be to much to ask her to contact us if she ever gets pregnant again? She is 36 and a professional musician. She said she has no disire and she is to busy to be a mother. I would love to adopt his biological brother or sister. Please let me know what you think.
Lyndsi

[susanandsteve]

It's an agency there that sometimes places children for adoption internationally. I've talked to them once and am going to call again soon to look into going through them.

It's very interesting to look first for children with your family names. That would be amazing.

I'd love to know how things go for you, and if you know anyone who has adopted from Japan into the US, I'd be very interested in contacting them.

Susan

[onelittleone]

I have not heard of anyone in the US adopting from Japan. I do know quite a few military that have adopted and are in the process of adopting from Japan. We are just getting started with the process. It is a Japanese holliday this week. Next week we will start going to Family Court to file paperwork.
I will let you know how things are going.
Lyndsi

[marssionary]

Lyndsi, just wanted to let you know about your qeustions of finding the birthmother later. There are two types of adoption, regular and special in Japan. If you do special adoption this means that your child's name will be removed from his birthmother's family registry and there will be NO record of the fact that your child was born to her. Family registry is a very private thing in Japan and an outsider can not obtain access to another person's family registry. If she moves, and your adoption is finalized, you would no longer be able to contact her. If you go through regular adoption, which I would imagine you wouldn't, it means that your child would remain on his birthmother's family registry and you would in affect be the child's legal guardian only. Most people do not use this system anymore. I'm sure you are going through the special adoption process. I would try to secure continued contact with her on a personal basis if you think you want to keep up with her

Just thought I would respond to that question for you...
Marla

[erwabo]

My Wife and I are also looking to adopt from Japan. I was told of a few agencies in Japan and I was particulary interested in the Ai no Kesshin since they adopt to Christian homes, however the only phone number I can find on the internet doesnt work and says its an incorrect calling code and I didnt get a response back when I emaild. I have looked all over for way to adopt in Japan and there is just not a lot out there, any help would be greatly appreciated. I tried to get the wife to move to Japan, but I was unsuccessful

[Stepheniew]

VIDA is the agency we are using to adopt a child from Japan. They are located in New York and are one of the few agencies outside of California that are able to assist people in the US to adopt from Japan.
Americans only adopt about 40 children from Japan each year; this compared to Chinese adoption by Americans at 10,000 a year.
We did background checks on VIDA and they have checked out well. It is expensive and generally takes about two years.

HTH,
Stephenie

[maavjiam]

Could any of you lead me in the right direction. I am trying to find agencies and information on adoption in Japan. Although I am Canadian I still would love to hear from any or all of you.

Please let me know if you are in Japan doing this or outside of japan. I honestly can't find anything here.

thanks

maav

[erwabo]

Maav,

My wife and I have recently started the adoption process and we just moved into a house. We to were interested in the Ai no Kesshin, because it only adopts to Christian homes. It took me a while due to the fact that the internet phone number was wrong, but I did my research and finally got the working number. From inside the US, you are going to want to dial 011-81-54-247-9411. I have gotten through 3 times on the first try when calling at about 1pm Tokyo time. You will want to ask for Sarah Gordon, who is a very nice lady. We are just waiting on our application to be mailed to us and we need to get a home study done. We are excited to at least get started on the process. I hope this information helps.