[maham0]

Hi there experts....what date is considered the date the adoption was finalized? I need to know this date for health benefits, etc. Thanks!

[Kaceysmama]

I think we used the date that our son's birthmother signed the protocolo, upon exit of PGN.

Curious to know what other's have used.

[drasusi]

Similarly, we used the date of the protocolo...but also documented the date we entered the country as the first date that we could have done anything about paperwork.

Some benefits require you to file within 30 days of the "adoption", and if it takes a while for pink and you don' get a copy of the protocolo until you arrive, you might miss a window in the excitement. Our benefits specialist had us fax both the protocolo and the visa with the entry date stamped next to it.....

[dswaak]

Good question! While the children are in Guatemala, they won't be covered though - so what do you do???

[jeannecr]

Yes, the Protocolo is the adoption decree. This has been accepted by our insurance and also the state of California (likely other states the same).

I'm not sure what you mean, dswaak--about what do you do? If you mean about health insurance coverage, you likely won't need any for them while in Guatemala.

[maham0]

My job requires that the request for health benefits be filed within 30 days of the date of adoption. I don't have the paperwork yet and I am worried that the Protocolo most likely was signed more than 30 days ago even though our embassy appt date is 11/7/06. Maybe they will accept the pink slip with the embassy appt date?

[Mardan]

Well first of all let me say I am not an expert here so take my information for whatever it is worth. We have not picked up our son yet but when we just got his papers to fill out and send back to the attorney it had the date of adoption as 10/30 which for us was the day the birth mother signed off the last time and was one day after we came out of PGN on 10/27 (Friday). If I remember correctly when we adopted our daughter we had to show them something to prove she came into the country to get insurance for her but I can't remember what it was and unlike our son we didn't go and visit her before we picked her up. Hope that was of some help.

Julie

[mommytoEli]

ours used the protocolo date too...luckily he was home w/i 30 days of that, so it was fine. we just signed him up the day after he got home.

[EmmyLee]

They are certainly not going to argue with a more recent date, they would more likely challenge if you were trying to use a date deeper in the past. I suspect they would accept any date within 30 days of your first appointment in the US. I sent all of my papers and my very large insurance company chose the date of my PGN approval, the day before the final protocolo.

[Guatmom2006]

So if we get a COPY of the protocolo provided that is what our insurance will take, can we go ahead and add him before he comes home? It sounds to me like waiting to come home is cutting it pretty close. I'm glad this came up, I hadn't even really thought about the logistics of it all yet.

[tybeemuffin]

I had to fight my insurance company on this one. They tried to use the earlier date, which I think was the out of PGN date of 7/7. My agency couldn't get me the docs ahead of time. I didn't get home with my DD until 8/9. My insurance company told me I missed the window. I fought them on this and finally got them to go off of the the protocolo date which was 7/21. I did have to pay a prorated amount back to that date evn though she wasn't in the states until a couple weeks later.

What is the first date considered to be? Is that the "Out of PGN" date? My agency didn't get notified I was out of PGN until a couple of weeks after I had already been out.

[drasusi]

We just checked with our health insurance carrier....they back-dated the coverage to the date we entered the country (stamped on our visa), though we had also given a copy of the protocolo.

[DD Amasa]

I just called my insurance company on Friday. They can use either the date of placement or the date the paperwork is finalized depending on the circumstances. I talked to a very nice lady who said they are required by law to cover adopted children and they will accept any reasonable and provable date. I explained the paperwork was probably going to be dated mid-Oct while I would not be back from pickup until mid-Nov. She said as long as I have something showing the date I took placement of the child (such as the visa or a letter from my agency certifying placement), that date would be used (not the mid-Oct date the protocolo was signed).

So I'm hopeful I won't have any issues. But of course past experience with insurance companies leaves me with some doubt.

[sadams]

I was concerned with this as well. We used the date that we had Gage in our arms and had no problem. I actually used a schedule my agency had given us as proof.

Suzanne