[mcanvasback]

I am single Mom to Isabella, home 2.5 years from Kyrgyzstan and we live in MD. I am very well versed in the IA world but do not want to give out false or incomplete info.
I have become friendly, in passing, with a really nice woman who, along with her husband, is approved to foster in the state of MD.
She has TTC for years now and wants to adopt internationally. Doesn't care what country, and would accept an older NSN child. The problem - her husband got 7 (yeah, 7) DUI's along the way - however, he has been sober since 1993, has a great job, great guy, pillar of the community, etc.

What are her chances? I thought, not good, but didn't want to tell her. Wondering if anyone knows of a country that may look at this stuff on a case by case basis.

[sak9645]

There are so many components to the international adoption process, that you have to leap over a lot of hurdles, not just one, in order to get approval when there are issues in your background.

First off, you need to get homestudy approval. Alcoholism is generally a big barrier to approval, since homestudy social workers know that alcoholics do not make very good parents. Still, some homestudy providers are more liberal than others about the issue. In the case of your friend's husband, since all of the DUIs were more than ten years ago, and your husband has been sober for 15 years, it is quite possible that he could be approved on an international homestudy by some, though not all, social workers.

You also need USCIS approval, and I've got to tell you that the USCIS is really, really picky about two things -- criminal records and substance abuse. The homestudy report will need to give lots of information about the DUIs, the alcohol abuse, the period of sobriety, and so on in order to satisfy the USCIS that your friend's husband will be OK to adopt. That being said, some people HAVE been approved with ten or more years of sobriety, but a lot will depend on how the DUIs and the alcohol abuse are presented. There are no hard and fast rules.

Third, you need to get a placement agency to accept you. A lot of placement agencies are very picky in accepting clients. They don't want their clients' dossiers to be rejected. They also don't want the foreign country to take away their permission to place children, on the grounds that they are submitting dossiers of unqualified families. When there's doubt, they say no. Of course, there ARE agencies that are more willing to look at individual circumstances, and to try to advocate for families that seem qualified despite some "negative" material, and it's possible that your friend can find one.

And, finally, some countries are more liberal than others in looking at issues such as a history of alcohol abuse and minor criminal offenses, such as DUIs. China is not going to accept your friend's husband, and Russia probably won't either; possibly because alcoholism is such a huge social problem in Russia, the courts look with extreme disfavor on prospective parents with a history of alcohol issues. It is "possible" that your friend can find a country that is willing to work with a person who has been in recovery from substance abuse for about 15 years and who has not had any other criminal offenses.

In short, your friend and her husband will need to convince an awful lot of authorities that they are qualified to adopt. It is not totally impossible that they will succeed, but there are no guarantees, either.

Sharon

[journeytolily]

Sharon did a great job of explaining the hurdles. We adopted twice internationally, but my DH had only one DUI, with a couple other minor arrests, years ago. It was VERY difficult, BOTH times. I am thinking that with 7 DUI's, it just won't happen.

My suggestion is that they look into domestic adoption. He would still have to prove himself, but to less entities. Our most recent adoption was just this past November, of a newborn. It was a cake-walk, compared to what we went thru for IA!

[mcanvasback]

Originally Posted by journeytolily

Sharon did a great job of explaining the hurdles. We adopted twice internationally, but my DH had only one DUI, with a couple other minor arrests, years ago. It was VERY difficult, BOTH times. I am thinking that with 7 DUI's, it just won't happen.

My suggestion is that they look into domestic adoption. He would still have to prove himself, but to less entities. Our most recent adoption was just this past November, of a newborn. It was a cake-walk, compared to what we went thru for IA!

I agree. I knew Sharon would reply in great detail, I will probably just cut and paste her answer and send it to this woman. I also think she should try domestic. She is already fostering. I know what a hard time she will have as I lived it - I had a college arrest for a silly demonstration I was involved in and it almost derailed my entire adoption. In fact it would have had I not had two different versions of the homestudy so the country never knew about the arrest. One stupid move 20 years ago and if not for the empathy of my sw, I would not have my daughter - ahh but that's another thread.

Thanks to the responders.

[sak9645]

The USCIS, as a matter of policy, prohibits the use of two versions of a homestudy -- one for the U.S. government, one for the foreign country. Some agencies still try to use this approach, when dealing with issues like DUIs, but don't count on it.

[journeytolily]

Here in SC, the SW has to sign an affidavit to go in with the HS to CIS that there won't be another version - one version for both CIS and the country. And many countries are getting to be very strict about all kinds of things.

I think that this is something kind of new, just in the past couple of years, at least here in SC.

[mcanvasback]

Originally Posted by sak9645

The USCIS, as a matter of policy, prohibits the use of two versions of a homestudy -- one for the U.S. government, one for the foreign country. Some agencies still try to use this approach, when dealing with issues like DUIs, but don't count on it.

I'm well aware that of course USCIS prohibits it, but I did what I had to do to get my daughter home. Luckily, my sw and agency went along with it. I also know that everything is tightening up, in every country, but I had not heard about the affadavit signed by the sw.

[journeytolily]

Starlight1125, I don't blame you one bit for doing what you had to do, and you were lucky to find an agency that would help you with that.

I don't know if any other CIS offices are requiring the affidavit - but SC does, and I know that some IA agencies have written on their websites that the "full" homestudy as submitted to CIS, is required. That's also kind of new. So, it just seems to me that things are definitely tightening up.

Anyone going into IA should be aware that there could be problems if they have a criminal record. The best thing to do would be to talk to the SW right at the beginning, before signing on, about how everything will work. Also, the agencies being considered.

[sak9645]

Actually, when I worked in the field in the early years of this decade, it was already an issue. I remember a letter that was sent by the USCIS to an agency that wanted to use this practice for a Russian adoption, where the prospective parent's history, involving alcohol abuse and DUIs, would have prohibited that family from adopting.

The USCIS made it very clear that sending incomplete information to the foreign country was not allowed. The USCIS felt that the foreign country needed to see ALL the information that the USCIS received and considered, in making a decision about whether to approve someone.

Sharon

[mcanvasback]

Originally Posted by sak9645

Actually, when I worked in the field in the early years of this decade, it was already an issue. I remember a letter that was sent by the USCIS to an agency that wanted to use this practice for a Russian adoption, where the prospective parent's history, involving alcohol abuse and DUIs, would have prohibited that family from adopting.

The USCIS made it very clear that sending incomplete information to the foreign country was not allowed. The USCIS felt that the foreign country needed to see ALL the information that the USCIS received and considered, in making a decision about whether to approve someone.

Sharon

And I repeat:

I'm well aware that of course USCIS prohibits it, but I did what I had to do to get my daughter home. Luckily, my sw and agency went along with it.