[AnaMaria88]

I am seeking for some advice, and am hoping that one of you may have the answer or at least some helpful input.

I am 18 years old, born in Arizona and raised in Oregon. My mother raised me without the help of my father who walked out on me as a baby. My father went back to live in Nogales, Sonora where he could feed his drug addiction at lower costs than he could in the States. When I was 10 years old he had a daughter from another woman. She was a drug addict and abandoned my sister, leaving her with my father’s mother. My grandmother has raised Sarahie (my sister) but her health is faltering and my father has been in and out of rehab for years now, never making much progress. Sarahie’s mother has also not quit using drugs and I am the only other immediate family member besides my uncles who have kids of their own and don’t want to take responsibility of her. As much as my grandma tries she is not giving Sarahie the stability that she needs and doesn’t have the resources to provide for her. I am wondering do I have any right to take guardianship of my baby sister. And if I do how do I go about becoming her guardian? Also the major factor is her citizenship. I was born and raised here but she was raised in Mexico and due to the fact that my father is not an American citizen she had no citizenship here. What do I do? Would I have to adopt her? I want my sister to have the best life possible and I want so badly to make some sort of difference for her. If I were to adopt her would she get all the opportunities she deserved? Please help me!

[Linny]

I applaud you for being a caring person for your sister and wanting to make a difference in her life. ((HUG))

I've not been in any situation such as you explain, but I would contact an adoption attorney as soon as possible. The citizenship would seem to me to be the most complex thing about this, but it may not be as difficult as I might think either.

I didn't catch whether you live in AZ or Oregon now, but you can go to the webstite of The American Academy of Adoption Attorneys---click on your state---and find a member there. Quad A attorneys, as they are often referred as, are supposed to keep up on the very latest adoption law and practice by a code of ethics in their practice.

Good luck to you....

Sincerely,

Linny