[MustangLippy]

For 3 years now I have been dragging my feet on re-adopting DD because of all the coordination it will take with forms, notaries and courts. My only reason for wanting to do it was to get a US issued birth certificate for convenience.

Thanks to this board I today discovered that there is a way to get a US issued birth certificate from Vital Records without going through the rigmarole of re-adoption. The same US issued birth certificate you get at the end of the re-adoption.

Apparently the only reason to do a re-adoption is if the legality of the adoption is in question.

Is there something I am missing? Some reason we should do it anyway?

Thanks!
Angela

[votemom]

we didn't re-adopt. in michigan you can get a "delayed registration of foreign birth" which is basically a michigan birth certificate to simplify things like school and sports registrations.

i think it varies by state.

[BrandyHagz]

It does vary by state.

Some states require it, others do not. In some states its REAL easy and in others it's like going thru the adoption process all over again.

Sometimes, children from abroad, come home with their birth name and/or not the name the parents picked. In cases like that, its sometimes easier to do the readoption, change the name during that time and apply for the state certificate - rather than go thru the name change process and have to deal with the overseas certificate changes.

If you live in a state that doesn't require it, awesome There is no need for you to do it!

[bmarsicano]

I am doing my readoption in NJ next Friday. I dragged my feet for 2 years before I just called the county surrogate office and they e-mailed me the paperwork. Filled it in and sent it to them. Received a letter in the mail a few days later giving me my court date. This was about in Oct. PM me if you have questions regarding NJ.

[MamaChinch]

I just did it after over two years home, too. It was very easy in CA, my homestudy agency did the report along with our 3rd PPR. We made special day of it and took lots of pics!

[kretzklan]

In CO you must re-adopt - although it's called a validation of foreign adoption. We have finally done it and in the end, I simply paid an agency to file on our behalf. Through that process I did find that different counties here require different processes. We used an "easy" county and didn't have to go to court and were able to use our fingerprints from state clearance in 2005 - in our county it requires NEW fingerprints and an actual court date...
So things can certainly differ greatly!

[jenbmom]

We chose to re-adopt but know of others in our state who chose not to. In our case, we have 2 children, 1 bio DS and our DD from St Petersburg. It was suggested by a good friend of ours that re-adoption would be a good recommendation, to protect our children when it comes to their inheritance. Just in case someone outside or inside of our family with bad intentions tried to challenge the legality of DD being our child, it would give her an extra layer of protection. We would never expect that to happen, but we covered our bases. Also, it ended up being a lot of fun and both the kids loved it - and we have some great pictures of the court experience.

[amyfk]

WE didnt opt to do the readoption but on some thread somewhere someone said it's hard to get copies of the child's American birth certificates without it. I got a birth certificate for my child from my state by mailing in various forms. I am going to call my homestudy agency next week and find out if this is so so I know which direction to head down.
Amy K, NJ

[DPline]

Jumping in from the Guat board here . . .

The process to readopt, and if there even is a process to readopt varies greatly by state. For example, my state, Michigan, does not even have a process to readopt. Here we can do a legal name change and get a Michigan Delayed Registration of Foreign Birth (BC) regardless of visa type (IR3 or IR4) by going through our county court like Votemom mentioned. Though even then it can vary by county. I live in the couty that includes Detroit and they make it more 'challanging' than some of the counties that dont' include big cities.

In other states, the only way to get a state issued BC or change the name of the adopted child is to readopt. And while I don't think it is ever applicable for Russian adoptions, in many states, if your child comes home on an IR4 visa, you must readopt to establish them as a US citizen.

There is also the issue JenBmom mentioned of getting a US issued adoption decree if anyone ever chose to challange the validity of your child's foreign adoption. There have been court cases like she mentioned where inheritance was contested in the case of interntationally adopted children.

If you need more information on the specifics for your state, the Guat board is a good place to do a search or post with questions as many there readopt either by choice or requirement.

Good luck!

[MissDaisyofTexas]

We asked the same question to a lawyer. He said that in some states, if you die and don't have a will, your child would not be entitled to your estate.

In Texas, we did a "Recognition of Foreign Adoption" so that we could get a Texas birth certificate.

[Ktates]

Sometimes it doesn't just vary by state but by county as well. I've read in some counties here in MA it's easy but other counties are a niightmare to get it done.

[MoscowGirl]

I could've written your post a year ago. But we finally did it this summer after almost 4 years home. We had to make sure to file the paperwork within 6 months of our last PPR so we did not have to do the homestudy for re-adoption. The paperwork was nearly non-existent vs. our Russian adoption. Same goes for the re-adoption process fees (it was only $20 in California).

But like other posters said that it depends on the state - in some you don't have to re-adopt to get a "delayed registration of foreign birth." Without it, if the Russian birth certificate gets lost, you would have to go to Russia to issue a new one (there is no vital records web site like the one in the US).

[Mykidsmom]

When you re-adopt and then get a state issued birth certificate, does the place of birth still show as Russia?

[waitinginnj]

I did re-adopt, although it is not necessary in NJ. I tend to be risk adverse and would prefer to close any loopholes that could potentially arise. I don't truly believe that any of the issues that I list are big issues or threats, but I just tend to close any issues, when I can (which isn't often).

I like having a second court of record in the US. Should any issues ever arise, it puts the US court system in play. It is not a question of worrying that my adoption was not proper, I have birth parent contact, so I truly know that they were not coerced or any of the other things that can happen in the adoption world.

Because all state rules are different, by readoptiong it eliminates issues, should you move.

It is easier to replace a birth record, think about all the times you need a copy of a birth certificate or equivalent.

A record of foreign birth is different than a birth certficate. But, it functions similarly. With rea-adoption you actually get a birth certificate from the state, (the place of birth is still indicated to be Russia - at least in NJ and in every other state that I have seen mentioned).

The re-adoption eliminates any potential inheritance concerns, although a properly documented will can do the same thing.

I also decided that readoption is a good thing in case of any poltical whims bring things like military service into play. I am not confident that the state of world affairs won't introduce new issues into the world that I would like to be able to try to protect my daughter from. I will honestly say that I would positively readopt if I had a son, as extra security for military concerns.

Another person with two cents of commentary.

[DPline]

Originally Posted by Mykidsmom

When you re-adopt and then get a state issued birth certificate, does the place of birth still show as Russia?

As Votemom and I mentioned above, there is no way to readopt in Michigan, but we can get a Delayed Registration of Foreign Birth, which looks similar to and functions like a Michigan BC, but show still shows my children's birthplace as Guatemala.

My impression is like waitinginnj's - that the birthplace is not changed on the state issued BC in any state I have seen metioned.