[Yash]

My agency sent me an email saying, they have heard and confirmed with other agencies but haven't officially heard from INS that effective March 31, birth parents who sign over their rights to an orphanage must now submit to a DNA test once the child is referred to an adoptive family. The adoptive family must pay for the birth parents to travel to HCMC or Hanoi for the DNA test, where the INS will also take pictures of the birth parents. If the test is positive, the adoption can move ahead. This process should take about a month or so. Also INS has the right to request a second DNA test at the time the child's visa will be issued.

It looks like VN is going the way of Guatemala.

I hope this was some horrible April's Fool Joke.

Yes, I know it's not INS anymore but I get their other name mixed up.

[ksquilter72]

Yes, there are quite a few agencies confirming the implementation of DNA testing by USCIS. However, very few are giving a date - and no one seems to know if the date mentioned is the date you must have a referral by or the date your I-600 must have been registered by. And the terms 'relinquished' and 'abandoned' seem to be used interchangably through part of the document. I believe clarification has been issued by USCIS, saying that what we've been seeing on the internet was an internal memo and that an official statement should be coming soon. Hopefully we'll all know more then.

[sak9645]

Please understand that baby-stealing and baby-selling have been known to occur in Vietnam. While DNA testing may add to the length of the adoption process and the cost of adoption, it is better for all concerned if there is certainty that the person relinquishing a child is actually the birthmother, and not someone who has bought or stolen the baby.

Sharon

[Yash]

I agree with you, Sharon, but I also fear this new rule may lead to more babies being abandoned like in China.

[murdoc]

Of course this will lead to more abandonments. It is clear now that the US is trying to pressure VN into joining the Hague by bullying. You would think that the US would be wiser than that with a country they know so well. Have any of you ever tried to bully a Vietnamese adult???? Saving Face and politeness is paramount to them (trust me I know)... it seems like the US is westling with the wrong end of the bull.

In all this is just another hurdle for adoptive parents to 1. Scare them off , 2. create justifiable excuses to close the program when the new hurdle is refused by mothers 3. Use as an excuse to close all non-Hague adoptions.

If the US knew that they were close to using scare tactictics with VN, then they shouldn't allow families to file new dossiers.

I am not saying that corruption isn't in some VN adoptions, (corruption can be found everywere). I am not saying that it isn't good to do our best to protect children either.

What I am saying is that the US is going too far. Partner countries should all be teated equal. If a DNA test is needed in VN then the same should hold for China, Urkraine, Romania & every other country that allows adoption to US families)

But this isn't the case. the US uses different rules for different countries. Sure Guatamala and VN are the bad guys today (let's not forget the Cambodia affair)... Who will be next?

AND, when all our VN families are pushed out of VN due to closure then where will they go? Will we be leaving one bad country for another only to have the same thing happen agian?

I for one am very upset at the constant negitive changes in the procedures and news from Vietnam. Our Dossier is still with the IAD but I don't see our adoption being completed. No one will tell us to get our while our minds and hearts are intact and seek other solutions. We are just being told to wait and see. Soon most of us will be in the same boat, wondering what to do when our adoptions fall through. Some of us will move on to other international countries in hope for a better result, some of us will try domestic adoption, some of us will quit and some of us will hang on to VN in hopes of re-opening.

In exchange for our courage and patience the US gives us nothing in return. No promises or even good intentions. And because we are a minority, they can play with our lives, hopes and dreams as much as they like without worry.

The JCSIS has suggested that we write our political leaders... but what can they do really?

I'm sorry for the rant, but I am starting to feel a bit jerked around and treated like a child on the "need to know" basis. My agency tells me anything they can but there is so much they can't tell me and so much they don't know.

I guess I just needed to vent.. I'm sorry

[Saya]

Hi folks - just over here lurking from the Guatemala board, and I wanted to share a different viewpoint. For our Guat adoption, I was in fact extremely glad that a DNA test was required. It means that when my daughter gets older and understands that she was adopted from Guatemala and people start to say stupid things they read in the newspapers about fraud and baby-stealers, I can say to her with confidence that none of these happened in her case. A frustrating extra step was for me a small price to pay for the peace of mind that I can look my daughter in the eye and say "No, of course you weren't kidnapped or sold." If there have been occurances of fraud or baby stealing in Vietnam, I think a DNA test makes sense. Just my 2 cents.

[Yash]

Murdoc,

Vent away! I completely understand your frustration. Things are changing every day in Vietnam and it all, to me at least, seemed to start when they changed the I-600 procedure. One set of rules for all countries would be great and I think would streamline the process.

[Scatterbrain]

I am a mom to 2 Vietnamese cuties. #2 was adopted right before Vietnam shut down the 1st time. Right after she got home there was a lot of controversy about the agency we used. It is SO incredibly sad. Who knows how many babies died after that happened. I think that the DNA is a good idea in countries that have progressed in accepting unwed pregnancies, but Vietnam has a long way to go in that area. This will definitely lead to more abandonments and longer waits where children will die in orphanage care while waiting to be adopted. How many more children must suffer while we adults try to get our act together?

[spragup]

Yes we have also gotten the information that Vietnam will be doing DNA testing...for adoptions..we have a few that are being started...so it should be up and coming real soon...~PAT~
spragup@labcorp.com