Stay in Panama

Please read through previous postings. There are very few that have completed adoptions in the last year to give you insight into your questions. We are all hoping that things will change with the new administration, but things are definitely slow. Rebecca is the only one that regularly post to the board and is going through an independent adoption. She has been in process for at least a year and a half now. Referral lengths vary for all of us; however, the length of time after the referral is the longest. We are working with an agency and it will be 10 months since we got our referral and we have still not completed the adoption. As I said previously, we are hoping September brings some massive changes to the adoption process and speeds things up for the benefit of the children. Good Luck! Lauri

Welcome, Cassandra. I am Rebecca, the only family (that I know of) adopting independently from Panama at the moment. And yes, we submitted our dossier to our first attorney the first week of January 2003. That attorney didn't get it translated and submitted it to the DNA until June 2003, which is why we let him go and hired a new attorney. Our current attorney has been visiting with orphanage directors all over Panama City and some of the outlying regions trying to find children who are already declared "inhabilitado" (legally free for adoption), but has not found ANY yet after a year of searching! We alerted her to two siblings who had been in an orphanage for several months due to abuse and neglect in their birthhome, so she had the DNA start the investigation and abandonment process on them in Aug., 2003. However, she continued to look for other children, in case these two didn't work out, but still has not found any. She did learn of two sisters recently and has been asking the DNA about them for several weeks (to see if they already have TPR/termination of parental rights or will have it soon), but she still has not been given an answer! And meanwhile, the two that we told her about last summer and that she had the abandonment investigation started on last August are STILL not abandoned! The judge set another date for the next audience (TPR hearing) for mid-August, 2004!!! This will be the FIFTH TPR hearing for this birthmother! (The reason for this latest delay is that she wants a public defender since she can't afford a private one. Well, duh! Why wasn't a public defender appointed for her for the FIRST hearing in April?!) ...Your Panamanian attorney will have to be very proactive in visiting the orphanages and getting to know the directors. It will be up to the attorney to find the child, because you sure can't count on the DNA to give you the referral! (We haven't received an official referral during the entire year that our dossier has been approved---and we were pretty open in our requests: 2 siblings or 1 child, 0-8 years old, any race, any treatable medical condition OK). Your best bet is to make sure that your attorney gets to know the new DNA director (the one who will be taking office in September with the changeover), and to stay "pendiente" on your case (hanging on it, checking up on it at the DNA constantly). Good luck! Rebecca

Re: the length of stay, our attorney told us to EXPECT one month, but it could be shorter. She just said to plan for 30 days just in case. She NEVER told us 2-3 months! That's crazy! Of course, you shouldn't travel until you have official guardianship. Maybe your attorney wants you to travel before guadianship has even been decided. ??? By the way, do you know if your attorney has ever completed an international adoption? I believe the process is the same (both domestic and international), but for you there will be the US embassy/immigration stuff that follows the actual adoption. You'll probably have to handle this yourself, but your attorney should make sure that you get all of the documents that are required at the visa appointment (at the US embassy) and can help you find a translator to get them translated to English.

Thanks Lauri and Rebecca, Our attorney has completed international adoptions in the past. I am confident with our attorney....we have a family member who worked with her and says she's an excellent attorney....so we are relieved We had our home study interviews yesterday and we should receive the completed home study next week. Then our dossier will be sent to Panama for translation, etc. We've taken care of some of the immigration requirements and have gotten some of the clearances back. Good Luck to each of you too

That's great, Cassandra, that you found a reputable, experienced attorney. That's the toughest part of adopting independently. Once that's done, it should be a breeze...well, once you develop the patience of a tortoise! ;) RE: the immigration stuff, I was referring to the visa application for your child to get into the United States. Sara (spanzeri) says it should be more routine than it was a year ago now that the US embassy has been through it a few times, so they should be able to tell you what forms you need and where you'll need to go. But it will be important not to cut off contact with your attorney after the adoption is complete because you may need her to a document or two for you from the court. Good luck! It sounds like you're in good hands! Rebecca