International but not ???????????

I am not an expert on immigration by any means, but IF she definitely wants to place the baby for adoption and if it is definitely your baby, AND if you are an American citizen, I wonder if it would be possible for you to bring the child back to the US and place him or her via a domestic agency. I would suggest contacting an immigration lawyer to inquire about this possibility.

Sephrim, It's difficult to answer your post, because I'm afraid I dont fully understand what you are asking? It seems like your girlfriend in Cambodia is pregnant with your child? Or has she had the baby? You say that her job is not 'respectable', are you sure said child is yours? What does the mother want? Did you want to bring the child back for you, yourself to adopt? You can see there are a lot of unanswered questions about this particular situation. Is the problem that you cannnot or are not willing to provide paternal support for this child? I don't know how international law works in paternity cases. Perhaps with more information, people here can give more help?

I was taking the TESL in Cambodia when we met and have returned to my job in Korea. She was with the entire time I was taking the class so I am pretty sure the child is mine. She is about 6 weeks along. I am just trying to the best thing for everyone. As I said I live and work in Korea, I have gotten her out of a not so good job for now but if something doesn't work she is back working her previous job and our child grows up in Cambodia. The question I don't know the answer to is, after the child is born, he/she would be a US citizen. Would the adoption work the same as a domestic US adoption, just with sosme place names changed? or is an international adoption?

The child would likely have dual citizenship - but regardless, you can't place the child for adoption without her consent - she can't come to the US to consent, because she can't come to the US to place a child for adoption.Sounds like you don't want the child to grow up in Cambodia - but I'm not sure why. That would be a part of his/her culture and if he or she is being provided for (which is something you should be doing, as it is your child also) then I don't see why the child growing up in Cambodia, with his or her mother, is a problem.Adoption is complicated in itself - add to that your situation and - well - I'm not even sure what to say.The child would be born in Cambodia and could be placed for adoption in Cambodia if you and the mother agree - I suppose. In this case, it would be a domestic adoption in Cambodia and the US wouldn't even play a role.But to answer your question - the child couldn't come here for the purposes of adoption. Cambodian adoptions to the US are closed and you can't bring a child from overseas (or across the border) for purposes of adoption. So I guess my advice would be to make sure your child is taken care of...its not just her responsibility, it is yours as well. Have you considered bringing her to love in Korea with you?Have you considered going back to Cambodia and taking the child to Korea to raise yourself, with her consent of course?I would imagine, regardless of what you do, if your name isn't on any documents - you're pretty powerless to do anything. I'm not sure how it is in Cambodia, but here in the states - she can't just put your name on the documents, you have to be there to sign them.

A little off topic. As to Cambodian culture, I have no problem with it, what I have a problem with is the economic situation. The best job you can get as a man is corrupt buracrat and as a woman a prostitute, neither of witch I would want my child to do and as for Van, I am just scaping by here, if I can not find a way to help she goes back to working on her back. Not something I want either. Cambodia is part of ASEAN but that only lets VAn come to Korea on a three month Visa, or when she is six months pregnat and the the Korean immagration system is a mess (they are still debating on giving Korean citizenship to multi-ethnic couples). Okay I am stupid, an imbacil. Yes hindsight is 20/20. I am not trying to throw up road blocks just looking at the reality, monitarily I can't help. I need answers not recriminations.

I am also a little unclear about what you are asking. If you want to parent the child, and the mother wants you to parent the child, you can do a relative petition through USCIS to get the paperwork to bring the child to the US. This would have nothing to do with adoption, since you are the parent. If you want to bring the child's mother to the US, the only way to do so would be to marry her, and then do a relative peition. If you want to bring either the mother or the child or both to Korea with US papers, that gets complicated. If you want to bring the child to the US (without the mother) to put the child up for adoption here, I have NO IDEA how that would work. If the mother wants to put the child up for adoption, and wants to place the child in the US, the process would fall under the laws of Cambodia. What does the mother want? And what do you want?

It seems like people are trying to help you here, it's just difficult to do when we feel like you aren't really being clear as to what you want to do?

Ok...if this baby is actually yours, you would need to have a DNA test done for proof, (and the mother is willing) she can sign away her legal rights to the child making you the sole guardian. Then you as an father/american citizen can place the baby for adoption in the US. It would be treated like a domestic adoption, with the exception that the child would be several months old at placement not a new born placement. You would need to get all of the child's paperwork in order and make sure the birth is recorded with the US embassy before you could place. The most important thing is to get the DNA done and to record the birth with the embassy here is a basic outline of what you would need to do that. [URL="http://travel.state.gov/law/info/overseas/overseas_703.html"]Documentation of U.S. Citizens Born Abroad[/URL] Good Luck with what ever you decide to do.