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Hello Everyone,
Our family is currently looking into adopting a child from the Dominican Republic. We are still in the early stages of the adoption process and are doing as much research as we can in order to be better prepared for this journey we are about to take on. A little bit about our family, my husband and I have been together for 10 years and have two younger children. We live in California and have always had a strong urge in adopting a child. My husband is Dominican and we often travel to the DR to visit family. We have had this calling for a few years now to adopt a young child (2-4 years old) and are now doing our best to make that dream come true.
The biggest challenge I am concerned about is the amount of time we will have to be out of the country. I see that the Dominican Republic requires at least a 60 day cohabitation period, but I have been reading stories in which families are staying abroad 4-8 months after the cohabitation period in order to finalize all the legalities of the adoption and process of passports/visas. As we both work and have children who will need to be in school, I am unsure how long we’d be able to stay in the DR. Ideally over the summer months due to children’s’ schooling. Has anyone adopted from the DR and only stayed for the 60 days? How long does it normally take to finalize the adoption? I also read on a thread that the finalization time period you are not required to stay there, is that true? And if so, what happens to your child during the remaining processing time? Do they return them to the orphanage if you cannot stay out of the country for more than 60 days? I apologize for all the questions, but I am in hoped that someone who has gone through this process would be able to better inform us on what to expect for the future.
Other Questions:
1. Does anyone have an Adoption Agency Referrals for DR? There are a few I have found through research but would love any recommendations.
2. Attorney referrals in DR for adoption
3. Wait times after all paperwork and home study is completed?
Please reach out to me if you have any valuable information, recommendations, comments, that will help in this journey we are so eagerly looking forward to.
Thank you in advance!
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Hello Anne. I just read your post and thought I would make a few comments. Since you go to the Dominican Republic, you are probably aware that things do change frequently. As I mentioned in another post, rules do exist but people there, and of course government employees can be helpful because common sense can be brought into most decisions. This is, of course, partially due to the fact that a country of 9.5 million can give more individual attention to each case than you may receive in the US with 300 million. As long as you are earnest, and honest, I am sure you will have success. I will address one of your questions, related to the adoption agency. You do not really need to bother with an agency; try to find a child through a referral. I personally know several women who want to give up their children because they know they will not be able to support them. They do this because they want their child to have a better life; something they believe will happen in "New York", as they call the US. The entire adoption process is done through an attorney and the judicial system, after CONANI approves you. Therefore an agency will not be able to help you as much as a sympathetic attorney. As far as finding one, that is of course difficult, but you must find one you feel comfortable with and go with his advice. I can tell you though that you must persevere because the first no is not always the last word. I know this because I am an attorney in Dominican Republic.
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Hello Ann!My family completed our adoption of a sibling group from the DR in 2017.Our general timeline in country was this:-Week 1: Socialization week (we spent 2 hours Monday-Thursday meeting and getting to know our children, including one day going to the orphanage.) Friday of this week they were signed into our physical care and we became their physical guardians. That Friday is they day they moved into our care 24/7.-After socialization week we continued our 60 day cohabitation period. We were able petition to reduce ours to 30 days due to medical special needs and it was granted, but expect 60 days because you cannot petition a reduction until they are in your physical custody.-At the end of the cohabitation period we then waited for an appointment to meet with the judge where she interviewed us to be sure we understood adoption children receive the same rights and privileges of biological children and once the adoption was finalized it is irrevocable. She also asked how cohabitation went and how we felt the children were doing, etc.-After meeting with the judge, she then set a court date to sign and approve the adoption decree. At this point the adoption was finalized, we became their legal parents and they gained our last name. However, we could not return to the US until we had all of the documents needed to an immigrant Visa. After this meeting, my husband was allowed to return to the US for work while I stayed in the DR with the children until the remaining steps were completed.-Once the decree was signed there was a 30 day "no contest" period to ensure there were no errors and before we could apply for their new birth certificates with our names as the parents and their new last names.-Birth certificates have to go through La Junta and they are notorious for long timelines. In our case it took 7 weeks from applying for the birth certificates after the 30 day no contest period of the adoption decree and being granted permission to pick up the birth certificates (our lawyer did the application and all of the steps in the birth certificates, including picking them up and getting them apostled.) We were told this was faster than expected, as the last family took much longer.-Once we had the birth certificates, the last steps were very quickly (less than two weeks). The remaining steps were:-Apply for passports - thanks to a connection our attorney had with someone in the Migration office, we were able to get them same day, but usually it takes 2-4 days from applying to picking them up for minors.-Once we had passports and birth certificates in hand, we were able to go to the US Embassy Medical physical. This is actually two appointments 2 days apart because they have to test for TB. Sometimes they can give you the results at your second appointment if you are willing to stick around to wait and other times you pick them up a few days later.-As soon as you have the results you can then do your Embassy Interview. In our case it was an open appointment, meaning we could go any morning Monday-Thursday. In other cases, they will give you an actual date and time.-After the Embassy interview they can issue the immigrant Visas. This could be same day or could be a few days later.-Obtaining the immigrant Visa was the last thing we needed before we could travel home to the USA with our children. Just anFYI, be sure to have birth certificates, VISA and passports readily available at the airport in the DR and upon entering the USA. You will have to go through immigration agents at both ends.Hope that helps! We were in the DR for exactly 5 months from the day we met our children to the day we flew home.In response to your specific questions: 1. Does anyone have an Adoption Agency Referrals for DR? There are a few I have found through research but would love any recommendations. - We used Lifeline Children's Services out of Alabama, even though we live in Minnesota. I would HIGHLY recommend them, you would just do your home study with a local agency and Lifeline will coordinate services with that agency.2. Attorney referrals in DR for adoption- This was all done through Lifeline.3. Wait times after all paperwork and home study is completed?- This really depends on the ages and special needs you are open to. The younger the age and less special needs, the longer the wait. Once we were 100% approved on the DR end, we received a file about 2 months after approval and travelled 7 months later.
Hello Everyone,Our family is currently looking into adopting a child from the Dominican Republic. We are still in the early stages of the adoption process and are doing as much research as we can in order to be better prepared for this journey we are about to take on. A little bit about our family, my husband and I have been together for 10 years and have two younger children. We live in California and have always had a strong urge in adopting a child. My husband is Dominican and we often travel to the DR to visit family. We have had this calling for a few years now to adopt a young child (2-4 years old) and are now doing our best to make that dream come true. The biggest challenge I am concerned about is the amount of time we will have to be out of the country. I see that the Dominican Republic requires at least a 60 day cohabitation period, but I have been reading stories in which families are staying abroad 4-8 months after the cohabitation period in order to finalize all the legalities of the adoption and process of passports/visas. As we both work and have children who will need to be in school, I am unsure how long we’d be able to stay in the DR. Ideally over the summer months due to children’s’ schooling. Has anyone adopted from the DR and only stayed for the 60 days? How long does it normally take to finalize the adoption? I also read on a thread that the finalization time period you are not required to stay there, is that true? And if so, what happens to your child during the remaining processing time? Do they return them to the orphanage if you cannot stay out of the country for more than 60 days? I apologize for all the questions, but I am in hoped that someone who has gone through this process would be able to better inform us on what to expect for the future. Other Questions: 1. Does anyone have an Adoption Agency Referrals for DR? There are a few I have found through research but would love any recommendations. 2. Attorney referrals in DR for adoption3. Wait times after all paperwork and home study is completed?Please reach out to me if you have any valuable information, recommendations, comments, that will help in this journey we are so eagerly looking forward to. Thank you in advance!