Adopting, again!

I'm sure the title of this post has just momentarily taken the breath away from our close family and friends!  And it's true -- just not exactly what you're thinking.

I've put this off long enough and been meaning to do it for months -- ok, years -- but I've finally completed the paperwork necessary to readopt Kristina here in California.  For those of you who have burning questions about readoption (and Kristina, my dear -- you might want to know all of this later on, too), I'll try to explain it here in layman's terms.  Otherwise, known as "Readoption 101".  (Information obtained from an article by Peter Wiernicki, JD in www.AdoptiveFamilies.com )

What is Readoption?
Basically, readoption is the legal process of adopting a child again here in the United States after the child has been lawfully adopted in another country.

What are the Pre-requisites?
1) The child must be lawfully adopted under the laws of the foreign country where the adoption was pursued. DONE!
2) The adoptive parents must satisfy U.S. immigration requirements so that the child may lawfully enter the United States.  DONE!!

Do You Have to Readopt?
Nope, but it makes life easier down the road.  More coming up on this...

So then the million dollar question:  Why Readopt?
1)  First and foremost, readoption prudently secures the recognition of a legal parent/child relationship under U.S. law, thus eliminating reliance on the ongoing validity of the adoption laws of the foreign country.  (What for?  Well, there was a case where a bio child was trying to block inheritance from his sibling who had been adopted internationally, but not readopted.  Readoption assures inheritance rights.)
2)  The main reason we are moving forward with the readoption is to make sure we will be able to obtain a state birth certificate for Kristina when we need it (i.e. starting Kindergarten, etc.).  Can you imagine if we had to obtain an original certified copy of her birth certificate from Ekaterinburg?  This would be next to impossible. We were provided with one certified copy of her birth certificate in Russian and one original translation of it.  And neither one of those are going anywhere!

For some states, you simply have to register the foreign birth decree to obtain a birth certificate from the office of vital records in that state of residence.  In California, the readoption procedure, much like a domestic adoption petition, will result in the creation of a state issued birth certificate.  We (meaning Jon, Kristina and I) will all stand before a judge to declare our intentions.  But this time, no translator gauging the temperment of the judge in addition to interpreting every word we say, no prosecuters challenging our intentions, no social workers going to bat for us, and no post-placement reports!  In fact, most judges welcome family and friends to attend the court session and take pictures afterwards.  Yes, Toto - we're not in Russia anymore!

The Result?
We'll have a California birth certificate listing Kristina's full name, us as the parents and her birthplace as Ekaterinburg, Russia.

So in a way, I really look forward to this readoption.  It starts to bring closure to our entire "adoption" process leaving us with only one more post-placement report due April 2012.  Of course, since Russia keeps tabs on the whereabouts of their citizens and Kristina holds dual citizenship, we still need to alert the Russian Consulate each time Kristina moves and changes address -- up until she is 18.

NOTE:  If you see a repeat of the words "Adopting, again" ever in the title of this blog, then chances are we have hit the Lotto and are fulfilling Kristina's request for a brother or sister.  Until then, she is the center of our universe and we'd adopt her over and over again if they'd let us!

Now for some random photos since I can't leave a post picture-less.  :)

Kristina's so proud to do her very own pig tails...

...and what you can't see doesn't count, right?

After packing her bag with t-shirts, jeans, panties, stuffed animals, shoes and socks, Kristina announced that she's off to go see Jimmy and Andrew (cousins who live in FL).
Little does she know...we're going there in 2 weeks!

Our angel at church...with Barbie in her evening gown, of course!

Doesn't everyone mop the floor in princess heels?

On the way to school with keys in hand...

...after trying to pack her lunchbox with M & Ms and Reese's!  Good thing I checked...



Kristina fell asleep on the kitchen floor the other night.  Life is rough.

Make-up mayhem.

Guess who learned how to whistle today?!!
Wouldn't the inside of an Oreo make you whistle, too?  :)
NOTE:  Tried to endlessly upload the video but to no avail...[sigh]