Vaccine Requirements and International Adoption

This isn't a typical fun family post-- but addresses a more serious issue that does effect our family and many families in the U.S.

International adoption is now governed by a new set of rules for some countries who have signed the Hague Convention, implemented by the U.S. in April 2008. The concern is an oversight that has resulted in requiring all children adopted into the U.S. from Hague Countries to be current on all Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) recommended vaccines for their age prior to receiving their U.S. visa.

This requirement only effects adoptions from countries that are part of the Hague-- adoptions between the U.S. and China, for example. This requirement does not apply to children who are adopted from countries that have not signed the Hague.

The Hague is intended to provided additional protection to children who are adopted internationally, but unfortunately there has been one major Congressional oversight. While revising the law for the Hague's implementation, Congress forgot to extend a previous exemption that allowed adopted children to postpone their immigrant visa vaccination requirements until they were safely at home.

The Hague Convention itself does not address immunizations. It was simply an apparent oversight in the new line of law that did not reference the earlier exemption that has resulted in this situation.This oversight means that these newly adopted children must become up to date with all the CDC's recommended vaccines before they will be granted entry into the U.S.

In order to receive their U.S. immigrant visas all children that are adopted internationally from Hague Convention countries will be required by this new U.S. law to become current on all Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) recommended vaccines for their age prior to receiving their U.S. visa. This means that they may receive many more vaccines at one time than we would ever give at a single pediatrician visit.

I am not referring to 2 or 3 vaccinations—but ALL CDC RECOMMENDED VACCINES.

This requirement poses serious risks to the children. Many children adopted internationally are already at risk for some serious immune suppression and these vaccinations may overwhelm their little immune systems. What about allergic reactions? Exposure to Hepatitis B? Not to mention that some of the vaccines might not be strong enough to count once checked in the U.S.

Some kids may have already received some or all of the vaccines but there is no record—that is why our doctors do titers when we return from these countries—to see which vaccines a child actually needs.

One of Josie’s documented vaccines from China did NOT register on her titer once we were home and this vaccine was re-administered by our pediatrician. So clearly, being provided documentation that a child has received a CDC recommended vaccine is no guarantee! The best way to handle vaccinations, and the way it was done pre-Hague, was that once at home the family's pediatrician does a blood test to show their titer antibody levels, and then provides only those vaccines that are shown to be missing, on a safe time schedule.

To be clear, this is the result of a U.S. law and only affects Hague Convention country children that are adopted to U.S. families. This is not the requirement of the child's birth country, but the requirement of U.S. law.As the law stands today, these vulnerable children are now the only class of U.S. immigrants that are given no possible exemption from their overseas visa immunization requirements.

All other U.S. immigrants are allowed the possibility of exemption due to medical necessity or religious or moral grounds.

Can it really be that this is a result of the Hague Convention which was intended to actually provide MORE protections for these children? A request to have the law amended is presently being reviewed by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar's office in Washington, D.C.

If you choose to contact your Senator and/or Representative, time is of the essence.

Your appeals to your Senator or Representative could help bring this issue forward for a speedy resolution to stop this process from continuing to happen to future adoptive families.

The blog entry below provides links to all Senators and Representatives and a sample letter regarding this issue. Their websites already contain a quick link to send them an email. Feel free to email or mail it as is or edit it if you would like.

Letter to Politicians about Vaccine Requirements

Senators:_http://www.senate.http://www.shttp://www.senathttp://www.sehttp://_(http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm)Representatives: _https://writerep.https://wrhttps://whttps://write_(https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml)

Dear [insert name here],

I am writing this letter to ask that your office work toward correcting a Congressional oversight in the Hague Convention that effects internationally adopted children by requiring that children adopted from Hague Convention Countries be up to date on all CDC's recommended vaccines instead of allowing adopted children to postpone their immigrant visa vaccination requirements until they are safely at home.

Public Law 105-73 provided the exception for newly adopted children to the vaccination requirement by allowing for a written affidavit in lieu of receiving vaccinations abroad before receiving an immigrant visa.

When the Hague Convention was passed, new regulations were issued in the Federal Register on October 30, 2007 at 72 FR 61301. The amendments revised the Department of State regulations to provide for inter country adoptions that will occur pursuant to the Hague Convention. This provided a new definition of "child" under the Immigration and Nationality Act, amending 101(b)(1)(F) and adding 101(b)(1)(G) Public Law 105-73 provided the exception for newly adopted children to the vaccination requirement by allowing for a written affidavit in lieu of receiving vaccinations abroad before receiving an immigrant visa.

When the Hague Convention was passed, new regulations were issued in the Federal Register on October 30, 2007 at 72 FR 61301. The amendments revised the Department of State regulations to provide for inter country adoptions that will occur pursuant to the Hague Convention.

While revising the law for the Hague's implementation, in an apparent oversight Congress forgot to extend a previous exemption that allowed adopted children to postpone their immigrant visa vaccination requirements until they were safely at home.

This oversight means that these newly adopted children must become up to date with all the CDC's recommended vaccines before they will be granted entry into the U.S. Various countries may have given these orphans anywhere from several to no vaccines, and often they have received vaccines relevant to diseases in their country and not required by the CDC.

Some of these children may have no medical record or an outdated record of the vaccines they received at the orphanage, and therefore they would be required to receive them again. As you can imagine, quality of medical conditions and quality of vaccines available from country to country varies considerably. This means that these vulnerable children may be required to receive a mega load of vaccines all in one day, many of which they may already have received, just days before they board the lengthy international flight home to the U.S.

Additionally, these children may not be healthy at the time these vaccinations are required, but as the law stands there is no available exemption, not even for fragile health. The best way to handle vaccinations, and the way it was done pre-Hague, was that once at home the family's pediatrician does a blood test to show their titer antibody levels, and then provides only those vaccines that are shown to be missing, on a safe time schedule.


As the law stands today, these vulnerable children are now the only class of U.S. immigrants that are given no possible exemption from their overseas visa immunization requirements. All other U.S. immigrants are allowed the possibility of exemption due to medical necessity or religious or moral grounds. Can it really be that this is a result of the Hague Convention which was intended to actually provide MORE protections for these children?

We only ask that your office seek to extend the previous exemption that allowed adopted children to postpone their immigrant visa vaccination requirements until they are safely at home. Such an exemption would be similar to 101(b)(1)(G) Public Law 105-73 provided the exception for newly adopted children to the vaccination requirement by allowing for a written affidavit in lieu of receiving vaccinations abroad before receiving an immigrant visa.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

In my family, Memorial Day weekend was always more a celebration of
the beginning of Summer more than anything else. Here in New England, Memorial Day usually signals to me that summer is very slow in coming this far north.

We have had a few days (week days of course!) of really nice weather, but this weekend is hit or miss with the rain. We did manage to have a nice cook-out with some friends Saturday afternoon and Josie Dong Dong had a great time playing with her little girlfriends.

"When are my guests gonna get here?"

Josie's friend, Grace, is a year younger than Josie and their friend Angeline-- but she does a good job of keeping up with the bigger girls.

Josie and her friends enjoyed playing on Josie's fort slide, followed by playing "beach" at Josie's sand table. Our whole yard is going to look like a beach the way Josie and her friends throw the sand around-- not to mention, Phoebe, our dog!

The girls also enjoyed playing on the tricycle. Grace did try the tricycle, but decided Josie's pink scooter car was more her speed.

Angeline's Mommy, Kathi treated all the girls (including Phoebe) to some fun bubble time. Out of all the girls, Phoebe caught the most bubbles.

We really had our hands full keeping up with the girls. They certainly made for a rowdy crowd!

Earlier this week Gabrielle had her final (I think it is her final) school concert. Her and Xavier are both ready for summer vacation, but they have about a month left to go.

Wim and I can hardly believe that Gabrielle will be turning 13 next weekend!

THIRTEEN!

We're scared.

For a bit of extra humor, while I was tidying-up the kitchen one night, I heard a thump. Looked out of my kitchen window to see this . . .

That is Phoebe, our dog. She jumped on top of the roof to our bulkhead, which is just under the kitchen window.

She's a silly girl. Once she was up there she started crying. Gabrielle and Xavier had to go outside and help her get down.

Speaking of silly girls-- here's a closing shot of my little Miss Funny Pants being silly with her Hello Kitty stickers.

Homestudy Report-- CHECK!

Our Homestudy Report for our second adoption is now complete. This is a major portion of the paperwork requirement to adopt-- both internationally and domestically.

Our Adoption agency will send this report to the US Citizens and Immigration Office next week for review and to be processed. Once that is complete we will be able to send everything to China.

At this point, Wim and I have done everything that we can do in terms of getting the paperwork together. All we can do now is wait-- and work on potty training Josie!

We are hopeful that we will travel by January . . . time will tell.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Growing Pains

Hi Everyone,

I don't know where the time goes these days-- but it sure isn't sticking around for very long.

As of the past week or so, Josie Dong Dong is having a bit of a rough patch. We think she is going through a separation anxiety phase-- albeit a little later than most toddlers. This past week she hasn't wanted to go to Baby School and will say, "no friends" to Wim every morning.

She wants to stay home. We are trying our best to reassure her and give her extra snuggle time before and after school. We're hopeful that this phase will pass soon.

Her teachers are making every effort to give her extra attention as well, which for Josie and her favorite teacher translates into some crazy hair days. This crazy cool braided-doo lasted half the weekend!

This weekend we laid low, sort of. No play dates. Just Josie Dong Dong and her family hanging out having fun.

"Mommy is paying extra-special attention to me."

Josie and I had big fun Saturday-morning playing at our favorite park, which she refers to as the "ground." Josie enjoyed trying out all the different cars, me pushing her on several swings, and sliding down the "Plank" on the pirate ship. I think she especially enjoyed having my undivided attention while we were at the playground.

"Look at all the cars! I want to drive all of them!"

"Mommy is pushing me high!" "Me and Mommy are playing pirates."

Even Xavier took some time to give Josie some extra cuddles this weekend.

"I have the best Guh Guh in the WORLD!"

Happy Mother's Day

It is nearly impossible to get Josie Dong Dong to settle down long enough to take a few pictures. We gave it our best shot.

She definitely knows how to ham it up and have a fun time prancing around!

We had a simple Mother's Day. Some fun time at the park, take out Chinese and a Yummy Chocolate cake. Who could ask for more?

Earlier in the week, Xavier gave Josie some tips on drawing cartoons.

A new favorite look courtesy of her Baby School Teachers-- she looks like a little Pippy Longstocking with this hair-do. Mommy is going to have to work on re-creating it.

What????!!!!!

I'm Getting a Baby Sister???

You're Kidding!

Wow!

I want the full scoop!

Wim and I have decided to add to our family one more time.

We began the paperwork process about a month ago while we looked at our options. The wait to adopt a healthy child under the age of two from China is currently a little over three years and growing.

We have decided that we will stick with China as our preference is for Josie and her new sibling to have a similar birth culture as well as be close in age.

We decided to adopt through China's waiting child program which matches parents with children who have medical needs or who are older and considered hard to place because of their age. The adoption process through this program is much quicker than the healthy under 2-years program.

We currently have pre-approval to adopt a little girl who is 15-months old and who has microtia atresia (malformed ears). Her medical condition is correctable by surgery and other than this issue, her medical and development report indicates she is a healthy little girl.

She is currently living in an orphanage located in Tianjin, which is just outside of Beijing.

She is 1 year and 2 months younger than Josie.

We plan to name her: Clara Roselee-Chinese name

Josie's full name, Josephine Orangelee-Fudong has strong family ties and is linked to her Chinese name. We want Josie and her new sibling to share the same name form.

Clara is for one of Wim's great-grandmothers (and a name that I have always liked). My maternal great grandmothers had floral names. There is also an adoption story with my great grandmothers that I will save for another day.

Our agency has told us that China typically issues the formal approval, referral, 4-5 months after a family submits the formal dossier (big huge packet of official paperwork in which every document is individually signed, notarized, certified, authenticated and then signed in blood). Travel is typically 6-weeks after the referral.

If everything continues to move along as well as it has, we think we will have this paperwork, the dossier, ready to submit by early August and travel in early January.

We will post pictures when we receive her referral.