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Alternative to income requirement??

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magnetgirl

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? California.

My "life partner" and I are very excited about adopting a child from another country. Because we are not married we were advised that I should apply as a 'single woman' and finish the process with a 'second parent adoption' after. The problem is that I am a stay-at-home-mom (with our biological kids) and cannot meet the income requirements alone. Are there any ways around this? For example:

Would a (legally binding) pledge of financial support from my partner be acceptable?
Could he "hire" me to run the household for the necessary amount:)?
Is there an alternative to the income requirement, i.e. having a certain amount in the bank?

Also, if we do wait until after we are married, how likely is it that the 'minimum length of marriage' rule could be overlooked? We don't want to have to wait years for this.

Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your time,
Stepheny
 


momofrose

Senior Member
I would first speak to an agency that specializes in Inernational Adoption. We adopted domestically so I do not have all the details about International - BUT I can tell you that, if you do decide to wait until you are married to adopt thenYES you do have to wait the amount of time that is specified. I am sure ther are many that would like to adopt and have the length of marriane not taken into account, but it is just not that way. They want a stable environment for the child, and do consider the legnth of the marriage.

I do not think a "pledge of support" would do it..sorry.

Good Luck

D
 

nextwife

Senior Member
You CANNOT bypass the applicable rules of whatever foreign country you are doing your adoption. They all have their own rules, and many of these countries also have cultural biases that you must recognize. You cannot apply US standards to an international adoption.

Another factor is that with international adoption, the adopting parents(s) MUST be able to show the DHS that they are financially capable of supporting the child they are sponsoring for a visa. The US does NOT want sponsors who have no documentable source of income! They won't approve your child's visa unless the adoptive parents(s) have a way to assure the DHS that the child won't end up on welfare. If you have no source of income, you cannot adopt as a single internationally unless you can show enough money in the bank to fully support your new child, yourself and your existing family for an extended period of time.

Some have age restrictions, family size restrictions (in my daughter's country, childless couples only or couples with children IF the child was Special Needs), religious restrictions (in some countries, most all adoptions are from private, church supported orphanages, and some of those may not adopt to non-Christians, or even non-Catholics) , restrictions against more than one or two divorces, a restriction on short term marriages (under two years) adopting, and so on. Do your research. You MUST qualify in the child's country as well.

However, if you and your partner TRULY want to get a child out of the orphanage system and into your family, that commitment will likely require a marital commitment between the two of you.
 

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