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GLOSSARY OF ADOPTION TERMS

The following is a list of some of the more common words and terms used in adoption:

Authenticate: The legalized stamp of approval from any one of the regional Consulates of each country located in the U.S.; a stamp is placed on each of the documents required by the foreign country, and the authentication verifies that they have examined the document and found it to be properly notarized and certified from the state level per their regulations. It signifies to the foreign country that the document has been properly legalized in the adoptive family’s home country.

Certified: Each state has legal approved notaries; each state has a State Notary Public Division that oversees the notaries. Each State Notary Public Division will be able to CERTIFY that the notary that actually notarized a signature is a valid notary. They will do this certification of each by placing a stamp or an additional piece of paper on the notarized document.

Dossier: The collection of documents (compiled by the potential adoptive parents) required by a foreign country in order to complete the legal adoption process of each child.

Family reports: In addition to the professional post adoption or post placement reports, which usually are only 1 or 2 required, there will be a series of family letters and photos that PLAN will ask families to submit, a schedule will be provided. These will be used to show officials, have available if any birth family comes to inquire on the well being of the child.

Homestudy: The social report prepared by a certified Social Worker either independently or through a licensed agency. The homestudy is a written study that describes the family, their motivation and reasons why they want to adopt, their home, financial stability, family, criminal background checks. It is the basic requirement of all adoptions whether domestically or internationally.

Notary: Notaries are appointed within their state of residence, and among other duties, they are able to verify by their stamp (or seal, in some states) that they witnessed the signature of the signer of any document.

Post Adoption reports: Follow up reports prepared by family’s social worker, and are written according to the number required by the foreign country where adoption occurred and was finalized. Post Adoption reports are prepared for child whose adoption was finalized in the foreign country (i.e. China and Vietnam if both parents traveled for the adoption).

Post Placement reports: Every adoption requires follow up reports to make sure that the adoption and adjustment for child and family is going well. Foreign countries have post placement requirements, each one has their own number and duration of reports required, and these post placement reports are generally written by a certified social worker. Post placement reports are prepared for those countries where the adoption was not finalized in the foreign country (some countries allow the child to be placed with a permanent guardianship in order to leave their country, then child would be readopted in family’s state of residence).

Referral: Information received from the foreign country when formal offer or proposal of child is made to potential adoptive family; consists, usually, of photo/s, medical information, any blood test results, brief assessment of child’s health, height & weight. The referral received from some countries is more complete than from others.

Re-adoption: Either formally adopting a child according to the laws of the state of residence of the adoptive family from those countries where the adoption had not been finalized (ie. India, Korea). In the case of already finalized children (ie. China and Vietnam when both parents traveled to get the child), re-adoption is also a legal change of name, which is important.

USCIS: US Citizenship and Immigration Service, a federal agency that oversees all visas issued to allow entry of internationally adopted orphans into the United States.