Readoption

On May 14, 2008 Magnolia June Ling was readopted in the state of Wisconsin. She happened to be sleeping in her daddy's arms through the whole thing. The judge said he usually has the child come and hit the gavel three times to make it official and then give them a lollipop. Well, we certainly couldn't allow Magnolia to miss that so, we woke her up. She didn't skip a beat, hit the gavel and took her lollipop gratefully. It was all done in a matter of minutes and before we knew it the Bailiff was walking us down to another floor as we watched our case get sealed and filed away for good!

Why Readopt? "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. Whether a state recognizes a foreign adoption decree or not, readoption is a practical means of documenting the parent/child relationship under U.S. law... it is important for every child adopted overseas to obtain an English language vital record that establishes the child's date of birth, place of birth and legal name." AdoptiveFamilies.com

By readopting we were able to obtain a U.S. Birth Certificate for Magnolia. Among the many reasons she will need a U.S. Birth Certificate, using it for school admissions and driver's license (eek!) are the most immediate.