A few years ago we heard through a cousin who had heard through his family about six children in Piedras Negras who had no father and whose mother was into drugs and neglecting them. A home was being sought for them, and since John and I had been fostering for several years, maybe we would be interested in giving these kids a home. Of course we said yes, but could only take one since we were in the process of adopting another child here in Texas.
A Mexican attorney had already initiated the adoption of two of the siblings by two other couples, so all we had to do was pay her the fee and she would file the paper work for us also, which was immense because of immigration law. On our part all we had to provide was a home study which had already been conducted for the Texas adoption we were working on.
We traveled to Piedras once or twice a month to sign and have papers notarized. During this time we would also visit and get to know 12 year-old Erica.
When all work was finally completed and translated, we had to present it to immigration board here in San Antonio. After a couple of months we got word: Denied! We had made a HUGE MISTAKE. Erica's birth certificate listed the father's name even though he had never been in her life. The mother had terminated her rights, but since Erica had a father (in paper only) she was not considered an orphan and thus could not be adopted. Looking back we realized that we could have easily “convinced” someone in the Mexican vital statistics office to erase his name.
Well, we didn't give up. We retained an American attorney, but all the advice he could give us was to walk Erica across the bridge and tell the agents that her case was considered one of hardship as sometimes those cases were accepted. We tried it and brought both Erica and her 11 year-old sister, Ysaida, across and pleaded with the agents that these girls had nowhere else to go. Of course immigration said no.
The last we heard, Erica was pregnant and Ysaida was living with friends.
Our attempt to adopt in Texas also fell through.
A Mexican attorney had already initiated the adoption of two of the siblings by two other couples, so all we had to do was pay her the fee and she would file the paper work for us also, which was immense because of immigration law. On our part all we had to provide was a home study which had already been conducted for the Texas adoption we were working on.
We traveled to Piedras once or twice a month to sign and have papers notarized. During this time we would also visit and get to know 12 year-old Erica.
When all work was finally completed and translated, we had to present it to immigration board here in San Antonio. After a couple of months we got word: Denied! We had made a HUGE MISTAKE. Erica's birth certificate listed the father's name even though he had never been in her life. The mother had terminated her rights, but since Erica had a father (in paper only) she was not considered an orphan and thus could not be adopted. Looking back we realized that we could have easily “convinced” someone in the Mexican vital statistics office to erase his name.
Well, we didn't give up. We retained an American attorney, but all the advice he could give us was to walk Erica across the bridge and tell the agents that her case was considered one of hardship as sometimes those cases were accepted. We tried it and brought both Erica and her 11 year-old sister, Ysaida, across and pleaded with the agents that these girls had nowhere else to go. Of course immigration said no.
The last we heard, Erica was pregnant and Ysaida was living with friends.
Our attempt to adopt in Texas also fell through.