A child who has not been completely adopted in the international country will receive an IR-4 visa. This child must be re-adopted in the U.S. in the state wherein the family lives.
Unlike a child who has an IR-3 visa, a child who enters the country on an IR-4 visa will not receive their American citizenship until their adoption is complete in the United States.

No matter what kind of visa your child enters the U.S. on (an IR-3 or an IR-4) he/she will benefit if you re-adopt them in your home state. Since the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 an IR-3 visa means that a child is automatically a U.S. citizen upon entrance to the country (so make sure you cheer as soon as those plane wheels touch ground!).
There are five great reasons to re-adopt your child.
1. A Legal and Binding Birth Certificate

One of the worst things that we encountered in AJ’s adoption was his H Pylori infection. Why? Because it physically damaged his digestive tract, probably for life. If you have ever had a parasitic infection or food poisoning I am sure it is not fun (I have, luckily, not had either before and actually tested negative for H Pylori as well…knock on all the wood in my home).
However, AJ apparently had H Pylori since near birth and the bacteria have caused him chronic Gastritis, an inflammatory response to the infection that actually damages the lining in the stomach. In his …read more

Many adopted children not only have to adjust to a new family and culture but they also have to learn a new language. Both my boys have had to do that. AJ had a very difficult time learning English because of his auditory processing difficulties. He was also severely delayed in his own Russian language because of his first two years in the Russian orphanage.
According to John Klosek, Phd. the severity of a language delay can depend on a child’s age, native language, and the culture. In the Maine Adoption Placement Service’s Musings, Summer 1992, Klosek has some helpful tips …read more

I used to talk with friends at lunch about how I was preparing myself for the “worst”…reading up on FAS, sensory issues, making sure I baby-proofed everything and they thought I was crazy.
They told me that that having children was supposed to be easy. That attachment and bonding came so naturally that there was no need to work on it, that children were resilient and that they would just blend right into our lives.
That was not so with AJ. Life was very difficult. I remember, very clearly, the first time he got into the silverware drawer, despite the baby-proofing. He …read more

I’ve been on a whirlwind this past month: Christmas, family visits, an international adoption, and emotional stress with our oldest child, AJ. Our new son, Gus, is thankfully very healthy despite an ear infection and two new molars that have been keeping him up at night.
I have been exhausted from travel and interrupted sleep, suffering from headaches and my own ear infection, and have done, in my opinion, nothing but laundry, change diapers, and feed Gus since returning home. Not that I’m complaining or anything…
But Friday morning I hit a wall. After two school snow days AJ had another day …read more

You have made it home with your little one but you are just beginning your journey, especially if you have a child who just exited an orphanage or if you are starting to not feel well.
When we traveled to Russia we actually had a family doctor who was from Poland who MADE us take Cipro everyday we were there. I think that saved us from some of the issues AJ had or from some of the things we could have picked up.

Adoption travel can be extremely nerve racking. This is something I know first hand. My husband and I were so nervous about our first trip to Russia that we almost poisoned the dog (literally…he ate poison that we left out for the rats in the backyard creek) before we left. We were both a bundle of nerves.

We were traveling to a country we had never been before, we did not know the language, and we were going to be meeting our son for the first time. Our stomach’s were in knots. Lucky for us, our agency planned a three day …read more

I think I might be in trouble with this one…
He is now 8 months old, knows the word no, can sit up, babbles, and I think he might just have dimples.
He is a heartbreaker, isn’t he?

I get many request from readers and friends on what the adoption process is. It is cumbersome, I won’t lie to you but its not as bad as one might think.
I’m going to link you to several different agencies so that you can get an idea of how they do things differently. Our first agency, Adoption Associates, was fantastic at processing paperwork and “crossed every t” before papers went overseas.