Speech #1040026640

While international adoptions continue to be a small part of total U.S. adoptionsabout 15 percentthousands of Americans pursue them every year. Our law regarding international adoption is in a state of some confusion. U.S. law requires that a child be certified as an orphan in order to be eligible for adoption by an American and for an immigrant visa to the United States. This can be accomplished in one of two ways: proof that both parents are dead or. irrevocable release by a sole parent for adoption and emigration. Under U.S. law. a sole parent is the mother of an illegitimate child. Many countries. however. have stopped using the term illegitimate. as have many States in this country. Children born in such countries to parents who are not married are now considered legitimate but born out of wedlock. Technology. these children are no longer eligible for adoption and emigration to the United States. even if the childs father has abandoned him or her. Despite this quirk in our international adoption law. the INS until recently allowed the adoption and emigration of children who were legitimate but born out of wedlock under their native countries laws. Last fall. however. the INS issued a new interpretation of the law that required written notice of abandonment from both biological parents. U.S. Consular offices in host countries began disapproving visa applications for children who do not fit the statutory sole parent of an illegitimate child definition. even when it was clear that the biological father had abandoned a child. Around the world. adoptions by U.S. families ground to a halt. There is a simple and easy fix to this problem and this legislation will do just that. My bill would change the current use of legitimate and illegitimate in the section of the INS Act that defines "child" for immigration purposes to born out of wedlock. With this relatively simple change. we can ensure that hundreds of Americans will be able to proceed with international adoptions that are legitimate and meet the legal definitions of both a host country and of the United States. Both INS and the State Department strongly support this bill.