So, to sum it up, Chandinet Chorng (Dinet) is 14 years old and in the 8th grade (school recommended putting her back a grade
due to new language, etc). She will be 15 in January and we need to start the adoption process before than, or she will
definitely be too old to adopt, according to the lawyer. We have to wait a few months at first, though, before we can apply to
adopt. He does not seem very optimistic that it will happen, though. As long as she is in a private school, she can
stay--otherwise, she has to go back to Cambodia. The lawyer said to just consider her a foreign student for now. The law is
very strict. My husband specifically wants to adopt her because he knows the family, rather than taking any child where you
really don't know their genetic makeup, etc. Will let you know what happens in the future. In the meantime, we are enjoying
her company and she seems to be enjoying it here, too.
due to new language, etc). She will be 15 in January and we need to start the adoption process before than, or she will
definitely be too old to adopt, according to the lawyer. We have to wait a few months at first, though, before we can apply to
adopt. He does not seem very optimistic that it will happen, though. As long as she is in a private school, she can
stay--otherwise, she has to go back to Cambodia. The lawyer said to just consider her a foreign student for now. The law is
very strict. My husband specifically wants to adopt her because he knows the family, rather than taking any child where you
really don't know their genetic makeup, etc. Will let you know what happens in the future. In the meantime, we are enjoying
her company and she seems to be enjoying it here, too.
True Story By Linda Phoeun, Spheris MT
ADOPTING A CHILD FROM A FOREIGN COUNTRY
Chandinet Chorng (Dinet)
My husband and I are in the process of trying to adopt a child from his native country,
Cambodia. He knew the family from when he grew up there and kept in touch with
them over the years. When he visited them last year and saw ?Dinet? for the first
time, and noted that she could speak English, he wanted the opportunity to give her a
home with us. Her father had died when she was about seven years old. Dinet's
mother consented to let us take her, as is typical with the Cambodian
culture--If you don't have a child of your own,they will give you a child of their own as
long as they know you well. We were put in touch with an American immigration
lawyer stationed in Cambodia. We had to sign an affidavit, provide financial
information about ourselves, the line of work we are in, etc. Fortunately, the modern
day method of e-mail simplified that process. We had to Fax a lot of things, too, to a
Los Angeles office that forwarded it to Cambodia, though I did not really approve of all
our personal info being placed in the hands of people we did not know. We had to
write a letter to the embassy telling why we wanted to take Dinet into our home; what
could we provide for her that she could not get in her own country. The lawyer edited
it and sent it to the consul. We were not allowed to use the word "adopt," because
you are not allowed to adopt from Asia due to the prostitution ring. We had to submit
photographs of ourselves on quick notice. We ran down to the local photo studio and
had some photos done, though we ended up looking more like real estate agents than
who we really were! Dinet passed her interview at the embassy, though the lawyer
said they were not totally convinced she would ever come back to her country and
they would be keeping a close eye on her case. We had a hard time with airline
travel. After she had a flight scheduled, the embassy wanted more proof of financial
info that we had to send through DHL, so we had to cancel her flight. We could not get
another flight on such quick notice and the lawyer was going to have her fly with the
flight crew just to get her here. Otherwise, she would be late for school and all her
immigration papers would have to be changed. She ended up getting a connecting
flight through Singapore, wearing a special badge telling of her destination, gate #,
etc. for assistance.
Cambodia. He knew the family from when he grew up there and kept in touch with
them over the years. When he visited them last year and saw ?Dinet? for the first
time, and noted that she could speak English, he wanted the opportunity to give her a
home with us. Her father had died when she was about seven years old. Dinet's
mother consented to let us take her, as is typical with the Cambodian
culture--If you don't have a child of your own,they will give you a child of their own as
long as they know you well. We were put in touch with an American immigration
lawyer stationed in Cambodia. We had to sign an affidavit, provide financial
information about ourselves, the line of work we are in, etc. Fortunately, the modern
day method of e-mail simplified that process. We had to Fax a lot of things, too, to a
Los Angeles office that forwarded it to Cambodia, though I did not really approve of all
our personal info being placed in the hands of people we did not know. We had to
write a letter to the embassy telling why we wanted to take Dinet into our home; what
could we provide for her that she could not get in her own country. The lawyer edited
it and sent it to the consul. We were not allowed to use the word "adopt," because
you are not allowed to adopt from Asia due to the prostitution ring. We had to submit
photographs of ourselves on quick notice. We ran down to the local photo studio and
had some photos done, though we ended up looking more like real estate agents than
who we really were! Dinet passed her interview at the embassy, though the lawyer
said they were not totally convinced she would ever come back to her country and
they would be keeping a close eye on her case. We had a hard time with airline
travel. After she had a flight scheduled, the embassy wanted more proof of financial
info that we had to send through DHL, so we had to cancel her flight. We could not get
another flight on such quick notice and the lawyer was going to have her fly with the
flight crew just to get her here. Otherwise, she would be late for school and all her
immigration papers would have to be changed. She ended up getting a connecting
flight through Singapore, wearing a special badge telling of her destination, gate #,
etc. for assistance.
We had to find a private school that would accept foreign students because she would not be
allowed to attend public school. That was real tough-plenty of private schools, but none that
could process the necessary "I-20 form" that the lawyer needed. Finally, I found one about 15
miles from home. It's called the Escondido Adventist Academy. It costs about $700 per month
and we had to pay one semester in advance because she would be a foreign student with an
F1-Visa, I-20 form, plus nonrefundable registration fees, etc. I could not find a carpool in my
area, so had to adjust my work schedule in order to get her to school in the morning and my
husband picks her up afterwards. Because it's a religious school, they get out half days on
Friday, (plus for various other activities here and there) so had to split my shift for that day.
We were made aware that if she did not show up for school, the government would be notified.
allowed to attend public school. That was real tough-plenty of private schools, but none that
could process the necessary "I-20 form" that the lawyer needed. Finally, I found one about 15
miles from home. It's called the Escondido Adventist Academy. It costs about $700 per month
and we had to pay one semester in advance because she would be a foreign student with an
F1-Visa, I-20 form, plus nonrefundable registration fees, etc. I could not find a carpool in my
area, so had to adjust my work schedule in order to get her to school in the morning and my
husband picks her up afterwards. Because it's a religious school, they get out half days on
Friday, (plus for various other activities here and there) so had to split my shift for that day.
We were made aware that if she did not show up for school, the government would be notified.
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