Adopting a baby always requires an ungodly amount of paperwork, and an international adoption all the more so. Paperwork and forms and waiting have been a constant part of our lives since we started this process. However, we have been particularly anxious about receiving Romi's birth certificate (an anxiety that you may be able to relate to but only Heather truly understands). The birth certificate is the key to so many things. On a strictly practical level, it's the easiest way to get Romi on a plane. It allows us to apply for his social security card, which will in turn enable us to claim him as a dependent on our taxes. We need it to issue him a passport. On a strictly emotional level, there's just something about seeing an official United States government document listing us and only us as the true, forever, natural, legal mother and father to Romi Amiel Gludt.
We've been waiting and waiting for the right forms since May 11, 2009, when we formalized his re-adoption in the States. Of course, the promised document never arrived in the mail. We proceeded to establish a phone relationship with the Office of Vital Records in Phoenix. We mailed forms, called, waited, called some more, made no progress and, eventually, in an act of aggravation and desperation, Rob strapped Romi into his car seat and drove the two hours up to the state capital to procure the longed-for document. It worked!
Our next goal: the Social Security Card. Armed with completely filled out downloaded documents from the website, an official certified copy of his adoption and the golden birth certificiate, Rob headed to downtown Tucson and waited the two and a half hours for his turn, only to be told that we also needed to present proof of citizenship, a form sitting in a box at home that no one ever told us we needed. So Rob will try yet again this week to attain more elusive documents, although we are concerned that all of Romi's documentation is in his English name and his proof of citizenship is in his Taiwanese name.
And so on and on it goes...one step forward and two steps back!
We've been waiting and waiting for the right forms since May 11, 2009, when we formalized his re-adoption in the States. Of course, the promised document never arrived in the mail. We proceeded to establish a phone relationship with the Office of Vital Records in Phoenix. We mailed forms, called, waited, called some more, made no progress and, eventually, in an act of aggravation and desperation, Rob strapped Romi into his car seat and drove the two hours up to the state capital to procure the longed-for document. It worked!
Our next goal: the Social Security Card. Armed with completely filled out downloaded documents from the website, an official certified copy of his adoption and the golden birth certificiate, Rob headed to downtown Tucson and waited the two and a half hours for his turn, only to be told that we also needed to present proof of citizenship, a form sitting in a box at home that no one ever told us we needed. So Rob will try yet again this week to attain more elusive documents, although we are concerned that all of Romi's documentation is in his English name and his proof of citizenship is in his Taiwanese name.
And so on and on it goes...one step forward and two steps back!
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