The World of Taiwanese Adoption: What Happens Now?

Everyone has been asking us what is happening between now and when we will travel to Taiwan to pick up baby Abby. Here is a run down of the Taiwanese court process that will legally make Abby our daughter. It gets a little technical but people have been asking and goodness knows I can't explain it all! It adds up to about 5 more months of waiting. Sigh.

District Court Process
a. The family court office reviews the case/petition and a Judge is assigned to the case.
b. Judge reviews and considers the case and schedules a "hearing". Hearings are handled differently depending on the birth family's situation, the judge's schedule, persons representing the birth family and those representing the adoptive family. The time involved in getting a hearing scheduled depends on the judge's calendar/schedule and that of everyone else, required to attend.

What happens during the hearing?
Most often, the hearing just provides a judge with more information about the case and allows him/her to rule on the adoption with confidence. The responsibility of the District Court is to make sure that every issue related to the best interest of the child has been considered. Though lengthy &frustrating at times, the District Court process protects the child, the birth parent, the organization caring for the child, AND in the end protects us as adoptive parents. When the District Court decisions have been made, adoptive families can be confident that the process was handled with consideration and in the best interest of the child.

Next comes the FIRST RULING (Part 1 of first decree)
Once the District Court hearing has been completed and the judge has had time to make a decision to finalize the adoption, he/she issues the first part of the Final Decree. This is a short statement signed by the judge that is forwarded to the parties involved (social services organization on behalf of the adoptive family and the birth family) notifying everyone of his/her decision to finalize the adoption. This first part of the Final Decree must go to each party and there is a waiting period of 10 days before any more can happen to ensure everyone has been notified of the judge's decision. The First Ruling generally comes about a month after the Hearing.

The Second and Final Ruling (Part II of Final Decree)
Once the 10 day waiting period is up, the second part of the Final Decree is forwarded to all parties. When the second part of the decree is received by your child's social service organization, the court process is DONE!

After the Final Ruling we will travel to pick up Abigail!
Families usually travel about 2 weeks after the final ruling but sometimes only a week’s notice is given-yikes!