On June 4, 2025, Trump signed a new Executive Order reintroducing and expanding the controversial travel ban first implemented in 2017. This latest directive targets 19 countries, mostly in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, and is scheduled to
Adoption, Surrogacy and the Law
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Why Readoption Matters: Protecting Your Internationally Adopted Child
Bringing a child home through international adoption is an extraordinary act of love, perseverance, and commitment. But once the excitement settles, there are crucial legal steps that adoptive parents must take to ensure their child’s rights and identity are fully…
USCIS Changes Policy: No More Automatic Deferred Action for SIJS Recipients
In a significant policy shift, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it will no longer grant deferred action automatically to individuals who are granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). This change marks a departure from the previous…
HB612 Shifts the Burden—And Children Pay the Price
As North Carolina’s General Assembly considers House Bill 612 (HB612), much of the focus has been on its child welfare reforms. However, embedded in the bill is a quiet, dangerous shift to North Carolina’s adoption laws. If passed, the change…
The Need for Advice of Counsel
As more and more families rely on gestational carriers to have a baby, a troubling trend has emerged that runs counter to best practices and that is bringing attorneys to the table after the terms of the match have been…
What do I do if I cannot find an adoption agency to take my case?
In international adoption, prospective adoptive parents must work with a Hague Accredited or Approved Adoption Service provider. This is true for both relative and non-relative adoptions. To successfully attain Hague Accreditation or Approval, international adoption agencies must undergo a rigorous…
International Adoption – Is it over?
Using nice round numbers, international adoption is in a free fall and about to hit rock bottom. From its peak in 2004 of 23,000 incoming international adoptions, it has precipitously declined to a new low of 1,000 international adoptions in…
What adoption options do I have for a foreign-born child already in the United States?
We often hear from prospective adoptive families who are caring for a foreign-born child in the United States that the child needs adoption and permanency. The child may have come to the United States on parole or a non-immigrant or…
As the tax time draws near:
Our friends at the Internal Revenue Service announced the annual inflation adjustments for tax year 2025, including slight increases for the Adoption Tax Credit and adoption assistance exclusion. This will impact the individual tax returns filed in 2026 and will…
New Regulations in Intercountry Adoption Become Effective January 2025
New regulations for intercountry adoption became effective January 8, 2025. This change is significant in the world of intercountry adoption and particularly for adoption agencies. The last major change for intercountry adoption regulation was in 2014, with the Universal Accreditation…