Legal Family Matters

You guys are so lucky.  You get pregnant easily.  Your kids become US citizens automatically.  You get to claim them as dependents on your tax return immediately.  NO PAPERWORK!  NO COURTS!! NO FEES!!!

I, too, feel extremely lucky.  But nothing comes easy for me.  The kids becoming citizens last week was a huge hurdle.  Did you know that it costs me $3000 just for the paperwork?  But worth every penny, nonetheless.
Unfortunately, it's not completely over for me.  You see, Adrian is the sole guardian of the kids.  On their birth certificate, he is listed as the "father" and a "blank" is in the "mother" field (boo!)  He was eligible to adopt the kids in Romania, I was not at the time.  I had to establish permanent residency, meaning I had to live there for 5 years before I could adopt them.  We only lived there for 2 years. 

My next step is to become their adopted mother...to get my name on their birth certificate...to become their legal guardian.  I know it has to be possible, just not sure where my situation fits in.  Did some research on the web and found the following options.  Probably need to go talk to Social Services or whatever department that handles this. 

Re-Adoption

• This process allows people who adopt internationally to "re-adopt" the child in the US.  The child would get a new US birth certificate and the adoption is recognized and registered in the US. 
  
• The problem is I will still not be on their US birth certificate as the "mother" since I was not on their Romanian birth certificate.  It would only list Adrian as the father.
  

Second Partner Adoption

• This process allows the second partner in a same-sex marriage to adopt the child after the first partner adopted the child.
• Kinda like my situation except the obvious....

Step Child Adoption

• This process allows the new spouse to adopt his/her step child.
• Kinda like my situation except we were married before Adrian adopted the children, so they are not considered my step children.

 Told 'cha you were lucky!