I write this article from my own personal experience with the U.S. Embassy. CARE Surrogacy Mexico has clients all over the world so this article will only be helpful if you are applying for a U.S. passport for your baby.
You MUST bring your appointment invitation with you. You will receive it via email. You are not getting past the first guard without it. You will also need your passport, CARE Surrogacy Mexico contract, baby's birth certificate from Tabasco, shot records from pediatrician in Tabasco, any if all hospital info when your baby was born, passport application, passport photo of your baby…(do not wait to take the picture at the embassy. It's a mad house there and your baby's eyes must be open or they will not take or accept the picture.) There are many photo places around the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City you can do this and not be rushed). Your birth certificate, marriage license if married, divorce decree if divorced, photo copy of your driver's license, copy of wire transfer to CARE, any email correspondence is helpful as well.
Get a file folder that is secure to bring with you. This is a lot of important info you will be carrying with you.
If your appointment is scheduled for 8:15 a.m. you should arrive at least one hour prior to that. There will be security lines and people tend to jump a head of you. Don't be afraid to wave your appointment invitation around to get the guards attention. Everyone else does.
Do not bring a laptop or iPad into the embassy. You can bring your phone; however, the guard will give you a ticket number and take your phone. You will receive it once your appointment has ended.
You are allowed to bring diapers, formula, baby gear into the embassy. I suggest making 2-3 bottles before you arrive. Don't try bringing the water. They will make you dump it out. If the bottle is already made the guard won't give you a hard time.
There are vending machines with soda and water if you need more.
Once you go through the first 2 security check points a guard will escort you to the elevators to the designated floor of your appointment. No one is allowed to roam around the embassy. For the ladies…there is 1, yes 1 restroom (1 toilet) and a changing table.
The embassy's job is to protect this baby so don't be alarmed when they ask you a series of questions. Over the past 4 years surrogacy abroad has become very popular among Americans.
I would be very surprised if you received your baby's passport on the first appointment. I was told by the vice consulate that "the new standard for all U.S. couples doing surrogacy will need to take a DNA test". Even I had to.
When and if this happens the embassy will give you a document requesting the DNA test with a list of authorized labs in the U.S. for you to call. YOU must call the lab, ask them to send the DNA test to the U.S. embassy in Mexico City. I suggest you have it expedited. The embassy will contact you when the DNA kit arrives. You will then go back to the embassy for your test. Afterwards the embassy will send the DNA kit back to the lab in the U.S. (have this expedited as well) and you will wait for the results. Again, the embassy will inform you of your results. If everything is positive and you are in fact the baby's mother or father you will go back to the embassy once more and finally receive your baby's passport.
I realize this is a lot and trust me it is difficult to do a lone with a baby, but if I can do it so can you. It's all about planning and following procedure. Listen to what Ivan (surrogate attorney) and the embassy instruct you to do.
If you have any questions about this process please do not hesitate to contact me. I am happy to chat with all CARE Surrogacy Mexico clients.
Peace, Love and CARE
Carmela
No comments:
Post a Comment