Adopting a Thai child

[seancbk]

I'd like to get some advice for a situation I am in.

A few weeks before meeting me, the young Thai woman I am in a relationship with slept with a Thai guy, then after we'd starting dating she found out she was pregnant with his child.

She told me what had happened and said she wanted to keep the baby, did not want to have anything to do with the biological father and that her family were going to support her decision and that of course we would have to end our relationship.

She said she was sorry, she really liked me but she couldn't change what had happened and hoped I would find someone nice to be with.

Basically I thought about it for a while and decided that rather than ending the relationship, I would prefer to stay with her and treat her baby as my own.

So my questions are pretty simple.

How hard will it be for me to legally adopt this baby boy?

I presume that to do so we'd need to be married, if we were not what are my options if any?

If I didn't marry his mother would we still be able to travel internationally as a family?

If I didn't marry his mother would I be able to stay in Thailand as his guardian?

Thank you for any advice.

[HooHaa]

if you are amenable you could have your name put on birth cert as father.

i dont believe legitimization requires DNA.

this is only speculation mind you.

[seancbk]

if you are amenable you could have your name put on birth cert as father.

i dont believe legitimization requires DNA.

this is only speculation mind you.

Yes I would absolutely be amenable to that.

It is something my girlfriend and I did discuss early on but she thought it wasn't possible. I'm unsure why exactly.

It could have been because she felt her Father might not approve.

She had said that her parents would have no issue with her being with a foreigner, but that we needed to wait before she told them about us.

Her reason being having just sprung the whole unmarried pregnancy on them, she didn't want to also throw the whole "Don't worry I've just started seeing someone else and he's a foreigner".

Then 2 months ago her father was killed in a road accident near their home in Songkhla, so the approval of her father is no longer an issue (she says it was never going to be and that he would have liked me).

Obviously I'm very disappointed I never actually met him, from photos of the family and things she's told me he sounds like a really nice man. It is also sad that he never got to meet his first grandson.

[p_brownstone]

if you are amenable you could have your name put on birth cert as father.

i dont believe legitimization requires DNA.

this is only speculation mind you.

She could put "Brad Pitt" as the father on the Birth Certificate but it does not make the child his legitimate son.

Patrick

[HooHaa]

if you are amenable you could have your name put on birth cert as father.

i dont believe legitimization requires DNA.

this is only speculation mind you.

She could put "Brad Pitt" as the father on the Birth Certificate but it does not make the child his legitimate son.

Patrick

no it does not, but legitimization is a simple process, and all it would require is "Brad Pitt" to attest he is the father.

I have had a child out of wedlock and was required to be present for both her passport application in thailand as well as her canadian passport. neither document is possible without your name on the birth cert.

the canadian passport alone means she is recognized as mine by my government and she is a canadian citizen. it also means she can travel with me as her guardian. In canada, and outside thailand in general she is mine no questions asked.

similarly when the child is older my experience is that a simple court appearance where mother and child acknowledge you as the father is more than adequate to establish rights, i did that when she was 7, she had her passport and canadian citizenship for 4 years already.

that birth cert is the first step to everything he wants to give the child and it is easily accomplished if the mother is on board.

Edited March 4, 2016 by HooHaa

[seancbk]

if you are amenable you could have your name put on birth cert as father.

i dont believe legitimization requires DNA.

this is only speculation mind you.

She could put "Brad Pitt" as the father on the Birth Certificate but it does not make the child his legitimate son.

Patrick

no it does not, but legitimization is a simple process, and all it would require is "Brad Pitt" to attest he is the father.

I have had a child out of wedlock and was required to be present for both her passport application in thailand as well as her canadian passport. neither document is possible without your name on the birth cert.

the canadian passport alone means she is recognized as mine by my government and she is a canadian citizen. it also means she can travel with me as her guardian. In canada, and outside thailand in general she is mine no questions asked.

similarly when the child is older my experience is that a simple court appearance where mother and child acknowledge you as the father is more than adequate to establish rights, i did that when she was 7, she had her passport and canadian citizenship for 4 years already.

that birth cert is the first step to everything he wants to give the child and it is easily accomplished if the mother is on board.

Thank you again for the info you've provided. I really appreciate it.

I'm going to be coming back with more details as things progress :-)

[mikebell]

A supplementary question:

if a British ex-pat adopts a Thai child here, is it possible to apply for Child Support from Britain?

[seancbk]

A supplementary question:

if a British ex-pat adopts a Thai child here, is it possible to apply for Child Support from Britain?

I would think so, once the child is fully naturalised as a British citizen and assuming the expat in question actually is *from* the UK.

In my situation however, even my biological kids don't get British citizenship as I wasn't born in the UK. For my kids to get automatically get a British passport they would need to be either born in the UK, or born to a UK born Mother.

And as for child support benefits from the UK, I'm not eligible for any benefits from the UK because I've never lived there, and never paid national insurance or tax.