As we went to give birth in the US without intermediaries. Part of 2: to give birth and back
'05.04.2018'
Source: Dou.ua
Before coming to the USA, I had the opinion that it is very expensive to give birth, raise and educate children here, so there are few of them in families. I was wrong. The standard number of children for the central states is five.
“In principle, in matters of children, I was well enlightened, - continues story about a trip to the USA Ukrainian Michael Dorokhin for Dou.ua. - Therefore, I give the whole country a big plus. And this is very important for me. "
Coming to Portland
In Portland, settled in standard one-bedroom apartments, nothing special and nothing bad. Well, as settled ... Signed the contract and took the keys. We are not settled yet 2 day. Gas and electricity must be connected independently, for this it is necessary to sign contracts with the relevant utility providers. But for a non-resident without an SSN, this was not so easy to do. Therefore, we agreed with our only friend in Portland that he will issue these contracts for himself, and we will give him money to pay bills.
But the main problem was that the apartment seemed empty without furniture. Here service came to our rescue. U-Haul and IKEA, on which everyone prays in Ukraine. They have a lot of useful cheap things and the cheapest breakfast in the city. In general, we completely bought everything from them: 3 beds (adult, children’s, for a newborn), a sofa, a big table and a small table for an older son, 4 chairs and a high chair, a changing table, dishes and lots of trinkets. It all took about 2000 $. U-Haul cost 70 $ per day of use. You can already live.
Auto
We just needed a car and we decided to buy a car, and before we left it, we would sell it, because the rent would cost a good penny. But luck again smiled upon us. We met with another native of Ukraine, and he turned out to be the owner of a car dealership. Allocated to us Mercedes C300 for a symbolic rent in 650 $ per month. I took insurance Geico 180 $ per month. Baby seat bought on Craigslist for 40 $. Now you can live and not grieve.
Telephone and Internet
Back in Salt Lake City, I took t-mobile for 50 $ per month. Upon arrival in Portland, they changed it to Project Fi... It costs about $ 100-120 per month. But there is one thing - I gave out to everyone (my wife, father-in-law and mother-in-law flew in for 2 weeks) data-only sim card and they all use my internet. With the home internet it was harder. First, everything needs to be connected by phone, and when they hear that there is no SSN and American driver's license, they fall into a stupor, ask for help from the hall, the manager, 50 / 50, promise to call back and the like. The only one who agreed to provide the service, subject to the 100 $ deposit, was xfinity with its prehistoric DOCSIS. The rate 25MB cost 60 $ per month. In principle, for the country that invented Internetwith him here somehow tugovato.
Food
Food was one of the hardest moments. We were aiming at 600-800 $ per month, but maintaining our normal Ukrainian diet from normal products was obtained only for 1800-2000 $. Were bought exclusively in New seasonswhich is a local counterpart Whole Foods. I would say, even better than him. The first weeks were spent in the market for several hours, reading the composition of the products. Tried to buy at Farmers Market. But they quickly realized that there was no special meaning. Tap water is filtered, but it tastes disgusting, so water was bought in bottles.
Hospital
From the 2 week, we started to think about the hospital. We agreed ... we believed that we agreed with Kaiser Permanente, but then it turned out, they did not hear that we were not Americans. And since the hospital is private, it is necessary to have their private insurance, which can only be purchased with a SSN. We took a list of hospitals in the city and began to call, putting everyone in a stupor with their questions. We were answered: “Oh, I don’t even know, it’s impossible,” and we argued that yes, you can, no problem, just say the price. "I will find out and call you back later." Standard conversation. Therefore, the process was rather slow.
Somewhere in early May received from Legacy emmanuel confirmation, approximate price, payment options, prepayment discounts and registration form. We were promised that everything, everything, everything, provided that there would be no complications, costs 15000 $ for the mother and 4500 $ for the child (I will say in advance that this is a lie). If we make an advance payment, promised 50% discount. We agreed and paid 9750 $ to the hospital, calmed down and began to study Oregon, waiting for the X hour, before which there were about three weeks left.
Adaptation
After the arrangement, we discovered only pleasant things. In fact, it is not necessary to adapt to the United States. Social standards are not as steep as, say, the Norwegians, but they are high enough to feel very comfortable.
Oregon - state kids-friendlylike the whole country. All roads with wheelchair ramps, elevators with level changes, parks quite a lot, the sidewalks are wide and of good quality. Restaurants accept children with a smile, offering special chairs, drawing pens and a children's menu. Quietly, you can ask for water or go to the toilet in a cool restaurant, even if you are not a client. Each grocery store also has corresponding rooms. Our store, New seasons, offered small baby grocery carts that our son really liked.
The only unexpected moment was associated with kindergarten. We expected that we would give the elder to the kindergarten, where he would stay in the society of English-speaking children in society and begin to talk a little in English. None of the gardens were interested in a short visit on the 4 month. All in all, he noted that comfort in Portland begins with an income per family from 120000 $.
Medicine and childbirth
After registering at the hospital, we signed up for a tour for future parents to find out what expects us in this hospital and what we should do at time X. This was my first visit to a medical institution in a developed country. That, I was amazed, is to say nothing! Immediately, the fear disappeared by something seriously ill in this country. The hospital is nice and clean, has many open entrances for cars. Helicopters delivered patients at least once in 10 minutes. I believe that you can have time to deliver the patient to the hospital in a matter of minutes.
We were told that as soon as the contractions begin with a certain frequency, we need to come, press a button at the door of the department, and say: “My name is from Vasya Pupkin. Ayme in Labor ”, the doors open and the magic begins. With this knowledge, we began to wait. But the appointed date of May 21 came, and nothing happened. On May 28, I could not stand it, and we went to the appropriate clinic at the hospital to make sure everything was in order. The conversation with the medical staff impressed me in the same way as the hospital itself: everything is clear and open, they talk and answer questions, offer opportunities and describe the risks. Good, nice, and respectful. We decided to wait 42 weeks and went home. The next day they called us and said that they were able to translate something from our Ukrainian analyzes, and it was risky to wait any longer, so they offered to stimulate labor today.
Everything went smoothly. Boy. Mom is happy. For reference, right after the birth, my wife said that it was much better here than in Ukraine, and she also wants to have her next child here. We spent two nights in the hospital - one in prenatal, one after. Nothing much happened, so nothing in essence and to tell. I will only note that for the United States, the standard is that the husband is in the room all the time, no dressing gowns, shoe covers, and certificates from tuberculosis are needed.
Documents
In the hospital, while the labor was going on, we were given a couple of questionnaires to fill out. One is about agreeing to the terms, the second is about the absence of chronic and genetic problems, the third is about who the dad is and how the child will be called, the fourth is an application for an SSN. The first two you fill in immediately, the rest - during your stay in the hospital. Upon discharge, we were given a birth certificate from the hospital. It has no value. A week later, we went somewhere like the city executive committee to get a birth certificate. No documents are needed, they themselves know everything. It was worth a penny, $ 10 a piece or something. We took three copies, just in case. It's like with our identification codes, they are not superfluous.
Somewhere in the 10 days we received an SSN in the mail. The next day they applied for a travel document. This is what we call a foreign passport. We chose express delivery up to 3 weeks, cost 160 dollars, standard 75. This amount included photo services. The travel document came by mail less than a month after birth.
In order to register a child at home, apostille must be affixed to the birth certificate so that the document becomes official from the point of view of Ukraine. This takes 5 minutes and also costs almost nothing. The only moment that for this you need to go to the state capital - Salem, an hour's drive from Portland. Every US citizen must be insured, children under 18 can be insured free of charge under one of the state programs. In our case, this is the CHIP program.
Return
We returned to Portland a few days before departure. The mailbox was full of bills, most of which had to be covered by our prepayment. We are still dealing with some of them to this day (we indicate that this bill has already been paid - and it will be canceled for us).
Another American fun: they tell you about the price range for some work, but in the end they try to collect all the same to the maximum. Now we have already agreed, and we have spent more than half, and we still have 4000 accounts. I aim to fit in 3000 $. Local people support this process and believe that this is capitalism. Know comments. Most of the things sent in large parcels to Ukraine. Most of the furniture was left at the local acquaintances and put on Craigslist.
Upon leaving the apartment, an unpleasant surprise awaited us: we must notify in writing of the departure at least 30 days in advance. The fact that we marked the length of our stay by phone and face-to-face with the workers does not mean anything. By the way, we also had a contract until August, and that also meant nothing. Had to pay for one more month (slightly less) stay. And these people smiled at us all five months. Basically, this is such an American national treasure - to look you in the eyes with a smile and lie or omit important information.
I almost forgot about the plane. The return ticket we had was from Salt Lake City. I called (with the enno attempt) and said (several hours of talking) that my wife was pregnant and we changed the hospital from Salt Lake City to Portland. If the exchange of tickets occurs for medical reasons, then there is no charge for this. Since the baby was not in the world when I bought them, I had to add it after the fact by phone. But they didn’t find the baby at the front desk; they had to pay 10% of the ticket price to date. Our tickets before the departure cost 7800 $, so I paid 780 $ + tax for the small one. Dealing with Delta still.
Summary
The total cost of the trip is $ 50000. Of these, medical bills amount to about $ 13000. If the budget is limited, then a couple can keep within 2 months and $ 20000. Especially if the choice falls on Miami, where birth prices are much lower.
I really enjoyed traveling to the USA. A good developed country with beautiful nature and people. From the point of view of relocation, everything is more interesting. This country hides a number of unpleasant features, which local people do not like to talk about. No one likes to talk about their bad. Therefore, the question: “Would I like to move to the USA?” For my family is rather complicated and the answer is ambiguous.
