Hi there,
For the five of you that read this blog - you probably already know. Our Vietnam adoption did not work out - we were third on the list from our agency, but the country will be closing for adoptions without referrals on September 1st. BTW, this closure is only for Americans. On September 1st all dossiers without referrals will be sent back to the agencies.
So we decided to go another route - by way of a special needs child from China, a precious little boy. He is as cute as he can be, I'll be sure to post photos when we have our official referral. We were hoping to bring him home as soon as July, but it's not in the cards. We now hope we be able to travel by September.
Life has been extremely busy. I started working and actually like it. We just bought a new house and moved in on May 17th. We've had families from both sides visiting. We've painted two rooms - one orange - the dining room and it looks fabulous as a matter of fact! We also painted our wood-paneled addition to "barrister white" making it a much brighter and more tolerable place to be and less of the dumping ground it had become...
Next room up - perhaps a baby room? I've been putting off buying anything for this room but maybe it's now time to start. We have the idea of an "aquarium theme" - what do you think? Of course, then we have to actually paint it when Greg's dad Larry painted our other rooms.
I hope to post some positive news soon! Hope all are doing well.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Our new house!
Isn't it too cute? It's similar to the last house we put a bid on - but closer to DC. Our home is located in Arlington. We need to put in a new tub upstairs and hope to move in May. The kitchen is from the eighties, no joke and is smaller than the kitchen we have now but bigger than the one we had at Argonne place. We have a cute little backyard and are looking forward to planting a garden. The addition (in the picture to the right) is covered with 70's wood paneling. The living room is pretty large as well as the dining room and two of the bedrooms upstairs. Now, of course, I want all new furniture, a new kitchen and bathroom in the basement. I've already spent all of our money when we don't have any left after buying the house in this still very expensive place to live! I've already priced composters and solar paneling so we can try to be environmental (uhh...the paneling is gonna have to wait awhile). I gotta admit I've been scared about this - did we buy the right house - in the right neighborhood?Now I'm just excited and ready to move in!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
An adoption update
It has been hard to provide adoption updates for the blog for two reasons - one is that we haven't had any or much news to share and two any news we have hasn't been hopeful. I've been so depressed and discouraged especially after our adoption agency had a call with all families currently planning adoption from Vietnam. Her words were not optimistic and she suggested that all of us consider other places from which to adopt including Russia and China. We already have our dossier in China and expect that to go through in two to three years. Our agency director promised to get back to each one of us to let us know where our dossier is in the Vietnam process and to let us know where we were in the agency queue. Currently 20 families have their dossiers in VN awaiting a child. We finally got the news of our status today.Last time we checked (about two months ago) our dossier was at the Ministry of Justice and it is now at the Thu Doc Youth Village orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon). There are four families from our agency ahead of us in line for children. Although this sounds positive, keep in mind that other agencies from all over the world also work with this same orphanage, and we don't know how many folks are waiting from these other agencies. Supposedly, two of the families waiting from our agency should receive their referrals soon and then we would be third in line.
The problem is this: the agreement for adoptions between VN and the United States expires on September 1st. We don't know if VN will be shut down completely or if they will continue to process adoptions already begun or with referrals or with paperwork at a certain place in the queue. It is our hope, obviously, that we will receive our referral prior to September 1st or if we haven't that they will still process our adoption since our dossier is already at the orphanage.
So think good thoughts for us and send us your prayers. Hopefully this will all work out and we'll receive our little guy soon.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Some updates but not really
Here's a summary of an email from our agency executive director, Jennifer Kelman...
Press Release From US State Department:
For those not familiar, the Memorandum of Understanding on Intercountry Adoptions was signed by the US and Vietnam on June 21, 2005 as a beginning step towards an intercountry adoption program that would meet international standards such as those established by the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions. The convention contains a number of protections and safeguards for the ethical placement of children. The agreement entered into force on September 1, 2005. There is a deadline of March 1, 2008 for the
A copy of the agreement can be found here:
http://travel.
Adopted Children Immigrant Visa Unit at
The Embassy recently launched a newly revised version of their website for the Adopted Children Immigrant Visa Unit (ACIVU). The ACIVU is responsible for processing all the adoption cases that pass through the Embassy. You can visit their new site here - http://hanoi.usembassy.gov/orphan_visas.html. They have added a great deal of information about the process, the requirements, and updates on the status of the program.
Meeting at Embassy for Adoption Service Providers on Thursday, January 24th
On Thursday, January 24th the staff at the U.S. Embassy held their quarterly meeting with Adoption Service Providers. The meeting was hosted by Mary Ann Russell of USCIS and Eric Alexander of the Department of State. The majority of the discussion focused around the new I-600 process. USCIS is continuing to streamline their process for handling the I-600s. Here are the highlights from the discussion:
· The estimated time frame for processing the I-600 applications is still 60 days. However, CIS warned that it could be longer due to the high number of applications. In additions, CIS is doing an increasing number of investigations, which is time-consuming and takes their staff out of the office for a time.
· When determining if a child meets CIS’ legal definition as an orphan, CIS staff must complete a form called the I-604. (This is a standard part of adoptions from any country in the world. You can find the form here - http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/uploads/images/Oq45THmvcwMSU0Ntx_Hf-w/i-604_pdf__for_visas_37.pdf.) The I-604 can be completed based on the paperwork submitted with the I-600, through telephone interviews with relevant parties, or through on-site visits within
· CIS is changing slightly the process for notifying families when the preapproval is issued. Thus far, CIS in HCMC has been notifying families directly. From this time forward, CIS will notify the Adopted Children Immigrant Visa Unit (ACIVU) of the Embassy in
· CIS clarified that when the I-600 is submitted, the family’s CIS approval and fingerprints should be valid for at least another 60 days.
· The USCIS office in HCMC has been receiving a tremendous number of phone calls from adoptive families. Many families have urgent issues and personal concerns and are requesting special consideration. This has been taking them away from their work of processing the I-600 applications. The ACIVU’s new website has additional information about the I-600 processing and it can be found here - http://hanoi.usembassy.gov/preadoption.html. It is important to note that the website says, “For security reasons, USCIS is not able to inform petitioners of the status of their case between the time the receipt e-mail is issued and the time that a decision is made on the case.” The Embassy has also indicated that, “In the rare event that a case requires more than 60 days to process, petitioners will receive an e-mail apprising them of the outstanding issues in their case.”
JCICS Standards of Practice (SOPs)
The timeline for the release of the Standards of Practice from the Joint Council on International Children’s Services (JCICS) has been updated. For those not familiar with JCICS, their website is http://www.jcics.org/.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Log in date for China!
We are now officially logged in as a couple waiting for adoption from China. Our date is December 12, 2007. Which still means we are three years away from adopting our little girl, but at least the process is in place. People are still waiting for little girls with log in dates from as long ago as 2005!
No new news on the Vietnam front, it looks to be a long process of waiting and waiting ahead. So we are focusing our efforts on house hunting, starting in Arlington, Va, where cheap homes start at half a million dollars. Our lease runs until July, so we hope to find something by then. So our weekends are filled with home searches. I think we found our real estate agent, a helpful man that is giving us advice on what to look for on the outside as well as in the basement.
Homes are wicked expensive, even the ones near busy roads but some of the houses we've looked at have reduced their prices further. It's an overwhelming process and feels like much more of a commitment than marriage, plastic surgery or a tattoo. We've just started and a friend of mine looked at more than 100 houses before she found her cute little bungalow. Every house seems to have something wrong with it, like a weirdly configured kitchen, or one with a refrigerator that was literally on an angle (interesting). Tiny, tiny rooms or major roads next door, really right outside your front door or as it says in the listing...."convenient to major highways". I'm a sucker for a cute front porch. The house I've liked the best is still a breath-taking $605,000 with need for a major kitchen renovation. And I'm not just talking granite counter tops, it means pulling out walls. All of this, to take our minds off of the fact that we don't have a little one yet. But if we can find a house, we can fix it up and be ready when we finally get Milo.
No new news on the Vietnam front, it looks to be a long process of waiting and waiting ahead. So we are focusing our efforts on house hunting, starting in Arlington, Va, where cheap homes start at half a million dollars. Our lease runs until July, so we hope to find something by then. So our weekends are filled with home searches. I think we found our real estate agent, a helpful man that is giving us advice on what to look for on the outside as well as in the basement.
Homes are wicked expensive, even the ones near busy roads but some of the houses we've looked at have reduced their prices further. It's an overwhelming process and feels like much more of a commitment than marriage, plastic surgery or a tattoo. We've just started and a friend of mine looked at more than 100 houses before she found her cute little bungalow. Every house seems to have something wrong with it, like a weirdly configured kitchen, or one with a refrigerator that was literally on an angle (interesting). Tiny, tiny rooms or major roads next door, really right outside your front door or as it says in the listing...."convenient to major highways". I'm a sucker for a cute front porch. The house I've liked the best is still a breath-taking $605,000 with need for a major kitchen renovation. And I'm not just talking granite counter tops, it means pulling out walls. All of this, to take our minds off of the fact that we don't have a little one yet. But if we can find a house, we can fix it up and be ready when we finally get Milo.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Status of Vietnam adoptions
Vietnam adoption is in flux. Many agencies involved with VN adoptions met at a summit in Washington, D.C., with about 30 agencies in attendance.
Some of the following issues were discussed:
A record number of Noids (notice of intent to deny) have been issued by the US Embassy. Noids are issued when a child does not meet the USCIS (US Customs and Immigration) criteria ranging from something minor, such as a paperwork error to something more serious such as when the means of referral is questionable. Evidently, Noids were issued to 4 agencies involved in the Northern region of VN. The US gov't went randomly into villages to investigate which caused a political uproar in VN and tensions between the two countries.
An employee of the US Embassy in VN is not pro-adoption and is impeding the process for families undergoing adoptions there. Many agencies have reported problems working with this person.
There is always the possibility that VN will shut down adoptions - although the State Department and VN gov't have both said they don't want this to happen. The process is unpredictable.
Referral wait times: VN does not have a centralized system or way to monitor how many families are waiting for a referral. Most agencies tell families that the wait is 12-18 months or longer from the time the dossier is submitted. In fact, some agencies are no longer accepting applications. Many families switched to Vietnam from China adoptions because of lengthy wait times (now at three years). VN can not accommodate all of these new families and now there is a back log.
Some agencies are engaging in bidding wars over kids. The agencies at the Summit agreed to come up with common stands of practice to prevent this from happening.
Referrals from Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) have slowed due to a "six month rule" that some orphanages are using and others are not, since it is seen as a guiding principle rather than an official rule. This seems to apply to children under 18 months of age.
More paperwork needs to be completed prior to arriving in VN in the form of I-600, so any potential problems are known about before travel. It used to be that you could travel to VN and then complete this form in country. This is a new change and some families traveled to VN without this form which led to long stays in VN.
Our agency is looking to work with an orphanage in another city in addition to HCMC.
We believe our agency is ethical and honest. We are interested in adopting a child who has been abandoned or left without parents--certainly not taking a wanted child from anyone. It's discouraging that the process is taking longer, but hopefully the adoptions will improve in the next few months.
Sources (not in APA format):
http://vietnam.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/what-exactly-is-a-noid
International Children's Alliance email from December 11, 2007.
Some of the following issues were discussed:
A record number of Noids (notice of intent to deny) have been issued by the US Embassy. Noids are issued when a child does not meet the USCIS (US Customs and Immigration) criteria ranging from something minor, such as a paperwork error to something more serious such as when the means of referral is questionable. Evidently, Noids were issued to 4 agencies involved in the Northern region of VN. The US gov't went randomly into villages to investigate which caused a political uproar in VN and tensions between the two countries.
An employee of the US Embassy in VN is not pro-adoption and is impeding the process for families undergoing adoptions there. Many agencies have reported problems working with this person.
There is always the possibility that VN will shut down adoptions - although the State Department and VN gov't have both said they don't want this to happen. The process is unpredictable.
Referral wait times: VN does not have a centralized system or way to monitor how many families are waiting for a referral. Most agencies tell families that the wait is 12-18 months or longer from the time the dossier is submitted. In fact, some agencies are no longer accepting applications. Many families switched to Vietnam from China adoptions because of lengthy wait times (now at three years). VN can not accommodate all of these new families and now there is a back log.
Some agencies are engaging in bidding wars over kids. The agencies at the Summit agreed to come up with common stands of practice to prevent this from happening.
Referrals from Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) have slowed due to a "six month rule" that some orphanages are using and others are not, since it is seen as a guiding principle rather than an official rule. This seems to apply to children under 18 months of age.
More paperwork needs to be completed prior to arriving in VN in the form of I-600, so any potential problems are known about before travel. It used to be that you could travel to VN and then complete this form in country. This is a new change and some families traveled to VN without this form which led to long stays in VN.
Our agency is looking to work with an orphanage in another city in addition to HCMC.
We believe our agency is ethical and honest. We are interested in adopting a child who has been abandoned or left without parents--certainly not taking a wanted child from anyone. It's discouraging that the process is taking longer, but hopefully the adoptions will improve in the next few months.
Sources (not in APA format):
http://vietnam.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/what-exactly-is-a-noid
International Children's Alliance email from December 11, 2007.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Me without coffee
Yesterday I was shopping for Greg, little items for his stocking. I was nearing the end of my day and needed one last thing so I stopped at the little European grocery store near our house. The only problem was - I needed money for change and only had two dimes - this involved some searching for my coins, ahhh, one in my pocket. I get out of the car, with my Christmas presents in the front seat, cause I'm only gonna be one minute. Fill up the meter with some change and double check for my keys. Too late!
Guess where they are - in the ignition of the car. No problem, there are some workmen at the house and if I can get there in time they can let me in the front door. So I rush to my house to catch him. We do keep a spare key in our shed, but I never remember the combination and I don't have Greg's new work number. Time was of the essense.
I rush back home and find my friend the workman and ask him to let me in. We talk a minute and load boxes of shipped presents from the front porch to inside the house. Then I had only a few more minutes cause the money's gonna run out of the meter.
Get to the car, guess what, not only are the keys in the ignition, but the car is running. On impulse I open the door and would you know it, it was open the whole time. With the car running, and Christmas presents in the front seat.
I still went into the market, but instead of a present for Greg, I bought a bottle of wine. For myself. Clearly I needed it.
Guess where they are - in the ignition of the car. No problem, there are some workmen at the house and if I can get there in time they can let me in the front door. So I rush to my house to catch him. We do keep a spare key in our shed, but I never remember the combination and I don't have Greg's new work number. Time was of the essense.
I rush back home and find my friend the workman and ask him to let me in. We talk a minute and load boxes of shipped presents from the front porch to inside the house. Then I had only a few more minutes cause the money's gonna run out of the meter.
Get to the car, guess what, not only are the keys in the ignition, but the car is running. On impulse I open the door and would you know it, it was open the whole time. With the car running, and Christmas presents in the front seat.
I still went into the market, but instead of a present for Greg, I bought a bottle of wine. For myself. Clearly I needed it.
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