In case anyone reads this I ask that you would pray for us and the rest of the families that are adopting from Guatemala.
Tera and I were out of town earlier this week for some R&R. While we were gone we began to hear rumblings from Guatemala about a possible law that would be passed that would put our adoption along with countless others down the drain. This “law” has many possibilities. None of which are good. The one that I am aware of would be that once this law is passed Emma would be taken from her foster family home and placed in an orphanage till she is placed with another family. We would no longer be her prospective parents and we would never see her again. End of story. What are the other possibilities? I am not exactly sure at the moment. The agency that we are using is trying to keep everyone updated but the news doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
For anyone who has doubts about Guatemala and it’s “leaders” I will only go as far to say that the president has called adoptions a thorn in his side and his wife seems to be a “delight” as well when it comes to adoptions as well. They are very interested in a large amount of cash that UNICEF keeps dangling in front of them which allegedly is playing some sort of roll in this whole game. I will not get into mudslinging nor will I wish ill will on any of these people who insist making adoptions like ours impossible to complete.
We don’t have children. We have always wanted children. From the day we were first married we wanted kids. The road that everyone travels to get to the decision to adopt is different and it is always quite a story.
I have never been “connected” to any children before until I met Emma. She took my breath away from the moment I met her. We think of her constantly and long for her to come home with us. Even though she is not here with us everything we do is to prepare for her arrival. Emma is always on our hearts and minds. And it has come to this. In the coming days we will on find out if we will ever see her again.
All I want is for me to be her daddy and her to be my “little princess”.
Pray for us please.
J
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Friday, February 09, 2007
Phooey!!!
Tera called me while I was at the airport today to tell me that we got a KO (kick out). The fix will hopefully be easy. It's still disturbing either way. We are discouraged to say the least.
J
J
Sunday, February 04, 2007
We enter PGN then WHAM!!! From out of nowhere!
Since my last entry Tera and I have traveled to visit little Emma in Guatemala. We arrived I Guatemala City on the 12th of January to meet with the foster mom to pick up Emma. It was nice to see the foster mom again. She has always been very kind and really cares about Emma. We sat together and caught up for a bit then headed back up to our room with Emma. Emma has changed so much since the last time we saw her. As expected she has grown but is still small for her age of 3 ½ months. Unlike our last visit she was much more interactive and animated. She has discovered her legs and kicks them profusely as she sits or lays down. She has big brown pretty eyes and the cutest of smiles. Yes, I understand that I may be her dad soon so that might sway my opinion of her but I just think that she is a very pretty baby. Maybe that’s a biased opinion but look at the pictures for yourself. That is one cute kid. She is gaining more head control and has taken a liking to her vibrating bouncy seat. Funny thing happened while we were visiting. While Tera and I were getting ready to go out for lunch Emma began to get restless so I decided to put her in her bouncy seat till we were ready to head out. When I put her in her seat she became transfixed on the TV. And what was the TV you might ask? Cartoons of course. Yes, I had left it on Boomerang or Nick for Kids or something like that and cartoons were on. While getting ready I would try to garner Emma’s attention but I was being upstaged by TV! I am still flabbergasted at the fact that a 3 month old can be sucked into cartoons. It seems so early. I assume she has seen cartoons before. I wonder what it was that got her attention. Maybe that colors or the cartoon itself or the fact it was in Spanish and the sounds of the language sounded familiar verses the English that we were speaking when Tera and I talked to her. Either way it was really surprising.
On or about the third day we received an email informing us that we entered PGN on January 10th. So the clock began on the 10th and we are now counting the days if not hours till we exit PGN. If all goes well we could exit PGN in 6 to 8 weeks barring any unforeseen problems. Pray that there is mercy in this area. We were told to expect at least one “kick out” so if that happens it won’t be such a shock. In case you don’t know what a “kick out” is I will try to explain it as best I can. A “kick out” (also known as a KO) is what happens when your case is in PGN and a something is seen as flawed or a document or certificate needs to be updated or the examiner who is inspecting the case is having a bad day and wants to take it out someone (well maybe not the last part). This portion of the process can and has been known to be very problematic for some families. There is no one specific reason as to why there are KO’s because there is a lot of material in each case and each case and adoptive family is different. Background checks, certificates, the home study, financial statements and much more are involved so there are many “possibilities“ a KO. Then there is the birth mother’s side of the case as well. So if anything is amiss of needs to be updated or corrected the case is “kicked out” of PGN till the problem is taken care of. Once the anomaly is taken care of the case is then re-entered into PGN and the process continues till the case is looked at in it’s entirety, approved and then the case exits PGN. I believe it is at this point that Emma would legally be ours. We would then apply for her visa and passport. This is when many parents or at least one parent will go to Guatemala to be with the child till the visa and passport are ready. This can sometimes take up to 3 to 4 weeks. Many people spend this waiting period with the child in Antigua, Guatemala. Antigua was founded on March 10, 1543. At one time Antigua was Guatemala’s capital. Due to a series of earthquakes that leveled the city in 1773 the capital was then moved to Guatemala City. Antigua remained almost uninhabited the 20th century . The city is now over 30,000 strongand is a major stop for people visiting Guatemala. The city is very scenic with it’s cobblestone streets and many historic buildings that were left standing but unfortunately some were stripped for their materials after the earthquakes. The city is situated among three volcanoes Acatenango, Agua and Fuego. I have read that Fuego is still active while the other two are not. The city is known for it’s language schools, many churches and nunneries. Some of which remained active even after most of the populace moved to Guatemala City. This is where Tera and I hope that Emma and Tera can spend the 3 to 4 weeks while waiting for Emma’s passport and visa. The city is known to be much more safe than Guatemala City and many families are currently fostering their adoptive children there right now. Tera has a friend that is fostering there till the process is complete and she says that she loves it there. But it would be an ideal time for Tera and Emma to bond before coming home. I too would also love to go down there for the entire time but that would be no good for the checking account. We will see, we will see.
So here we are, we have hurried. Hurried the doctors appointments, hurried the notaries, the reference letters, the certificates, the FBI, Homeland Security and all the other documents that fall under “miscellaneous” . And for what? To get to PGN. We hurried so we can wait. And the silence is deafening. The entire case sits on somebody’s desk. And that “somebody” has the power to accept or deny what sits in front of them. Yuck. Be that as it may I cannot believe we are in PGN. It is a bit surreal. I mean during the entire process you hear “PGN this” and PGN that” as if it is some far away land that seems just out of reach and in a matter of an email we are informed that we are there. Kinda neat and scary all at the same time. Again please pray for the Lord’s favor in this part of the process.
BREAK IN THE ACTION…THINGS HAVE DRASTICALLY CHANGED.
To put this in perspective with a timeline I need to say that to my fault that this current installment has taken me a long time to put together. I don’t have a ton of time so it takes me a while to write these things up. Anyways, during the process of putting this entry together Tera started to get word from the Guatemalan adoption boards and Guatemala that PGN is in an uproar. This is what I know so far as of today, February 3rd. Some time back we began to hear rumors that PGN was going to get help in order to keep up with the processing of cases. Assuming what everyone knows about how long this process can take many people thought this would help to get the cases through and on to be finalized. More reviewers = more help = faster process right? Wrong. The new reviewers are worse than anyone expected. I will not go into the details of what some families are going through but I will say that the new reviewers are issuing KO’s like there is no tomorrow. And I am not saying these are easy fix KO’s either. For example, I know of a kick out because the ink used on some of the documents was black not blue. This rule did not exist up until now. There is some massive nitpicking going on and some of the KO’s may never be resolved. What does that mean? It means that the adoption might be over. Done. As of today we have not received a KO. It is the weekend and the reviewers don’t work on the weekends so we will be waiting on Monday to see what happens. This is so sad. I have to say that there are many families who are getting some major doses of fear and worry and we are one of them. Our case is in Guatemala right now and from some of the information that we have recently received it is a pretty good chance that our case is being looked at right now. We are not the only ones. Everyone is worried. No one is safe because we all have to go through PGN. There is no getting around it. I will talk about is more at a later time but I need to get to the core of where we are at emotionally and the like. If you are a person who prays please do. Specifically pray for grace, mercy and favor. Guatemalan adoptions are fast but are known for being wrought with problems. Pray that God influences the minds of those who are reviewing these cases. Pray that our case (and everyone else’s) goes through quickly and without incident. I confess that my instincts reflect on the negative. Anything can happen. If we do receive a KO, pray that it will be something that will be an easy fix. Pray for all the families both here in the states and those visiting and fostering in Guatemala. We are all individual families but in the same boat as well. Pray that this huge problem goes away fast and this current process changes for the better for us all. Thank You. It may be a bit before I post again but then again I might be back sooner than expected. We will see. Hopefully the next time I post it will be accompanied with good news.
Praise and glory to God in all situations.
Jason
On or about the third day we received an email informing us that we entered PGN on January 10th. So the clock began on the 10th and we are now counting the days if not hours till we exit PGN. If all goes well we could exit PGN in 6 to 8 weeks barring any unforeseen problems. Pray that there is mercy in this area. We were told to expect at least one “kick out” so if that happens it won’t be such a shock. In case you don’t know what a “kick out” is I will try to explain it as best I can. A “kick out” (also known as a KO) is what happens when your case is in PGN and a something is seen as flawed or a document or certificate needs to be updated or the examiner who is inspecting the case is having a bad day and wants to take it out someone (well maybe not the last part). This portion of the process can and has been known to be very problematic for some families. There is no one specific reason as to why there are KO’s because there is a lot of material in each case and each case and adoptive family is different. Background checks, certificates, the home study, financial statements and much more are involved so there are many “possibilities“ a KO. Then there is the birth mother’s side of the case as well. So if anything is amiss of needs to be updated or corrected the case is “kicked out” of PGN till the problem is taken care of. Once the anomaly is taken care of the case is then re-entered into PGN and the process continues till the case is looked at in it’s entirety, approved and then the case exits PGN. I believe it is at this point that Emma would legally be ours. We would then apply for her visa and passport. This is when many parents or at least one parent will go to Guatemala to be with the child till the visa and passport are ready. This can sometimes take up to 3 to 4 weeks. Many people spend this waiting period with the child in Antigua, Guatemala. Antigua was founded on March 10, 1543. At one time Antigua was Guatemala’s capital. Due to a series of earthquakes that leveled the city in 1773 the capital was then moved to Guatemala City. Antigua remained almost uninhabited the 20th century . The city is now over 30,000 strongand is a major stop for people visiting Guatemala. The city is very scenic with it’s cobblestone streets and many historic buildings that were left standing but unfortunately some were stripped for their materials after the earthquakes. The city is situated among three volcanoes Acatenango, Agua and Fuego. I have read that Fuego is still active while the other two are not. The city is known for it’s language schools, many churches and nunneries. Some of which remained active even after most of the populace moved to Guatemala City. This is where Tera and I hope that Emma and Tera can spend the 3 to 4 weeks while waiting for Emma’s passport and visa. The city is known to be much more safe than Guatemala City and many families are currently fostering their adoptive children there right now. Tera has a friend that is fostering there till the process is complete and she says that she loves it there. But it would be an ideal time for Tera and Emma to bond before coming home. I too would also love to go down there for the entire time but that would be no good for the checking account. We will see, we will see.
So here we are, we have hurried. Hurried the doctors appointments, hurried the notaries, the reference letters, the certificates, the FBI, Homeland Security and all the other documents that fall under “miscellaneous” . And for what? To get to PGN. We hurried so we can wait. And the silence is deafening. The entire case sits on somebody’s desk. And that “somebody” has the power to accept or deny what sits in front of them. Yuck. Be that as it may I cannot believe we are in PGN. It is a bit surreal. I mean during the entire process you hear “PGN this” and PGN that” as if it is some far away land that seems just out of reach and in a matter of an email we are informed that we are there. Kinda neat and scary all at the same time. Again please pray for the Lord’s favor in this part of the process.
BREAK IN THE ACTION…THINGS HAVE DRASTICALLY CHANGED.
To put this in perspective with a timeline I need to say that to my fault that this current installment has taken me a long time to put together. I don’t have a ton of time so it takes me a while to write these things up. Anyways, during the process of putting this entry together Tera started to get word from the Guatemalan adoption boards and Guatemala that PGN is in an uproar. This is what I know so far as of today, February 3rd. Some time back we began to hear rumors that PGN was going to get help in order to keep up with the processing of cases. Assuming what everyone knows about how long this process can take many people thought this would help to get the cases through and on to be finalized. More reviewers = more help = faster process right? Wrong. The new reviewers are worse than anyone expected. I will not go into the details of what some families are going through but I will say that the new reviewers are issuing KO’s like there is no tomorrow. And I am not saying these are easy fix KO’s either. For example, I know of a kick out because the ink used on some of the documents was black not blue. This rule did not exist up until now. There is some massive nitpicking going on and some of the KO’s may never be resolved. What does that mean? It means that the adoption might be over. Done. As of today we have not received a KO. It is the weekend and the reviewers don’t work on the weekends so we will be waiting on Monday to see what happens. This is so sad. I have to say that there are many families who are getting some major doses of fear and worry and we are one of them. Our case is in Guatemala right now and from some of the information that we have recently received it is a pretty good chance that our case is being looked at right now. We are not the only ones. Everyone is worried. No one is safe because we all have to go through PGN. There is no getting around it. I will talk about is more at a later time but I need to get to the core of where we are at emotionally and the like. If you are a person who prays please do. Specifically pray for grace, mercy and favor. Guatemalan adoptions are fast but are known for being wrought with problems. Pray that God influences the minds of those who are reviewing these cases. Pray that our case (and everyone else’s) goes through quickly and without incident. I confess that my instincts reflect on the negative. Anything can happen. If we do receive a KO, pray that it will be something that will be an easy fix. Pray for all the families both here in the states and those visiting and fostering in Guatemala. We are all individual families but in the same boat as well. Pray that this huge problem goes away fast and this current process changes for the better for us all. Thank You. It may be a bit before I post again but then again I might be back sooner than expected. We will see. Hopefully the next time I post it will be accompanied with good news.
Praise and glory to God in all situations.
Jason
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