Approaching another step...

So we got news this week that Mateo’s case is moving forward another step! On November 30 (or tomorrow) the DNA testing and social work interview will be done. Usually these are done separate and the birth mom needs to come in two times but we are thankful that they can be done at the same time. Mateo will actually see his birth mom because a picture needs to be taken of them together. I have been thinking a lot about this and my heart is very heavy for this young lady. I don’t think she had seen Te since he was relinquished at 8 days old, I can’t imagine how hard this is going to be for her. It also makes me nervous because this is the second of four times that she has to sign off on the adoption. At any point in the adoption she can decide to parent. It is also a reminder to me that though we already love this little by he is not ours. He is the Lords and we have to trust God’s sovereignty and his grace. He is in control and we are praying his will continues to be done. That doesn’t mean that it is easy or that I don’t tend to obsess about it at times but it does keep me sane. We covet your prayers tomorrow as this next step is taken to bring this precious boy home. Thank you!
Laura

So much to be Thankful for!

We have just returned from Northern Michigan visiting our families for Thanksgiving. One of the greatest blessings about working for a college are the frequent breaks! We spent the four days helping sister Sarah move into my [Laura] parents' old house, and Scott worked on the Christmas tree farm. It wasn't super relaxing, but it was so good to be around family and to be able to pitch in.

So a couple of adoption updates. Right before we left, we received news that Mateo's case received authorization to go ahead with the DNA testing of him and his birthmom. This is a great step forward as this means in the next three weeks or so the social worker interview and DNA testing will be done at the same time. When this happens, Mateo's birthmom will have to come in and sign some paperwork and also get her picture taken with Mateo. I don't think she has seen him since she gave him up for adoption when he was 8 days old (and that has been over two years). It is our prayer that she will be able to make it though the interaction. I can't believe how hard it has to be for her. On Ellie's case we are still waiting for her authorization for DNA. They were having a hard time getting her birth records renewed, so still waiting on that.

Other good news is that we have sold 84 wreaths so far! We brought 130 back with us from home, so only 46 more to sell! We are so blessed by the support we are receiveing from our Bethel and church families. Thank you.

P.S. We got the perfect tree ever.

Wreaths for Mateo and Ellie

Christmas is a wonderful season. It is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
For us, it is also the memories we have of growing up on Christmas tree farms in Northern Michigan. The joy of this season is a bit tarnished this year as we are struggling with the fact that the two children we are coming to love so dearly will be so far away.
Christmas also is a time to count our blessings. We have so much to be thankful for a big part of that being how faithful God had been with the finaces that we have needed for the adoptions. With Mateo's adoption we had saved, sold stuff, got some donations, sold more stuff, and got a intrest free loan. When we decided to adopt Ellie we were jumping into a big sea of faith. We are still about $16,000 short of the $60,000 in costs for the two adoptions. When we look at that number we feel overwhelmed but then we realize how faithful God has been so far and that He will continue to provide.
One way we are looking for Him to provide is through our Christmas wreath fundraiser. We are selling the wreaths for $25 and have already sold 30 to people at Bethel and our church. We are so thankful for the support we have recieved and can't wait to see what happens; we are hoping to sell 200! We will keep you updated on our progress.
Looking forward to the Christmas season,
Scott and Laura

Pictures of the cuties...

So here are some picks of our cuties!!! The picture of Mateo was taken by his foster mom Aura. How can you resist that grin?! And our caseworker took the picture of Ellie when she visited Guatemala about a month ago. Now that I learned how to post pictures I will be adding some more often!
Laura

The adoption process

So right after "how long till the kids will be here?" comes the question "why does it take so long?" Well we often wonder the same thing but it helps quite a bit when you can see the process and then realize what it takes to adopt. I got this information from another adoption blog, http://faithsjourney.spaces.live.com (it is a great blog of an adoption in Guatemala of a little girl that just came home!) and thought that it would help clarify the process along with let you know where we are at with it.
So here it is...

Process in Guatemala – Relinquishment Cases

Once the dossier (the total of all paperwork) is complete:

§ Papers go to Guatemala to be translated from English to Spanish which takes about two weeks.- This is done!

§ After a child is born his/her birth is registered at Civil Registry and a birth certificate is issued. The birth mother then signs over custody to the attorney or children'’s home and the child enters foster care or the children's home. The child is taken to a pediatrician for basic physical and (for newborns immunization). The birthmother also sees a doctor to make sure she is fine and to have blood tests done.

§ When the above steps are completed the child will be referred for a family. Your family will receive the child'’s name, birth mother’s name, basic physical information including a brief medical summary, the birth mother's test results for syphilis, hepatitus, and HIV and a picture.

Once your family decides to accept the referral of that child the below process begins:

Family is provided with Power ofAttorney (POA) to authorize lawyer in Guatemala to act on your behalf during the adoption process. The POA must be signed, notarized, authenticated by the Secretary of State, and then stamped by the Guatemalan Consulate (same process as your dossier).---------This is done

When POA is done being processed it is sent to Guatemala

POA and any other documents sent are submitted to an Embassy approved translator to be translated.-Done...

1. After translation is complete, The family's POA'’s & Dossier along with the child’s and birthmother's papers are registered in the Guatemalan Government Foreign Affairs Office. It takes approximately three to four weeks for the Foreign Affairs office to complete the registration of the adoption and return the file to the attorney.----Done...

2. The attorney works on gathering any additional paperwork that is needed for the family court and DNA process to be initiated. Depending on what paperwork is needed this can be another 3 to 6 week process. A certification of the birth mother'’s and child'’s birth must be obtained for DNA and has to be recent. The certifications are only good for a small amount of time before they expire and the attorneys have to request a new one. This is a common delay in gathering DNA paperwork.

STEPS 3 -5 AND STEPS 6-7 HAPPEN IN ANY ORDER AND AT THE SAME TIME – BOTH THE DNA AND FAMILY COURT PROCESS MUST BE DONE BEFORE CASE CAN MOVE ON TO STEP 6 (PGN). THIS PART OF THE PROCESS (steps 1-5) CAN TAKE ANYWHERE FROM 3 TO 4 MONTHS.

3. Guatemalan documents needed for DNA (*Mothers HIV test, Birth certificate for the mother and child, Child ID and about 10 other documents) are gathered and when they are ready they are put with the family’s G-28, I-600, and I-171H and are submitted to the Embassy window, along with a consent from the birth mother, to request authorization for DNA testing to be done on the birth mother and child. If all is correct, the authorization document is given for the DNA test to be done. DNA Authorization is given by the U.S. Embassy and after the authorization is received by Dillon it is faxed to LabCorp to be marked as 'Paid'”. Then the “paid” Authorization is sent back to Guatemala so that an appointment can be scheduled for the DNA test is done by an Embassy approved doctor.

4. The samples are taken in Guatemala by an Embassy approved Doctor, and sent to LabCorp in the U.S. The actual DNA testing is done by the laboratory in the U.S. that is approved by the U.S. Immigration. The birthmother and child do DNA together and a picture is taken of them together. This usually occurs about two to three months after the POA's have gone to Guatemala. A certified copy of the DNA match will be sent to Dillon International. A copy of the DNA match and a picture of the birthmother and child will be sent to the adoptive family from the lab.

5. Upon receipt of a DNA result confirming the parental relationship, the Embassy will either grant a “pre-approval” to the case or refer it for further investigation. The Embassy may require an interview with the birthmother to confirm her consent that the child can be adopted by U.S. citizens. Once the Embassy has given “pre –approval” the case can move forward. (The Embassy usually takes about 3 to 4 weeks to issue pre-approval) If the family has not heard from the embassy 45 days after DNA match, then Dillon will have the family email the Embassy to inquire about pre-approval.

6. The lawyer submits all of the documents to Family Court and waits for the the case to be assigned to a specific court and to be assigned to a social worker with that court that will interview the birth mother.

7. A family court Social worker reviews the family'’s dossier and sets a date to interview the birth mother as well as a date to see the child in foster care. The social worker then writes a report summarizing the facts of the case and attesting to the reasons that the birth mother can not care for her child. The Family Court social worker approves the adoption and the birth mother signs consent for adoption a second time. Then the case must be approved by the Judge in the Family court the case is assigned to and then the case is released back to the attorney.
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A CASE CAN MOVE ON TO STEP 8 WHEN IT HAS FAMILY COURT APPROVAL, DNA MATCH, AND EMBASSY PRE APPROVAL OF DNA.

8. The lawyer submits a petition for approval of the adoption case to a notarial officer of the Attorney General's office (Procuraduria General de la Nacion) of PGN. (Note: a notary in Guatemala is an attorney with additional powers, not simply someone who certifies a signature as in the US)

9. A PGN attorney is assigned to the case and PGN reviews everything, all of the documents, to make sure there are no mistakes or that there is anything false and checks out the family background history. PGN has anywhere from 20 to 30 business days to approve the case or ask for new documents. PGN often requests documents to be redone. Each time this happens the case is rejected (called a previo) it will go back in after the new documents are obtained. Each time a case goes back into PGN they have another 20 to 30 days to review it. PGN also can require the birthmother to appear before the court to give a verbal relinquishment. At least ONE rejection SHOULD be expected. PGN will issue a final approval for the adoption to proceed and be approved. The lawyer then meets with the birth mother for the final sign off giving her approval to the adoption by signing the final decree of adoption.

The following final steps take approximately 4 to 6 weeks to complete:

10. The adoption decree is written and issued by the lawyer, the birth mother signs the final decree and the child is legally now the child of the adoptive family.

11. The final decree must be approved by the Civil Registry in the municipality where the child was born. Once it is approved, A new birth certificate is then issued by that Civil Registry with the child’s first and middle name staying the same and last name changing to that of the adoptive parents. The municipality can issue rejections just as PGN can and ask for additional documents before they issue the birth certificate. This is not uncommon.

12. The Lawyer takes the new birth certificate to be translated to English by a US Embassy approved translator along with the final decree.

13. Once the translation is complete, The lawyer applies for a passport for the child and then usually the following day takes the necessary documents to the U.S. Embassy to submit for pink slip. The passport is generally issued within 1 to 2 business days

14. The Embassy authorizes the visa and issues an approval on pink papers called a “pink slip”. The pink slip is generally issued two business days (mon -– thurs) after the lawyer submits the paperwork for it. The Embassy gives a specific date for the family to be there for the visa appointment” (meaning the day you can file your I-600)

15. After the pink slip has been issued then the family can make their travel plans around the date given by the Embassy for the visa appointment.

16. Family must arrive at least the day before their appointment with the Embassy so there is time to take custody of their child and review the Embassy paperwork. They must then stay in Guatemala for the day of their appointment with the Embassy, and the following business day to pick up the visa. Families will be taken to the hotel via a shuttle; and their child will be brought to them there.

17. Child has usually already had their Embassy exit physical before the arrival of the family. If not then the child will go to the doctor the same day the family comes in if on a weekday.

18. Then your family will go to the Embassy to file their I-600 along with the other needed documents on your appointment date, and pay the visa fees to obtain a Visa for the child. This is where you will submit ALL papers. The Embassy will usually have you come back the next day to pick up the visa.

19. Once the Visa is given to your family, you are done and they can either fly home the next day or stay longer to sight see.

**If your 1st time to see your child is when you pick him or her up, then your child will be issued an IR4 visa in Guatemala which means that when your child enters the U.S. they will have Legal Permanent Resident status. Then after post placement is complete with your social worker each family needs to complete the re-adoption process in order that their child be granted automatic citizenship.

**If both parents (or the single parent) visited your child prior to PGN approval then your child will be issued an IR3 visa in Guatemala which means that when your child enters the U.S. they will have Citizenship status.

So this is the detailed account of what happens, we are finding all if it takes a lot longer that even whats listed. And yes at times it is as overwhelming as it looks! We are learning patience daily and praying that we can cling to God's faithfulness and timeing. Thanks so much for coming along side of us on this journey! We need all the support and prayers we can get!!!

Here we go

This is a story of our adoption. As we begin, it is our prayer that you will be touched as much as we have by the ability of the Lord to make all things happen in His time. We are in the process of adopting two little blessings that God has given us.

Here is our story:

We are very passionate about adoption. We see adoption as both a means for children to have a loving family and also for parents to open their hearts and home to love someone unconditionally. We feel children and family are the greatest gifts you can receive. We have both been blessed and grieved to have spent time overseas at various orphanages and have witnessed first hand the poverty and desperation of the homeless. We would leave every time with an increased sense of hopelessness and frustration. Our hearts would break a little more as we would see a fatherless child, someone so precious, without a home and love. We were glad we could visit and help for a couple of weeks, but knew that would not make a lasting change.

It was then, through our desperation, that we began to embrace the idea of adoption. We were ready to start a family and take on the challenge and open our hearts to a child needing love and a Christ-centered home. We stopped asking “Why adopt?” and started to ask “Why not adopt?” When we had no answer to that question we started the homestudy process, and after a failed domestic adoption, we started looking internationally. Shortly after we picked our international adoption agency, we came in contact with the waiting children list. We thought that we would be adopting a baby, but as soon as we heard about and saw a picture of Mateo, we changed our minds. We immediately began the paperwork to make him our son. Mateo just turned two on November 4 and has special needs due to hearing loss in both ears. We are uncertain to the severity of his hearing problems, but are prepared to take on whatever they may be. Shortly after we accepted the referral for Mateo, we were able to go to Guatemala to visit him. It was an amazing trip that further confirmed that we are in God’s will. While doing our paperwork and homestudy we applied for the approval of two children, just in case. Well that just in case came to be a necessity and reality when we returned from Guatemala and our adoption caseworker informed us that they were receiving too many babies for referral, and did not have enough families ready to take them. We had been praying about a second adoption and had a peace that this was God’s way of nudging us toward a decision. We are now welcoming Elisabeth into our family as well.

We are in the beginning of the process to bring them home. We would love to have you join us as we experience both the joys and the struggles that international adoption can sometimes bring. Please be in prayer for us.