A little hope...

This is a petition being signed by all the other people like me that have done everything within the time restraints given to us. It seems to me from this, that it is now up to the United States government to make the decision to allow us to be grandfathered in after September 1st. This is a little glimmer of hope. It will be interesting to see if it works.

AMERICANS UNITED FOR VIETNAMESE ORPHANS – GRANDFATHERING PETITION

June 2008

 

Dear CCAI Co-Chairs Landrieu, Coleman, Oberstar, and Brown-Waite:

 

Thousands of families have been in the process of adopting a child from Vietnam for as long as 2 years. Please help them complete their adoptions and give a child an opportunity to be raised in a family environment. With the recent studies on the effects of institutionalization on children, there should be no question that a family environment is an optimal one, which every child should have the opportunity to experience.

 

We implore you to use your influence to procure a letter from the Dept of State and USCIS, addressed to Dr. Long, Director of the Vietnamese DIA (Dept of International Adoption). On April 25th 2008, he announced that dossiers of American families received by July 1st, 2008, and matched with a child by September 1st, 2008, will be allowed to be processed to completion. All dossiers not matched with a child will be returned to adoption service providers, dashing hopes of raising a child for the 1500-3000 American families who are in the process of adopting a child from Vietnam.

 

Please ask the Dept of State and the USCIS to request that Dr. Long allow all dossiers submitted by July 1,2008 to be “grand fathered” by allowing these families to receive a child referral even after Sept 1. He has indicated that he is agreeable to this request IF the Dept of State and USCIS agencies will state that they will honor this change by continuing to approve qualified I-600 (orphan petition) and I-234 (visa) applications for families matched after September 1st. Vietnamese law requires a current bilateral agreement between sending and receiving countries; the one between Vietnam and the United States will expire on September 1st, 2008. Dr Long has indicated that Vietnam would waive this requirement for the remaining dossiers, if asked to do so by the Dept of State and USCIS.

 

Thousands of prospective parents applied to USCIS to adopt a child from Vietnam, believing in good faith that the US and Vietnam would continue to work together to complete ethical adoptions.

 

Since November 2007, USCIS has implemented DNA testing and the Orphans First program. These steps should help improve confidence in the adoption process, and allow the US and Vietnam to negotiate a new MOU with the goal of becoming a Hague country. Closing the program at this point will leave 1500-3000 families and orphans in limbo for as long as two years, while Vietnam makes necessary steps towards acceptance of the Hague Convention. As the JCICS Children's Rights Campaign of June 2008 has pointed out, if adoptions stop between the US and Vietnam, so will the backbone of humanitarian support that has helped tens of thousands of orphans who will never have the opportunity to be raised in a family environment.

 

We urge you to act upon this request without delay, by ensuring that the Dept of State and USCIS write this letter to Dr Long. This is a very trying time for the many families who wait month after month with little word, and we hope that their dreams of raising an orphaned child does not end in sadness.

 

Sincerely,

 

The Undersigned

Waiting...

Even though it is very early on Sunday morning, I am writing this as if it were still Saturday. I called Carl at the agency this afternoon to make sure my dossier got to him by noon. He confirmed that it had arrived and we discussed the fact that it may be necessary to expedite the translation of the dossier because of the time frame involved. I have realized that nothing is stable in the world of international adoption. New things come to light whether they were overlooked, failed to be mentioned, changed by one or the other governments, or, of course, I just do not remember being informed. I know that I am guilty of not remembering who I talked to about what during the course of a day. Due to the number of people I deal with, sometimes conversations seem to run together. One thing that I totally understood when I heard it today was, " unless the September 1st date is extended, my chances of getting a child are unlikely". I have known this all along, but still had more hope than I do right now. There are so many things I do not understand. I could have stopped this process when I first found out about the deadlines, but felt the urge to continue. It is such a weird feeling to think that all this work may not bring a child into my family as I had hoped. I know I am not alone in the way I feel. I know there are alot of other people going through the same thing. In some ways I feel worse for them because I know how some people feel like they are not complete without a child. I am so blessed to have family and friends that care and are supportive. I have looked into some of the domestic options open to me and I am not convinced that is for me. The next 3 months will be very difficult. Trying to have hope that I will be matched or the date will be extended, and also wondering what life has for me should it not work out. When I was young, my Dad used to tell me," it you want something, wait 2 weeks, and if you still want it, then it is ok to get it". It has been alot longer than 2 weeks...LOL.

Try again...

I made it back from Atlanta one more time and have the state "seal" on everything and have sent it back to my agency. My dossier has to be translated into Vietnamese now and hopefully will be in Vietnam in about 2 weeks, I hope. Now I wait. This is the most surreal thing I have every been through. Trying to control my emotions, excitement, doubt, fear and everything else you can imagine is very difficult. I am sure I will have to pester my agency at least weekly to find out if any little bit of information has come to them. I really don't see how they could blame me. I sure would like to reap the rewards of all the hard work that has gone into getting this adoption together. We will see...

Hard as I try...

It seems like throughout my life, no matter how thorough I try to be, I always miss something. Carl, the guy at my agency that I deal with, called me today to let me know that they had received my dossier. We were going over it over the phone and of course I had filled out one area that I should not have. That was not a big deal. Next, as he was looking them over he said that there was not a state seal on any of them. DUH!!! So, I am leaving tomorrow night when I get off work, driving to Atlanta, AGAIN, to be at the Secretary of State's office at 8:30a.m. on Friday. Carl is overnighting the documents back to me so they will be here in the morning. I will get them "state certified" then hopefully be able to send them same-day back to him. 

I have learned alot of things I never even thought about during my adoption process. The most valuable is acceptance. The ability to let things that you have no power to change float over you and not keep you in a useless state of existence, is priceless. Not that I am not REALLY pissed off for a minute...LOL. But to "not live in the problem but in the solution", I have known before, but I guess needed to be reminded. I have people tell me all the time that they hope that the child will appreciate what I have gone through to get him. What is more important than that is, that I appreciate all I have gone through. The process of adopting an international child has been one that has truly changed me for the better and helped in my evolution into the kind of person I REALLY want to be, and most often don't live up to. 

FINALLY!!!!!

It has been a few weeks since I made an entry here. The only reason I am going to go into all the details is for reference. As I stated in my last entry, I was fingerprinted in Jacksonville and was under the impression I could pick up my approved I600A form that I have been waiting on for nearly 5 months now, the following Monday. Instead, it turned out to be a day over 2 weeks later. I picked it up this morning at 9a.m. When I held it in my hand, I was almost emotional. This is the United States Government approving me to bring an orphaned child into this country. This is the one thing you absolutely have to have or you are out of luck. In addition to the 5 month torture of waiting on it, I had to have a ton of documents notarized, then taken to the county where the notary was licensed, then county and state authenticated, which means the notary's signature was validated. Because of different documents being notarized in different counties, I went to the Clayton, Worth, Lee, Dougherty and almost Baker county court houses. Thank God I asked if the Baker county notary if they had someone else who was in a closer county. Organizing all the papers, which are written in both English and Vietnamese, and making sure everything had been done correctly was a job. There is no way I can express in words how difficult this has been since I was working on a deadline of getting my "dossier" documents overnighted to my agency in Ohio by this afternoon. I made it to the FedEx office at about 6p.m. I made sure that the forms were in a hard envelope as to not get damaged. There was 8 months of hard work in that envelope and it was such a relief finally getting it sent off. These documents have to be translated and then sent to Vietnam. I was so excited about getting everything done, I forgot to send the fee for the translation in with the dossier. I will do it tomorrow. As I have said, it has been awful waiting these past 5 months on the approval of this form, but now comes the hard part. I will know by September 1st or before if I will be able to get a child. As it stands right now, I have to be given a referral by that date. Maybe that will change and the Vietnamese government will be a little more flexible on that date. At least I can now say that I have done everything that Vietnam and the United States have required of me to adopt a child. I just hope and pray to God that they come through on their end.

Tomorrow!!!

It is May 12th. I am in Jacksonville, Florida. Tomorrow morning I have an appointment to FINALLY have my fingerprints taken at 8 a.m. Possibly by this time next week, I will have the approved form in my hand. The one I have been waiting on since January 9th. I am proceeding with caution, with this adoption. I am well aware there is just as much chance that it will happen as there is it will not. I have not been buying many things at all from the beginning. Just a few. Tonight before I left my hotel to get dinner, I drove around the area I am in just to see what was around. I had been looking for some letters to put on the wall that spell "Aeson". I found a store that had just opened next to a Kohl's and found them there. I guess that was a real act of hope or faith, however you want to see it. 

Hope

It is late, but Carl, the head of the agency I am using, called tonight. I was discussing with him some details of the dossier that I am getting ready. He was very encouraging in alot of ways. The agency is not requiring alot of the fees at the usual time frames because of the risks involved right now. As I stated earlier, I am going for my fingerprints for my I600A in one week. This is a big deal. I discussed with him being open to a child that might be up to 2 years old or maybe even a little older if it comes down to that. There are only about 12-13 on the waiting list for boys at this time. I think alot of people might give up with all the things going on right now. Even though there is some doubt in my heart, I am not giving up. I feel led to go on. It may be just wishful thinking, but I feel like it will happen ( at least that is how I feel today ). PRAY YA'LL !!!!!

Keep praying

Well, I finally received a notice in the mail today to be in Jacksonville for my fingerprinting appointment on May 13th. I also got access to the email address of the officer in charge at the USCIS office in Atlanta. I emailed her to see if there was any way she might help me. She was not able to move my appointment time up, but did tell me that if I would email her 2 days after I was fingerprinted, she would personally walk through and approve my I600A form I have been waiting for all this time. This means that as of right now, it would be possible to get all my info to Vietnam by the July 1st deadline. That is the first hurdle. The second hurdle is hoping and praying to get matched with a child in the 2 months before September 1st. "All things are possible" as the scripture goes. I am trying very hard to have faith, but, whether it is good or bad, I am a realist as well. The anxiety that I am feeling is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It causes the other issues in life right now to be magnified by 1000%. So much time, energy, emotion, and work have gone into this process. I truly pray for God's will, but more than that, I pray for acceptance of His will. That is the most difficult part. To say this is an emotional roller coaster in an understatement. If things do not work out, I know I will be ok. But it will most assuredly be one of the hardest blows I have had in life thus far. I also hope and pray that if I am blessed with a child, that I remain forever grateful for what I went through to get him. I ask that all who read this to please keep this in your prayers.

Honestly

Since the news Friday of things becoming more difficult in this adoption process, I have read some more material, emailed some other people to get their take on it, and feel very powerless right now. This is Sunday night around 11 p.m. and I am planning on being in my congressman's office tomorrow morning. I have only ever emailed with them and never spoken face to face with the person I communicate with. I hope that by showing up in person, the emotional aspect will become more real for them. 

Since reading the news Friday, my feelings have gone up and down the scale. One minute I am positive and feel that I can push forward and that it is possible for things to work out in the time frame I have been given. In another minute, I am in a panic as if someone is trying to smother me and I cannot get any air. Sadness, hope, excitement, disappointment, I am feeling all of them right now. I am learning so much about so many things during this process and know that it will benefit me somehow at some point. This is not a goal, or a dream, or a hope, it is a life. A life that I, my family, and my friends have already started to accept and look forward to. 

As I titled this post "honestly", I will tell you that my gut feeling is that there is not enough time for this to work out for me. I tend in stressful situations to expect the worst, that way, it usually comes out better. I pray this is true here..... 

More pressure

The Vietnamese government has decided that all dossiers must be logged in to them by July 1st. The previous date for this was September 1st. Also, only those dossiers matched with a child by September 1st will be able to bring the child home. It can all still come together. It is still possible for this to happen. But it has just become more difficult than it already is. Hope is not lost, faith is still here, just looks like I need to invest in some knee pads for all the praying I will be doing ;-)  

Good news!!!

Over the past few days I have been in contact with my congressman's office and some action is being taken by the USCIS office about my I600A form that I have been waiting on FOREVER now. And even better news, my agency (VORF) posted on their site that what they are hearing from their sources is that everyone that sends in a dossier by the 1st of September, will be matched with a child. I am actually not too far away from having the dossier ready to go other than the I600A form. I am almost afraid to say that this means the odds of all this working out, and me being able to adopt this child, have just increased BIG time. Unless something horrible happens, I will have my dossier to Vietnam in just a few months, probably less. Things are looking pretty good from where I stand now. 

Maybe a little progress

Thanks to some dear people, Don and Mary Dale Kea, I made a contact with some people in Congressman Sanford Bishop's office. It is funny, how as a taxpayer, I am unable to reach anyone in the United States Citizens and Immigration Services(USCIS) for over 12 weeks, and when my Congressman's office gets involved, they have contact that very day. Anyhow, my form is there and they have not put some paperwork that was sent at different times, together. I know both are there because I sent them all overnight and have receipts. The Congressman's office has a liaison that will go tomorrow and make sure the forms are matched up and maybe then we will see some action. This is so ridiculous. There is no other state in this country that has a USCIS office that takes this long. You can't tell me that there are more people in the state of Georgia trying to adopt internationally than any other state in the U.S., Georgia is not that forward thinking yet. More to come when I find it out.....

BLAH again !!!

I am very sad that I have not yet heard anything from the USCIS office about the I600A form I am waiting on. They are supposed to contact me to go to Atlanta to get fingerprinted before the document is actually approved, and I have not even heard about that yet. I guess the hard part is waiting and not having anything to do that makes the process seem like it is moving along. The 12th of this month will be 9 weeks since I sent the paperwork off. If the office is 15 weeks behind like I have heard, then my paperwork is in the middle of a pile of other paperwork for at least another 6 weeks.....UGH !!! At least I have more behind me than in front, if all goes according to plan, Ha! Times that I feel like this are rare ( thank God ), but when they sink in, they are not fun. The cool thing about the time it takes to wait is that, I have moments when I envision "Aeson" with me when I am doing things. Whether it be driving down the road, going out to eat, or sitting in the high chair that I am looking at right next to me now. It is kind like I am already incorporating him into my life. I look around the house at times and think about the things I am going to need to move or put up so that he does not get hurt by them or break something.

I guess the scripture that comes to mind now is, Ecclesiastes 3:1, " To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven".

BLAH !!!

I have to be honest and say that I do not like the fact that I do not know what is going on with this form I600A I am waiting on. I have a good idea that I should get used to this feeling that I have right now because I think I am going to become very familiar with it before this process is over. I have friends and clients that ask constantly, "what is going on with the adoption?" It is so hard to explain to someone who has no idea about the way things work.

God is good !!!! As I am sitting here writing this, I received an email from my agency letting me know that the wait list has decreased quite a bit due to a number of referalls. I could almost cry !!! Also, I found out that there are some things I can be getting ready that I was under the impression I had to wait until I had the I600A approval to do. The emotional ups and downs of this are incredible. I am NOT losing site of my hopes for a child at all, but it can feel very discouraging at times. Just when those times come along, usually something good happens, like the email I just received.

Been a few weeks

It has been a few weeks since I posted anything here. There really has not been much going on. I sent in my I600A form and am waiting to hear back from that. It takes about 3 months in the Atlanta office for it to go through. I did receive my copies of my home study today. There were about 5 or 6 of them in the envelope to send to various places that will require that information.

One reason I have not posted recently is because I got an email from my case worker that was informing those of us adopting from Vietnam that the same thing that happened in Guatemala (meaning the shut down of adoptions ) could occur in Vietnam. I won't go into all the technicalities, but the looming date is September 1st , 2008. I am told by the organization handling my adoption that this is common and that they really feel like it will not happen. But, as I am sure anyone can see, it does make me a little uneasy. I think I am far enough along in the process that I will have a "referral" long before that date. 

I have had to tap into a strength that can only come from one place, (God ) to be able to press forward in this process. I am uneasy about the whole situation, and my instincts tell me to not trust anything, and at times I wonder how I will feel if things do not work out for this adoption. I do not so much pray for this adoption to take place, as well as I do not pray for any thing in particular. I believe that God knows my heart. He knows I am not a perfect person, that in fact I may be "fit" to be a parent, but am I worthy of this gift that He knows I want. My utmost desire is that the will of God take place. I am not in a position to see the whole picture of what is going on as He is. I would never want to ask for something that is not in line with the journey He has for me. I was taught by a very dear friend that to be humble to God, not so much to be afraid, but to be in awe of His grace, keeps me in a place to accept what comes along. I think alot of times if I am going to be able to instill this into my child, if I should be so blessed. I think that more than anything else he might learn in his life, that getting into his soul so that he knows God's love is the most important job I will have. 

One thing I have learned since beginning the adoption process is that I have a certain peace inside or calm, whatever you want to call it. Some might say it is God telling me things are going to work out like I hope. Another might say I am just imagining it. But I know that even though there may be alot of us disappointed if this little boy doesn't make it here, what God has in mind will fulfill us as well.

A good day...

    Today was a good day. I got a call from one of the people in Atlanta that my home study has been approved and finalized. They emailed it to me to look at the rough draft to see if there were any errors. Everything involved with adoption takes so many steps. It is not like you are handed one thing and do it, it takes several steps to do just that one thing. Also, I had to fill out a preliminary application to the agency I wanted to use. I got a letter today from them letting me know I could send in the primary application. I guess that means that they have accepted me, YEH!!! I do not know if any of these things will make anything move any faster, but at least I feel like I am accomplishing something.

    This is Tuesday night and I have been off since Saturday afternoon. It has been a nice weekend. I went to church Sunday morning. They have a children's moment as most services do, and it was cool to think that hopefully soon, I will be able to see Aeson running down to the front of the church with the other kids. I also went to have lunch with my friends Frank and Sarah Orgel, and their daughter Leigh Ann Mathis that is pregnant and due in just a few weeks. We had a nice time. We looked at all of the baby things that Leigh Ann has in her nursery. Man, if I get half as much stuff as she has, I am going to have to move into a bigger place, HA! She had the coolest diaper bag, made by Columbia I think. It totally did not look like a diaper bag at all! I am going to go ahead and buy one this weekend. As I have said before, I do not know what kind of Snugli to get, so she and I discussed this also. I am obsessing about the Snugli because I am going to have to carry Aeson all over Vietnam for several weeks, and the most comfortable Snugli is gonna make or break me.

    I have been looking into food choices for when we are gone as well. I saw one picture where they take a coke can, cut out the top, stick a defeathered bird in head first, feet hanging out the top, and cook it in the can on a grill I think. Needless to say, I have been looking into all types of just add water soups that we can take with us, as well as beef jerky and other small non-perishable foods. If the bird in the can is any indication of food choices there, I will be skinnier than I already am when we return, HA! I am sure there are things that will not be so strange, but this is an adventure.

A new week...

   Starting a new week. I have never been one to wish my life away, but I am looking forward to having some things happen. I heard from my case worker, Mary Ann, today. She is sending my home study to Atlanta tomorrow hopefully, they should let me know by next week that they have gotten it and how long it will take them to do what they have to do to finalize it. I know that some of this doesn't make sense to most of you, but they are awesome little baby steps, HAHA, for me.

    If you will notice, I have added the logo to the agency that I am waiting to get approval from. I am going to call them tomorrow to see what is up. I mailed in the preliminary application last week. The website is www.vorf.org . You should check it out. It will give you some insight on some of the process. 

    Some of my friends can't believe that I bought the recliner that I mentioned. I have always been anti-recliner...lol. Age changes alot of things. I am going to take a picture of it and post on here to prove it. Give me a few days.

    My friend Jody and I were looking at all the baby stuff in Target over the weekend. That does get me a little excited. There are so many choices for Snuglies. If you know what that is and have one you think is great, please let me know which one it is.

    Since I will be at home more once Aeson arrives, I decided that it was time to get serious about the cooking thing. I can do it, but just need to work on my organizational skills. I guess it would be good to stock the cabinets as well, HA. I actually bought a crock pot this weekend as well. The idea of putting everything in one pot and letting it cook for 8-10 hours sounds easy enough. Plus, there are a zillion recipes on the internet for "slow cooking".

    At this point, I know that some of you that read this may not find it very interesting. And it probably isn't, but it will be relevant to Aeson one day. Also, I realize that as hard as I may try, there will be numerous grammatical errors in these posts. I apologize for that, but most of the time it is way late and I am way tired when I am writing this. So please overlook these imperfections

    Also, keep your fingers crossed. I found a organization that gives financial grants to some who are adopting. This is a grant that does not have to be paid back...lol. I kind of doubt that I would be eligible for anything, but I will fill out the paperwork and see what happens. Every little bit helps.

Trying to get some help

    Today I asked as many of my clients as I thought could be of help, if they knew anyone in government in Atlanta that might could hurry along my I600A form. The is preliminary form that allows me to bring the child home from Vietnam. They are saying that the office is backlogged by about 15 weeks. I hope it doesn't take that long. All I can do right now is try to get as much of my paper work that I have to send to Vietnam for them to look over (called a dossier) ready for when my home study is completed and sent back to me. I have been told that there is not really  a chance of Vietnam having the same troubles that Guatemala has, but it is difficult to trust. As I may have stated, to my knowledge, Vietnam is the last country open to single male adoption of infants. 

    I started warning my clients this week that even though it is going to be a while before I travel to Vietnam, I am going to be taking a month off of work. Those who are more laid back will not have a problem. They can stretch it out and it will not cause them too much trouble. So far they are willing to take a back seat to the more obsessive compulsive ones...LOL... that have to come in on a very strict routine. I guess alot of people will be making sacrifices for this child to come to this country...LOL. Even though I will not have to be in Vietnam for the whole month, I think it will be wise for me to have some extra time off to get him adjusted to things and to Beth who I hope still has all intentions of keeping him for me.

    As I write this and have to make references to "him" or "the child", I am fast realizing that I need to settle on a name for him. All the names that I seem to like begin with a vowel. Of course, I would like it to be a name that not everyone has, but at the same time, I do not want it to be too different. So as for now, I will refer to him as Aeson (pronounced Ason). This may change so don't get too set on it. I am going to begin posting some pictures of Vietnam here so that it can give an idea of where Aeson is coming from.

    I guess I am doing like some other creatures do when they are getting ready for their children. I bought a recliner this week. It does not so much look like the old granddaddy type, but it does rock and swivel..LOL. I thought that would come in handy when one of us is having a hard time going to sleep. I also went for leather, I am anticipating all sorts of bodily fluids all over it and this will be much easier to clean. Off to bed now. 

Late beginning

    It is Wednesday January 9th about 11:45 PM. I have just signed up to begin a blog about my international adoption process. I am a little behind because I guess the real beginning was around October 22nd, 2007. Of course I had been thinking about adoption well before that, but actually initiated contact with some information sources at that time. 

    In just about 2 and a half months, I have actually gotten quite a bit done. I began emailing with different organizations/agencies and soon found out that single male adoption is not an easy task. There are many, and I mean many countries that are not open to this at all. I also found out that there are many adoption agencies that do not accept single male applicants. I totally understand some of their concerns and respect the path they choose to take. I was just disappointed when a "Christian" organization informed me that they "only deal with married couples because they are a Christian organization".  Does that mean they think that single men can't be Christians? Oh well, no need to waste too much energy on that subject.

    I finally got in contact with a single woman in Pennsylvania that had an adoption agency. She had adopted 2 children from Guatemala and had much success with single males adopting from there as well. She was very helpful and the information she gave me got me started. Long story short, the adoption process in Guatemala has fallen apart at this time due to changes in that country's policies. Guatemala was attractive to me for many reasons. I have friends that are latin and I am somewhat familiar with the culture. The Catholic religion that is practiced there, among most people, is not that far off from Methodist, which is what I am. Being self employed, the fact that when traveling to bring the child home, I would only be gone about 4 days. I would have been able to have gotten home with him and taken some time off of work as well for both of us to get to know each other.

    But, being the positive and persistent person I am I looked into  what other choices I had. There was always domestic adoption. As I have explained to many people, there are numerous reasons I would rather not do this. I won't focus on that, but instead, explain why I am attracted to international adoption. 

    I have never done anything traditionally or the way other people have done things. As hard as it can be at times, I like to be different. I enjoy doing things that other people think are risky or out of their realm. I think that because the child will be from another country will give not only him, but our whole family a lifetime of learning about new things that come from his country. Alot of people where I live here in Albany, Georgia, never step out of their comfort zone. They do not travel to new places, are afraid of new things and people, and little do they know they are missing out. But we are all free to make choices on how we want to live our lives (thank you God!!!) 

    I am on track to adopt from Vietnam at this time. I must be honest. At first I was a bit intimidated by Vietnam for many reasons. Mainly because it is so far away. The trip alone will be long. When going to bring the child home, Vietnam requires a minimum 2 weeks stay and could possibly be longer, more like 3 weeks. But, I am up for whatever needs to be done. For those that do not know, I am a hairstylist and salon owner. I know that most of my clients will patiently wait my return. After all, a little long hair and grown out roots has never killed anyone that I know of...lol.

    I had my first meeting with my home study case worker on the 12th of December. I was a little nervous about getting someone who I thought might try to interrogate me. No one likes to feel like that. Her name was Mary Ann and she was great. I was very comfortable with her. She was very helpful. She did not give me a hard time at all, but did her job to make sure I was "fit" to be a father also. Mary Ann was great about getting all my meetings done quickly and even wanted to meet my Grandmother. At our final meeting, she said as far as she was concerned, she thought I would make a great Dad. Man, was I relieved. As of today, she is still putting it all together, but it should be in Atlanta at the main office by next week I hope.

    I felt that I need to chose a different agency than the one I was going to deal with when thinking of adopting from Guatemala. For several reasons, but mainly because I wanted an agency with alot of experience there. I had searched the internet over, emailed numerous agencies that I felt like would accept a single male, and have decided on VORF, Vietnamese Orphans Relief Fund. I got some references from them that helped solidify my decision to use them as my agency (if they accept me).

    I sent off my application to them today as well as my I600A form to USCIS. I have decided that paying a little extra to overnight things is worth the peace of mind that maybe I am hurrying things along a bit.

    It is pretty late now and have to be up early. As I write in this blog, I am sure that I will jump around alot on times, dates and topics, but for anyone who knows me, they understand this. I am doing this so that when God willing, I bring home that little boy, that one day he can read this and understand the love, time, energy and of course patience that goes into adopting a child. If another person looking to adopt runs across this and it helps or gives insight as others have done for me, I feel like maybe I am giving a little back. John