I just read guatadopt.com and learned that 50 cases were released from PGN yesterday. 10 approvals and 40 with Previos!!! How frustrating! The PGN has not released ANY cases for over a month and when they do - they release TEN! Even though they say they are not going to be as "picky" as the last PGN, they issue previos in FORTY CASES!!!!! When will this ever stop?
My son is getting older and older. We are missing out on so much, watching him learn and grow and play, and he is missing out on a FAMILY who loves him so much, who thinks about him constantly and wants him to come home.
Right now, I have so many emotions and none of them are very positive! I probably need to quit typing and start praying and reading my bible. It's also a good thing tomorrow is Sunday...
Have I mentioned before that "I WANT MY BABY TO COME HOME!!!"
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Please, please -- send word today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I have patiently waited for two weeks since the interview. Today is Friday of the second week and I really, really want to get out of PGN!!!! I read on Guatadopt.com that cases may be released today. Well, actually it said they may be released yesterday or today. Since it wasn't yesterday, I am praying for today!! I know many other Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) are praying the same prayer.
I am ready to bring Edison home and to get on with our lives. Even Emily, the other day, stated that she was ready for him to come home so we could be a normal family. She, like I, always feel like something or someONE is missing from everything we do.
Edison, the only thing I can do is PRAY! Pray that the officials in Guatemala feel for you as a child and for all of us as waiting parents and move forward with making us a family.
I've said it many times and will repeat - once we pass the 9 month point, I am going to be like an angry pregnant woman who is way overdue!
I am ready to bring Edison home and to get on with our lives. Even Emily, the other day, stated that she was ready for him to come home so we could be a normal family. She, like I, always feel like something or someONE is missing from everything we do.
Edison, the only thing I can do is PRAY! Pray that the officials in Guatemala feel for you as a child and for all of us as waiting parents and move forward with making us a family.
I've said it many times and will repeat - once we pass the 9 month point, I am going to be like an angry pregnant woman who is way overdue!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
The Interview went very well...
Edison's mother was interviewed by PGN on Thursday. We heard from our attorney that the interviewers at PGN were not being very nice to the birthmothers and that Jemmy's experience was no different. We are so blessed that she was easily found and willing to come into the city for this very difficult interview. After she gave her DNA sample, she should have been finished. I am so thankful that she was located and that she came in so quickly.
Our attorney said that Jemmy is a very simple young lady. I know it was hard on her to come and do this. Again, I cannot imagine what she was feeling. After carrying Edison for 9 months and then, one year later, still not having his adoption finalized . . . .
This baby needs a forever family. While I know he is being well-taken care of, studies have shown that children in foster care are still considered to be in "less than optimal care situations". Even if a foster family does not intentionally hold back and even when the family loves him and takes good care of him, there is the underlying knowledge that he will never be completely theirs and this causes the foster family to hold back and prevents them from meeting the deeper, emotional needs that a child has.
We are so ready to parent Edison - to welcome him into our family and to love him unconditionally, just as if he was born to us. He needs us and we need him!
What happens next? Now we are praying that our case will exit PGN --- SOON (like this coming week ...) ! If that should happen, we could still possibly travel by the middle of July! This would be the optimal time for our family. The girls will be out of school and my mom will be on summer break. This will give all of us some time together and will give Eddy time to bond with his sisters and his "Nannie" for a few weeks before they go back to school.
Let's get out of PGN!!!
Our attorney said that Jemmy is a very simple young lady. I know it was hard on her to come and do this. Again, I cannot imagine what she was feeling. After carrying Edison for 9 months and then, one year later, still not having his adoption finalized . . . .
This baby needs a forever family. While I know he is being well-taken care of, studies have shown that children in foster care are still considered to be in "less than optimal care situations". Even if a foster family does not intentionally hold back and even when the family loves him and takes good care of him, there is the underlying knowledge that he will never be completely theirs and this causes the foster family to hold back and prevents them from meeting the deeper, emotional needs that a child has.
We are so ready to parent Edison - to welcome him into our family and to love him unconditionally, just as if he was born to us. He needs us and we need him!
What happens next? Now we are praying that our case will exit PGN --- SOON (like this coming week ...) ! If that should happen, we could still possibly travel by the middle of July! This would be the optimal time for our family. The girls will be out of school and my mom will be on summer break. This will give all of us some time together and will give Eddy time to bond with his sisters and his "Nannie" for a few weeks before they go back to school.
Let's get out of PGN!!!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Interview is Tomorrow!!!!
I received word that our file is moving! Edison's birthmom, Jemmy, has an interview with PGN tomorrow morning at 11:00 (Guatemala time). At this point we do not know how quickly our file will come out of PGN after she is interviewed, but we hope our attorney can tell us something after the interview.
For all my prayer warriors, please pray for Jemmy and the PGN employees. I know this has got to be like a nightmare for Jemmy. Making the decision to place Edison for adoption, having to come in and give a DNA sample and have her photo taken with him was enough. I am sure she anticpated being able to move forward with her life at that point. Now she has been contacted for another interview, this time by government officials. I pray that the interviewers will be nice to her during the interview and that they will not make her feel guilty for the choice she made. I also pray that they will take into consideration that not all adoption attorneys in Guatemala work unethically or illegally and that those attorneys with those cases of waiting parents and waiting children will quickly move through this process.
Edison, tomorrow is a big day! I hate it that your birthmom is having to go through this. Making the choice to allow you to be adopted internationally was a selfless thing for her to do - especially for our family, who is so excited to make you a little Underwood. Hopefully, with tomorrow's interview, things will move quickly and we will soon get the call that "The Underwood's are out of PGN!"
For all my prayer warriors, please pray for Jemmy and the PGN employees. I know this has got to be like a nightmare for Jemmy. Making the decision to place Edison for adoption, having to come in and give a DNA sample and have her photo taken with him was enough. I am sure she anticpated being able to move forward with her life at that point. Now she has been contacted for another interview, this time by government officials. I pray that the interviewers will be nice to her during the interview and that they will not make her feel guilty for the choice she made. I also pray that they will take into consideration that not all adoption attorneys in Guatemala work unethically or illegally and that those attorneys with those cases of waiting parents and waiting children will quickly move through this process.
Edison, tomorrow is a big day! I hate it that your birthmom is having to go through this. Making the choice to allow you to be adopted internationally was a selfless thing for her to do - especially for our family, who is so excited to make you a little Underwood. Hopefully, with tomorrow's interview, things will move quickly and we will soon get the call that "The Underwood's are out of PGN!"
Thursday, May 8, 2008
I've got good news and some not so good news...
I've got some good news and some not so good news... I'll give the "not so good news first".
It is true that the PGN is going to re-review all of the adoption cases currently waiting. This means our case file will be reviewed again - under watchful eyes. We knew this already, so since that was the "not so good news" I knew the "good news" had to be pretty good. We learned that the PGN has a method to their madness and this led to our good news.
We have been told that our case was sitting on the PGN Director's desk ready to be signed when he was "let go". This means our file had been reviewed by three reviewers and had been passed on to the Director for final signature without receiving a PREVIO, also known as a kickout. The cases that have already been reviewed and ready to come out of PGN will be first on the list for re-review! YEAH! We consider this not just good news, but great news! I previously asked everyone to pray that we would not be on the bottom of the stack of 2,286 dossiers. What a wonderful answer to prayer! We were not on the bottom and we were not even in the middle, were were on TOP!!! Now, granted, I have no idea how many others were ready to be signed off and passed on. Just knowing mine was one of them - is awesome news!
We have also heard "through the grapevine" that the cases of those attorney's who the PGN suspects of fraud will be looked at more closely. I am very happy to report that our attorney, Cinthya, is very reputable. She has never been in any trouble or had any problems with the PGN. I also feel confident that since we made it through the first time with no previos, we can make it through again.
One thing the PGN is going to do to make sure all of the cases are legitimate is to personally interview each birth mother. They want to make absolutely sure that the birth mother gave the child up by her own free will and was not paid anything to place the baby for adoption. Edison's Guatemama has already been contacted and has her interview with the PGN next Thursday. While I do not anticipate anything going wrong, I would again like to ask for your prayers.
While Eddy's mom will never be able to forget him, I know she is probably ready to get this process behind her and move forward with her life. This should have been after she gave her DNA. Now, once again, she is reminded of the painful decision she made and has to complete another interview. After a 9 month pregnancy and now his first birthday having passed, this has gone on too long for everyone!
Dear PGN - I know you are making needed changes in the adoption process; however, please remember that there are 2,286 families who are waiting. We are each longing to hold our Guatemalan children. These children have mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who are waiting to welcome them into our country, our states, our communities, our homes and especially, our hearts. We will forever be greatful to the country of Guatemala for allowing their children to become ours - cherished members of our families!
Sincerely,
A Waiting Family
Anywhere, USA
It is true that the PGN is going to re-review all of the adoption cases currently waiting. This means our case file will be reviewed again - under watchful eyes. We knew this already, so since that was the "not so good news" I knew the "good news" had to be pretty good. We learned that the PGN has a method to their madness and this led to our good news.
We have been told that our case was sitting on the PGN Director's desk ready to be signed when he was "let go". This means our file had been reviewed by three reviewers and had been passed on to the Director for final signature without receiving a PREVIO, also known as a kickout. The cases that have already been reviewed and ready to come out of PGN will be first on the list for re-review! YEAH! We consider this not just good news, but great news! I previously asked everyone to pray that we would not be on the bottom of the stack of 2,286 dossiers. What a wonderful answer to prayer! We were not on the bottom and we were not even in the middle, were were on TOP!!! Now, granted, I have no idea how many others were ready to be signed off and passed on. Just knowing mine was one of them - is awesome news!
We have also heard "through the grapevine" that the cases of those attorney's who the PGN suspects of fraud will be looked at more closely. I am very happy to report that our attorney, Cinthya, is very reputable. She has never been in any trouble or had any problems with the PGN. I also feel confident that since we made it through the first time with no previos, we can make it through again.
One thing the PGN is going to do to make sure all of the cases are legitimate is to personally interview each birth mother. They want to make absolutely sure that the birth mother gave the child up by her own free will and was not paid anything to place the baby for adoption. Edison's Guatemama has already been contacted and has her interview with the PGN next Thursday. While I do not anticipate anything going wrong, I would again like to ask for your prayers.
While Eddy's mom will never be able to forget him, I know she is probably ready to get this process behind her and move forward with her life. This should have been after she gave her DNA. Now, once again, she is reminded of the painful decision she made and has to complete another interview. After a 9 month pregnancy and now his first birthday having passed, this has gone on too long for everyone!
Dear PGN - I know you are making needed changes in the adoption process; however, please remember that there are 2,286 families who are waiting. We are each longing to hold our Guatemalan children. These children have mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who are waiting to welcome them into our country, our states, our communities, our homes and especially, our hearts. We will forever be greatful to the country of Guatemala for allowing their children to become ours - cherished members of our families!
Sincerely,
A Waiting Family
Anywhere, USA
Friday, May 2, 2008
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday, Dear Edison,
Happy Birthday to You!!!!
I hope your first birthday is wonderful! I know you are with people who love you very much and I am sure they will have a big celebration. We are celebrating too - missing you - but still celebrating. Emily is baking a cake and I think we will go shopping and buy you a birthday present. I promise we will have a huge celebration when you come home! Happy Birthday... we love you!
Mommy, Daddy, Emily & Kensley
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday, Dear Edison,
Happy Birthday to You!!!!
I hope your first birthday is wonderful! I know you are with people who love you very much and I am sure they will have a big celebration. We are celebrating too - missing you - but still celebrating. Emily is baking a cake and I think we will go shopping and buy you a birthday present. I promise we will have a huge celebration when you come home! Happy Birthday... we love you!
Mommy, Daddy, Emily & Kensley
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Oh, Edison -- I want you to come home...
Edison,
I received some disturbing news today and for the first time, I am scared that this is going to take much longer than we have anticipated! I have never worried through this entire process because I knew you were meant to be. I have always assumed you would join us this summer. Today, The New York Times reported that Guatemalan prosecutors "will conduct a legal review of all of the country's pending adoptions." This will involve the re-examination of 2,286 cases that are pending. Pending cases are those in-process. This means those that are in PGN which also means our case to bring you home. The Attorney General's office states they are going to "study the case files deeply".
So, okay, they say the review process will not take long and they do not want to hold the children whose attorney's have followed all the rules any longer than needed. Good gracious! They have 2,286 files to "study deeply"! I understand why they are doing it. I would never want you to be adopted by us if you were wrongly taken from your birth mother! However, I have complete trust in our Guatemalan attorney and I know she has done nothing wrong - I just hate that things are being postponed. I was hoping you would come home in May! Then I started praying for June! Next I prayed for July (and I still am, but losing faith that it will happen).
You are going to be one year old tomorrow! I was prepared to miss the first 12-13 months - I don't want to miss any more! Please come home soon. I love you so much.....mommy
I received some disturbing news today and for the first time, I am scared that this is going to take much longer than we have anticipated! I have never worried through this entire process because I knew you were meant to be. I have always assumed you would join us this summer. Today, The New York Times reported that Guatemalan prosecutors "will conduct a legal review of all of the country's pending adoptions." This will involve the re-examination of 2,286 cases that are pending. Pending cases are those in-process. This means those that are in PGN which also means our case to bring you home. The Attorney General's office states they are going to "study the case files deeply".
So, okay, they say the review process will not take long and they do not want to hold the children whose attorney's have followed all the rules any longer than needed. Good gracious! They have 2,286 files to "study deeply"! I understand why they are doing it. I would never want you to be adopted by us if you were wrongly taken from your birth mother! However, I have complete trust in our Guatemalan attorney and I know she has done nothing wrong - I just hate that things are being postponed. I was hoping you would come home in May! Then I started praying for June! Next I prayed for July (and I still am, but losing faith that it will happen).
You are going to be one year old tomorrow! I was prepared to miss the first 12-13 months - I don't want to miss any more! Please come home soon. I love you so much.....mommy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
We've been waiting how long ? ? ?
From the day we filled out our application for adoption (9/11/2007) to the day we picked up Edison's visa to come to the United States (9/11/2008) took exactly one year! Of my three pregnancies - this paper pregnancy was the longest and most stressful.
Guatemalan Flag
