Cute Update on Caleb

We were able to send down two 2-gallon ziploc bags of clothes, toys, shoes, etc. with another family recently. We received an e-mail from our agency today, with a message from Caleb's foster mom, saying that Caleb really enjoyed the teddy bear and the shoes. In fact, he apparently likes the shoes so much that he won't take them off! :)

Have a Happy New Year. We are hopeful that 2008 will be the best year yet!

Keith and Kris

A Synopsis of Our Situation

This post is really more for those who are new to our situation. A special thanks to those of you who have been following our adoption over the months.

We received PGN approval on September 14th. That means that our adoption was approved, and at that time, we were told to expect to pick Caleb up in 4-6 weeks. All we needed was a new birth certificate identifying us as the parents, his passport, DNA testing, and a visa appointment. This part traditionally goes very, very smoothly, so we weren't worried at all. We started getting suspicious that something was going on when we didn't hear anything from our agency...and our suspicions were confirmed October 23rd, when we learned that the city where our son was born, Sayaxché, passed a law closing their Book of Adoptions, which made it impossible for our attorney to register our adoption or get a new birth certificate. And unless this happened, we could not complete the adoption.

Since October 23rd, we have been working with our agency and attorney to get this rectified. Our agency & attorney have been outstanding, but in spite of their efforts, we still are waiting for progress in our case. Our attorney has tried several court actions, some which have failed, and others which are still in the courts, waiting to be decided. Additionally, we have contacted everyone possible, including the US Embassy, our Senators, our Representative, JCICS, The Office of Children's Issues, Ethica, and more, but again, with no success.

While we wait, Caleb remains in foster care, which we are very thankful for. Caleb's foster family is outstanding, and we know that he is receiving wonderful care, and most importantly, lots of love during the wait. But obviously, we want him with us. This waiting is absolutely pointless, unfair, and unbelievable, but for some reason we're being put through it.

On a brighter note, we have built up a huge support system. The number of total strangers who have visited our blog and left us encouraging messages has been very humbling and appreciated. We have been able to connect with families in the same situation as us, which has been very helpful as we try to weave our way through this difficult situation.

A huge thank-you to everyone for your support and encouragement. We are looking forward to the day when we get "the call" that we can finally travel to Guatemala to bring Caleb home with us forever.

Rollercoasters and Random Thoughts...

Tomorrow marks 3 months since Caleb was approved by PGN. That has given me 3 months to deal with the "ups and downs" of waiting for the issues to be resolved. When we first started the adoption process, we were told that it is a "rollercoaster of emotions." No kidding. It's so much worse than that, I can't even explain it. There are days, when we receive hopeful news, that I am convinced that everything is absolutely perfect, and that nothing can go wrong again. Then, when the hopeful news doesn't pan out (and believe me, that has happened so much over the past 3 months especially) I cannot describe the agony, misery, and sadness. So it's official, I HATE ROLLERCOASTERS! I'M NEVER GOING TO SIX FLAGS, DISNEY WORLD, ETC. FOR ANYTHING EXCEPT TAKING PICTURES! ROLLERCOASTERS STINK!!!

Now for the random thoughts...
I'm assuming that everyone who is reading this has had situations at work or at home where you are required to do something that you don't really want to do. A situation that is really frustrating or involves a lot of work, one that makes you think "oh, if this would just go away it would be so much easier." Or, "if I didn't have to do this, my life/job would be so much less stressful." I know I run into this attitude a lot at work, and yes, I'm guilty of it myself. However, the next time you run into it, please think of Caleb. I now refer to this as the Sayaxché Attitude. The city government there didn't want to deal with all of the politics involved with the adoptions, so they passed their law forbidding the Civil Registrar to register adoptions or release documents related to adoption. How nice for them, they don't have to "deal with adoptions anymore." However, innocent children like Caleb are STUCK because of this. So please, the next time you run up against, try to look beyond the immediate situation that is frustrating you, and try to see the long-term reasons for why you have to do what you do. I know I am, for Caleb's sake. Please do not be guilty of possessing the Sayaxché Attitude!

I'm sorry for the lecture...this waiting obviously gives me too much time to think!

Kris

No Help from the Embassy, No Luck in the Courts

On Wednesday, we received the following e-mail from the US Embassy in Guatemala:

Dear _____ thank you for your email.

At this time, your case is being processed by the USCIS office at Embassy Guatemala. Please contact the office for more information. You can send them an email at: Guatemala.Adoptions@dhs.gov

After the USCIS office has completed processing your case, they will pass it to us in the Immigrant Visa Unit. We will be able to assist you with your case after the file is in our possession.

We hope that you find this information helpful.

Sincerely,

The Immigrant Visa Unit
U.S. Embassy Guatemala

We thought this was highly unusual, even impossible, so we contacted our agency. Sure enough, this is a form e-mail. The Embassy Immigrant Visa Unit didn't even read our e-mail, or didn't read it very well. We've been e-mailing them for over 6 weeks with no reply, and then get a reply with inaccurate information.

To add insult to injury, we learned this morning that the appeal that our attorney filed in court (appealing the judge's decision not to grant the Amparo, which would get us our BC from Sayaxché) was DENIED. So currently, our *ONLY* hope is the pending Constitutional Appeal (trying to get the Sayaxché law that closed the Book of Adoptions overturned on the basis that it is unconstitutional). This Constitutional Appeal will take months. We don't know what will happen if the Constitutional Appeal doesn't work...

Today marks 12 weeks since we were approved by PGN. Caleb should be home with us, and instead, he's thousands of miles away, with the possibility of never making it home. It just does not seem right that this is happening.

A Cute Story

Our eldest is in 1st grade, and every year, the PTO has a "Santa Shop" where the kids can go shopping (with their parents' money!) to buy and wrap Christmas presents for family members. DS had his turn yesterday and came home with presents for everyone on his list - including HIMSELF. Um...that wasn't on the list! Additionally, he bought himself the most expensive gift possible. :) (Wait a second, I think that means he got me a cheaper present ha ha ha)

I think he was proudest of the gift he got for Caleb, though. He told me all about it, it is a white teddy bear. He wants to keep it under the tree until Caleb can come home and unwrap it. Our eldest adores Caleb. Our whole family does. DS wrote about him in school, and his story was all about how he is going to teach Caleb how to play tag AND even let him win (once!). THIS is the part that I wish the stupid politicians could see - how this pointless waiting is not benefitting anyone, anywhere.

We of course do not have any new news. The latest we heard was that our attorney was still waiting for results of the legal appeals he filed. We know this is going to take a lot of time, but it is still torture to have to wait.

Have a great day, everyone!