Author: Annie

Originally posted May 1, 2008 on our old Vox blog.

Several you have contacted us about some of the recent articles about Vietnam. Not everything on the internet and in the papers is accurate. We have been reading the US Embassy in Hanoi’s website.

We read two dates on the Embassy’s website – July 1 and September 1. September 1, 2008 has always been the expiration date of the current agreement between the US and Vietnam, so we have been aware of this for several months. The July 1 date applies to people who have not turned in their foreign dossiers. We turned in our foreign dossier in February, and we have been waiting three months for a referral.

Based on some information for our agencies, we are “cautiously optimistic” that we will complete our adoption. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we are hopeful that we will get a referral early this summer. Now there still could be circumstances beyond our control, so that is why we are still cautious. Basically we are still waiting, but we are feeling a little more confident about completing the process.

Oh and…the Associated Press did not write me back. I’m not suprised. 🙂

Originally posted April 25, 2008 on our old Vox blog.

Now that I have vented about the article I previously mentioned, Scott and I have been talking to our agencies these past two weeks. We just wanted to ensure that we were all on the same page and the same team. After talking with them, we are more hopeful that we will get a referral. Nothing has changed in our situation. There is still a great deal of uncertainty and no guarantees that we will get a referral, but we are more hopeful that it could happen sooner rather than later. As someone who has discovered she is pessimistic, I am glad for something a little more hopeful. We will still just be waiting, but Scott and I have been very appreciative of all the support and encouragement we have gotten from our friends and family. It is has been hard at times to open up about what we are going through, but we have not been let down by our friends and family’s reactions. Thank you for giving us a listening ear and encouragement – we have needed it. 🙂

Originally posted April 25, 2008 on our old Vox blog.

As many of you know, the relationship between the US government and the Vietnamese government is a work in progress. Adoption agencies are working tirelessy to improve and/or continue the two governments’ relationship. I read this article US alleges baby-selling in Vietnam, and I can’t help but become upset. For all the families waiting on a child from Vietnam, they don’t need this kind of press.  It really makes me angry that the Associated Press could right this article when it could have deteriminal effects or that the US Embassy would post this study. I wrote the AP a letter. I will be sure to let you know if they reply back.

Originally posted April 10, 2008 on our old Vox blog.

So we did have our conference call, and some things from previous agency emails were clarified. We understand what the agencies are waiting on and how they will make future decisions, but we didn’t get tons of additional information. We just feel confirmed in our current state of waiting. We have looked into suggested back-up plans, and we don’t feel that God is calling us to any those. We just feel that it is our time to wait.

The verse from Proverbs 19:21 spoke to me this week. “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” You know, Scott and I do have plans, but I’m glad the Lord’s purpose prevails. It is His purpose and direction that we are waiting on, and it is His purpose that can be the only right direction for us. Thank you for your prayers and support as we go through this process. It is greatly appreciated.

Originally posted April 7, 2008 on our old Vox blog.

So, as we continue on this journey, we are realizing our need for guidance and wisdom. We would appreciate your prayers in this area. In the weeks and months ahead, we are surely going to be faced with some tough decisions for which we will definitely need God’s wisdom.

We have created a list of questions to ask our agency, and we are having a conference call with our social worker tomorrow. Hopefully, our social worker will be able to answer our questions, but we also might have some information to sort out. We can only wait and see how things go.

I did, however, have an encouraging moment. I posted several months ago a post titled “We’re Expecting, Too.” Our church decided to put in their March newsletter. A member of our church was able to take the article and give it to her sister who is in a similar situation as Scott and I. The sister obtained my email and said,

“I never realized how much I needed to know someone who was like me….until I read your letter…Thank you for sharing your story. It met me right where I was and God used you to comfort and encourage me. ”

I share this with you – not to toot my own horn – but because I was encouraged and greatful that God used something I wrote and that I had found a kindred spirit – even in a stranger. God has truly brought some special people into our lives through our adoption journey. As Scott and I continue through this process, we pray God is able to use us in more ways. Again, we can only wait and see.

Originally posted March 29, 2008 on our old Vox blog.

We don’t have any updates on our current situation. We can only answer questions in single words.

Have you heard anything? Nothing.
How are you guys handling everything? Daily.
What do you need? Prayer.

So, we are taking everything one day at a time. We are finding it is more difficult than we thought, but all we can do is keep waiting.

I was looking around the Internet and I found this article. It’s an interesting read.

“Vietnam man runs ‘abortion orphanage'”

Originally posted March 2, 2008 on our old Vox blog.

So, yesterday, Saturday, March 1, we had to attend a CPR and Baby Care Basics class as part of our training hours for our adoption. I don’t think either one of us was excited about taking a whole Saturday for this. We were only one of four couples in the class and everyone was from our adoption agency. It was nice to meet people and see where they are in the adoption process.

Well, the class wasn’t that bad. 🙂 We are now CPR certified for Adult, Child and Infant, and we got lots of information on baby care. We even had a diaper race. We did not win, however, I did help us come from behind and win second, but there was no prize for second. 🙁 We did enjoy the class and learn a lot. We got a whole pile of handouts, coupons, and a free diaper bag. The nurse was pretty excited to give them to us. She said that normally she has to promote breast feeding to pregnant mothers, but since none of us would be breast feeding she could give us more stuff. Some notable items include: a brag book, a bottle and 2 cans of formula, diaper samples, and music CD. The baby bag will of course be something Scott can use. I still have my eye out for something a little more fashionable. 🙂

Originally posted February 21, 2008 on our old Vox blog.

So we realize that it has been awhile since our last post, but we honestly have not heard any definitive information. We are still waiting to hear the final word. We did check out the JCICS website where we read the US had written a Standards of Practice for Vietnam. The US plans on presenting this document to DIA and Vietnamese provinces in early March. We think the US is hoping they and Vietnam will use the Standards of Practice for Vietnam to continue intercountry adoption. The Standards of Practice for Vietnam would be in place of the expiring Memo of Understanding. These government websites get confusing, so we could be completely wrong. 🙂

So as we trade to wade through all of this, we are reminded of how we will be able to get through this time…

Psalm 121

A Pilgrim Song

1 -2 I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

3 -4 He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
Guardian will never doze or sleep.

5 -6 God’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moonstroke.

7 -8 God guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always.

Originally posted January 28, 2008 on our old Vox blog.

When the first paragraph of your agency’s update reads …

“The Department of State will be posting a “Warning” regarding Vietnamese adoptions within the next few days. The Memo of Understanding which allows adoptions from Vietnam into the United States will expire on September 1, 2008. If there is not a new agreement between the two countries, adoptions in process may not be able to reach completion.”

… you know you are in for a rough day. The email went on to explain the situation further. The US Department of State (DOS) has decided not to renew the Memo of Understanding (MOU) in March because they feel that Vietnam has not complied. The DOS is working on a new agreement, but the new agreement will not be ready in seven months, September 1, 2008.

After digesting all of this and placing calls and emails to our agency, we soon found out that we had a choice to make. Our agency would not be sending any more foreign dossiers to Vietnam after February 6. What did we want to do with our dossier?

Here were our options:
1.    Sign a risk waiver and move forward with the process.
2.    Put the process on hold until a new agreement is reached. (The US and Vietnam took three years to reach the current agreement that is expiring.)
3.    Stop the process altogether and pick a new country.

The risk waiver states that the adopting parents are aware of the risk of not completing the adoption and losing our money. To complete an adoption the adopting parents have to receive a referral, receive visas from the USCIS, and then travel. All of these things cannot take place in seven months. It typically takes six months to get a referral.

Well, we do have six months, so there is time to get a referral. The obstacle is whether having a referral before September 1, 2008 is enough for the Vietnam government to grandfather us in under the MOU. No one knows what will happen. Our agency speculates that we will be grandfathered in and allowed to complete our adoption, but they cannot promise us this. Since they cannot promise us, we have to sign a risk waiver to move forward with our adoption process.

Yesterday and today, we spent several hours discussing our three options. Neither my husband nor I had a desire to stop and pick another country or put the process on hold until there was a new agreement. This left us with the need to sign a risk waiver. Along with signing the risk waiver, comes the realization that there may not be a child at the end of this, and we may lose money. Now the money we are not counting as a loss or a risk. We do see the risk of losing our child as a great loss, but it’s a risk we have to take.

(We signed the waiver, faxed it to our agency, and our dossier should be in the mail today, January 29, 2008.)

We could get a referral quickly; after all, we were told it is a three to five month wait to get a referral for a boy child. We could take the whole seven months to get a referral and not worry because we are grandfathered in. We could not be grandfathered in, and then we would be at a dead end. We don’t know which of these things will happen. All we know is that God brought us to this point, and He will be with us the rest of the way. We can’t change our mind because we were faced with uncertainty. We have to continue to have faith and follow where God is leading us.

We would appreciate your prayers as we continue on this journey. Also, we would appreciate understanding that we don’t know what is going to happen. You may ask questions, but we can only say we don’t know. Speculating would only get our hopes up, so please be patient with us and the process. Thank you for your prayers and support.