So what is the Deal with Guatemala Adoptions?

Well, I was originally going to post pics of Peter and tell you about his 2 year check up and how he is in the 95 percentile :). But instead, there are more important things to talk about.

A lot of friends and family have asked about my post last night with "what is going on with adoptions in Guatemala"? Well, Last night's post had to do with the DOS (Department of State) press release regarding Guatemala adoptions, and what to expect come January 1, 2008 - with adoptions being stopped. And today the Guatemala President announced that he will stop ALL adoptions as of January 1, 2008. Those cases still in progress, including ours will be in limbo until new procedures are put into place. Nobody knows when are what will happen when that occurs. While things have been politically charged lately in Guatemala, we have always been under the impression that because our "Power of Attorney" was already filed in Guatemala, that we would be able to proceed as planned, going under the "grandfather clause". But with the DOS press release and what the Guatemala President announced today, that is not the case. If we do not get approved by PGN by December 31st and the birth mom sign off on the adoption, then we have no idea what will happen to Anna. There is a slight chance that the January 1st deadline will be moved back, but no guarantee. Kerry and I, have no idea what will happen, all we can do is think positive, pray, and write our congressman and senators and ask for their support here, and allow the adoptions in process to be completed as planned. Even though, this can be a very emotional and upsetting time, we have to do everything we can, so Anna comes home. Margaret has already wrote many letters and sent them to the president of the US, congressmen and senators of the United States. Margaret has called her congressman and spoke to someone who handles international adoptions concerns to see if there was anything they can do - unfortunately, that person has not read the DOS press release - so she was unaware of what was taking place. But I am still hopeful, that my phone call to our congressman will help us in some way............"positively thinking, of course" :) If you are reading this, I would ask that you take a few minutes and write your congressmen and senators and support us in bringing Anna home, and also support all the other adoptive families that are going through this mess.

Today, I went to visit my mother and told her that I contacted our congressman, and the first thing she said, was "what is going on with your adoption - that you had to call?" I told her about the DOS press release (at this time, I didn't know about the president's announcement) and what was going on, but I told her that we were still hopeful that our Anna will be home before the "mess of 2008". I also told her that a lot of organizations are fighting it, and requesting that adoptions are not stopped, and that the adoptions in process be grandfathered. It was difficult talking about it, because I really don't know what will happen. But at that moment, I did know that I had to write as many letters as I can and send them out - so something can be done for all the families that our in this sad situation.

I ask you to take a few minutes and say a prayer, or make a wish, whatever works for you, to get our Anna home. If you have a few more minutes, it would be so greatly appreciated if you can write your congressman and senators and request them to support Guatemala adoptions and let them continue until the adoption is completed. You can go to this website (http://www.congress.org/congressorg/) and on the top left corner you put in your zip code, and it gives you the list of elected officials for that area including the US President - email, website, mailing address, etc.

thanks so much,
Margaret & Kerry