The stress of adoption is unlike anything I have ever experienced!! Yesterday while up in Mass. I found out that the president of Guatemala had plans to issue a moratorium on 10/1/06 to stop all international adoptions!! This was apparently planned out and signed by the president and/or his wife and was to be issued as an Executive Order therefore bypassing the Guatemalan Congress. I immediatley began contacting everyone that I know and was able to get some info from our agency late yesterday afternoon. Our contact there informed us that the situation in Guatemala was changing minute by minute and that she had no concrete information. She urged us to contact the State Department and our senators so that pressure could be put on the Guatemalan government to stop the moratorium. I contacted the State Department and was put in touch with the gentleman who oversees the International Adoption Unit for Guatemala. He tried to assure us that he had spent the day talking with heads of government in Guat. and that there was no plan at this time to stop international adoption, although this could happen in the future.
I ask everyone who reads this to please say a prayer for all of the children who are waiting to come home to their families, that the government officials in Guatemala realize that the children need their loving homes as soon as possible.
Keep Joey in your prayers!
Lee Anne
Friday, September 29, 2006
Monday, September 25, 2006
Our first trip to Guatemala
9/24/06
John and I are exhausted from our whirlwind trip to Guatemala this weekend, but we had a wonderful time. We received word about two weeks ago that if we were willing to travel to Guatemala to sign our Power of Attorney paperwork it could bring our son home four weeks sooner. Power Of Attorney or (POA) is the paperwork that must be signed to authorize the attorneys in Guatemala to work on our behalf. Typically the paperwork is sent to the US in Spanish and must be translated to English, then signed by us, notarized, state certified, authenticated by the Embassy, and then translated back into Spanish. As you can probably imagine this process takes a ridiculous amount of time so we chose to travel to sign it, thereby skipping ALL of the steps (yay). We left on 9/22, just the two of us. Sarah stayed at home with my sister Kelly (thank you so much Kelly) and they had a blast. The trip down was fine, only five and a half hours and we were able to get to the Marriot hotel there with no trouble at all. We met our attorney, Miriam that afternoon and she was WONDERFUL! We were both so impressed with how up front and sweet she was. But she was not happy when we told her that we were planning on spending the next day just sitting around the hotel and hooked us up with one of her paralegals, Karla. Karla met us the next morning in the lobby and we hopped in her car and headed out to Antigua (no not the island). What a wonderful woman, we are so blessed to meet such people! She really took care of us on Saturday, showing us all of the landmarks, securing us a safe meal to eat and most importantly helping me shop (as she translated and bartered for me). We really had a wonderful time with her and without that experience would not have seen anything beyond the hotel gates.
Guatemala is a beautiful country and the people are amazingly kind, but it is completely impovished and my heart broke as I watched small children living amoung farm animals. John and I truly feel thankful for everyperson and thing that we have been blessed with, we are very fortunate. The hotel was great and full of American families seeking out their new family member. The lobby was like a superhighway for strollers and I must have smiled a thousand times just looking at the babies. They looked so happy and content.
Sunday was spent primarily in airports or on a plane playing Scrabble or watching 24 on our DVD player. We got in late and are exhausted, but renewed at the same time. It made us want to bring Joey home even more than we did before: and I did not think that was possible.
John and I are exhausted from our whirlwind trip to Guatemala this weekend, but we had a wonderful time. We received word about two weeks ago that if we were willing to travel to Guatemala to sign our Power of Attorney paperwork it could bring our son home four weeks sooner. Power Of Attorney or (POA) is the paperwork that must be signed to authorize the attorneys in Guatemala to work on our behalf. Typically the paperwork is sent to the US in Spanish and must be translated to English, then signed by us, notarized, state certified, authenticated by the Embassy, and then translated back into Spanish. As you can probably imagine this process takes a ridiculous amount of time so we chose to travel to sign it, thereby skipping ALL of the steps (yay). We left on 9/22, just the two of us. Sarah stayed at home with my sister Kelly (thank you so much Kelly) and they had a blast. The trip down was fine, only five and a half hours and we were able to get to the Marriot hotel there with no trouble at all. We met our attorney, Miriam that afternoon and she was WONDERFUL! We were both so impressed with how up front and sweet she was. But she was not happy when we told her that we were planning on spending the next day just sitting around the hotel and hooked us up with one of her paralegals, Karla. Karla met us the next morning in the lobby and we hopped in her car and headed out to Antigua (no not the island). What a wonderful woman, we are so blessed to meet such people! She really took care of us on Saturday, showing us all of the landmarks, securing us a safe meal to eat and most importantly helping me shop (as she translated and bartered for me). We really had a wonderful time with her and without that experience would not have seen anything beyond the hotel gates.
Guatemala is a beautiful country and the people are amazingly kind, but it is completely impovished and my heart broke as I watched small children living amoung farm animals. John and I truly feel thankful for everyperson and thing that we have been blessed with, we are very fortunate. The hotel was great and full of American families seeking out their new family member. The lobby was like a superhighway for strollers and I must have smiled a thousand times just looking at the babies. They looked so happy and content.
Sunday was spent primarily in airports or on a plane playing Scrabble or watching 24 on our DVD player. We got in late and are exhausted, but renewed at the same time. It made us want to bring Joey home even more than we did before: and I did not think that was possible.
Referral Day 9/1/2006
Today we met our son for the first time and he is amazing. This afternoon John and I received the referral that we have been waiting for via e-mail from our agency. Neither of us could believe how we just fell in love with him. His name is will be Joseph (Joey for short) and we cannot wait to meet him and hold him. He was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala on August 17, 2006. He was born 6lbs 12ounces and from his assessment by a pediatrician there has been deemed healthy.
The process will now officially begin. After MONTHES of collecting the correct paperwork, having it notarized, state certified and authenticated by the Guatemalan Consulate we will now begin proceedings to bring our son home. Typically this porcess runs 6-8 monthes long! Now is the time that I must really practice my patiences that many of you know I am lacking.
Keep us and Joey in your prayers! Keep you posted on our progess.
Lee Anne
The process will now officially begin. After MONTHES of collecting the correct paperwork, having it notarized, state certified and authenticated by the Guatemalan Consulate we will now begin proceedings to bring our son home. Typically this porcess runs 6-8 monthes long! Now is the time that I must really practice my patiences that many of you know I am lacking.
Keep us and Joey in your prayers! Keep you posted on our progess.
Lee Anne
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