Plodding along

Buenas Noches! Entiende Espanol? I'm sure I'm not spelling the words right or putting the right punctuation, but I am trying to learn Spanish by CD. My manager at work had some CDs that she had used before she on vacation to Spain, and she graciously gave them to me so we could learn a little of the language.

Since we've kind of been in a holding pattern waiting for the various documents in our dossier to be returned, I've been surfing the net and searching adoption forums to pass the time. One of the topics on a forum I frequently lurk is Lifebooks. I added a link to a webpage discussing them if you would like to read about it. As the name implies, the Lifebook will tell our adopted child's life story, particularly that life before they came to live with us. Luckily, once we receive our referral, we will receive regular updates about the child, and I want to make sure we are diligent in documenting what information we get. We will be able to send down disposable cameras, so hopefully the foster parents will take many pictures for us. I also hope we can communicate by letter or possibly email during that time, and hopefully even after we bring the baby home. Obviously, I'll need some translation help, but I'm sure there are services available.

All of us are curious about when we were babies at some point in time, but for an adoptive child, we are obviously not always able to provide a complete picture of what that time was like. The really cool thing about the Lifebook is that it can then be one of the books we read our child as they grow up. That way, we will always be comfortable talking about adoption, and our child will know they are free to talk about it without fear it will upset us. Not that either the Lifebook or we will have all the answers, but I'm hopeful that it will be helpful.

I've also been reading a book called "Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew" by Sherrie Eldridge. It's kind of a tough read, but I think it'll be great to understand the loss a child has suffered when being separated from their birth family. Hopefully by having that understanding, we can help our child cope with any grief they may feel as a result in a healthy manner.

Proposed Guatemalan Law

I added some links to a couple sites you may find interesting. I plan to add links to other sites about adoption in general, Guatemalan adoption, and perhaps other people's blogs or sites as I encounter them. I will of course, obtain permission before posting a link to anyone's personal site or blog.

One in particular is a link to a site about a proposed Guatemalan law change. The proposal is apparently aimed at eliminating some inefficiencies in the legal process, which would be great if it worked as planned. However, the law would also ban single parent adoptions. This has, of course, caused much controversy amongst Guatemalan lawmakers, so the legislation has been slow to make it's way through the system. As a side note, the link also has some interesting information about how a law is passed in Guatemala.

If I may digress for a moment, I personally believe it would be a mistake to ban single parent adoptions, because there are many great single people would make great parents. I know the child benefits from having both parents as well, but again, in my opinion, I think a single parent can raise strong well rounded children, and hopefully have people of the opposite gender in their life (fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, etc) that can help provide that perspective to the child's life. There are so many children needing homes that it would be unfortunate to turn away people who could provide loving, secure homes for those children.

Okay, I'll get off my pedestal now, and just tell you that whatever you feel about this proposal, it does represent a potential delay to our adoption if it were to pass prior to referral. Essentially, the country's adoption process would 'close' until the new process were in place. We have been told that if we receive and accept a referral prior to the law being passed, we will proceed under the previous process and should not be delayed. So, we are of course hoping that it either fails or continues to be stalled in debate until after we have reached that all important milestone.

Introducing myself

Hi there! My name is Jill, and after several suggestions from friends and family, I've decided to start a blog. My husband, Daron, and I are in the process of adopting a baby from Guatemala. Our wonderful friends and family have been so supportive, so hopefully this site will make it easier for them to follow our progress.

I have to admit, I'm kind of at a loss as to what to write, so I'll just start with telling you a little about how we arrived at the decision to adopt from Guatemala. My husband and I began dating over 6 years ago and now have been married nearly 3 1/2 years. We started trying to have a baby soon after we married, but were not having any success. We decided to seek medical advice, and ultimately determined that I have severe endometriosis. I had surgery which successfully relieved much of my pain; however, it unfortunately did not lead to a pregnancy. We did try some medical treatments, but after still no success, we decided it was time to end the emotional heartbreak of trying to conceive and pursue adoption. I can't tell you how great it is to finally feel hopeful about becoming a parent!

After attending an adoption workshop presented by Lutheran Social Services (LSS), we decided international adoption was the direction we wished to take. We compared many international programs, and decided that the Guatemalan program was the best fit for us. We are so excited!

So, where are we at in the process? We have completed our homestudy and submitted our I-600A application to the USCIS. We're about 2 1/2 months into that process, and they told us it would be at least 90 days until we received USCIS approval. Therefore, we're hoping to be approved very soon. In the meantime, we are working on our dossier which is basically a packet of legal documents we need to put together and have notarized, certified, and authenticated by various people/offices. For example, we each have to have a Statement of Employment provided by our employers. By signing the document, they are verifying that we are indeed employees of our respective companies and validating our salaries. Those documents (as well as all the other documents) are to be notarized by a licensed notary and then sent off to the Secretary of State for certification. Once we have received certification, we then send the documents to the Guatemalan Consulate to be authenticated. Finally, we'll be able to send the authenticated documents to LSS and we should be done with the bulk of the paperwork.

After we receive our I-600A approval, we will await a referral. A referral is a match with a baby. We will be given information about the baby, a medical report, and a small amount of information about the birthmother. Once we accept the referral, we will have reached a major milestone. From that point on, we'll be given regular updates and will just have to wait for the Guatemalan legal process to fully terminate the birthmother's parental rights. Approximately 4-8 months after referral, we will go to Guatemala, meet our baby and bring him/her home!

I hope to keep you updated as things happen. Please drop in and check out how we're doing! And if you are familiar with the process and have any advice for us or if you just want to pop in and say hi, we would love to hear from you!

Jill