Another bill to support HR 628

This is information about another bill in congress right now that can potentially help adoptive families like us. To find out who your congressperson is, go to http://www.congress.org. You will need to enter your zip code in the "write your officials" box along the leftside of the page.

Congress has recently reintroduced the Helping Families Adopt Orphans Act,H.R. 628, which will help families who are adopting orphans from foreign countries by making the application process simpler and less burdensome on families. Please join us in supporting this legislation.The legislation would extend the validity of the I-171H "Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advanced Processingof Orphan Petition" form to at least two years. The I-171H form is issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. The form is currently valid for 18 months, although the time needed to complete the adoption process has significantly increased over the last few years (It will almost definitely be more than 18 months for us). This is because of delays in the travel approval, visas for orphans, and additional processing time to gain approval of orphan adoption by foreign governments.The I-171H form has an application fee of $545, plus $70 per person for fingerprints. Several other forms are needed before receiving approval, including a home study to ensure the home is safe and stable, birth and marriage certificates, health and financial records,criminal background checks, and other information. If the I-171H form expires before the adoption is complete, a family must reapply and re-submit all applicable forms, fees and evaluations. This can be quite costly for many hopeful parents. The Helping Family Adopt Orphans Act is one simple change we can make to build strong families. To cosponsor this legislation please contact Jessica Friedman at 5-6316 in Rep. Wilson's office, or BradleyEdgell at 5-6531 in Rep. Marshall's office.

Here is where you can get more info about this bill:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bill.xc?billnum=H.R.628&congress=110

Tet Party! last Saturday.

Saturday we attended a Tet party with other 'Vietnam' families at a Vietnamese restaurant off of 3rd and Cherry in downtown. We actually went there before and weren't too impressed, but this was a planned event so of course we attended since we were available. However we, again, weren't too impressed. It was buffet and there was chicken fried rice, beef noodles, chicken noodle soup, some sort of pork or beef meat thing, shrimp and pork spring rolls, and eggrolls. For dessert was a gelatin thing and there was soda as well. Of course that meant I ate rice and dessert. We sat across from a couple with an adorable little 13 month old boy they got when he was 7 months old and who have already started the process to bring home another child, and next to the Vietnamese family who is adopting a waiting child and are waiting for their travel info. It was a decent event, but we had to leave a little early to meet my in-laws who moved to Kansas City that evening.

Another month down 2/14

Well to celebrate this month for our 'month' anniversary we skipped on the Vietnamese food and went out to Indian, as it was Valentine's day and we wanted to do something different. But it's been another month now, so 3 months on the waiting list.
It's been a good month for us. Shawn potty trained and I've been attending classes to get my pre-reqs for a nursing program out of the way.

February's Education Meeting 2/12

The theme for the evening was the marriage relationship when dealing with adoption. The speaker was a psychologist named Meeka and she was a really good speaker. She had a very realistic approach to dealing with the wait and talking about Post Adoption Depression, which is somewhat like Post Partum Depression, which she herself experienced 6 years prior. We spoke with 3 other Vietnam families after the presentation and learned that one of the families who had a referral of a waiting child their referral fell through. I feel so sad for her family. She has a 2.5 year old daughter and was looking forward to bringing home a little boy. Fortunately they are looking at another waiting child now. One of the other families there has a 4 year old Vietnamese son who they adopted before the country closed. They've been waiting 7 months for a referral of a brother for him.
Shawn had a complete meltdown when I dropped him off in the child care room though. I am not sure what the deal is. He used to really like the lady who charge, Eiko, but recently he has been saying he doesn't want to stay with Eiko. I think he just doesn't like leaving us in the evenings. Hopefully it will go better at next month's meeting.

In the mean time

I am a member of a yahoogroup for parents (and to-be parents) of children from Vietnam. It has been a great resource. Recently there was a thread about an organization that helps street children in Vietnam stay in school called Blue Dragon Children's Foundation (http://www.bdcf.org/welcome.html) We sponsored a child for a year. Getting involved in this whole adoption process has made us want to contribute to the country. There are so many good causes out there and this one seems like a good one. I am sure along the way we will find others, but it interesting all the different places becoming involved in International Adoption has lead us already.