THIS WEEK'S UPDATE
Before I start this week's update, let me first apologize. It has been an extremely frustrating week. I am so DONE with paperwork, doctor offices, lawyers and above all - ALL GOVERNMENT OFFICES!
My piece of useful information for this week is this: if you have to work with a government agency - know in advance it will test every ounce of patience you have. We thought we had Florida and Indiana supplying us with the apostille we need on all of our documents-well, that isn't the way it has turned out.
Basically, an apostille is an international notary - it is a document that comes from the Secretary of State, and is something that is internationally recognized. There are standards for the information that should be contained on this document, as well as what size it should be.
Got an email from someone with the State Department on Thursday that said, "We're not in a position to change our practice for this one (1) request - which might jeopardize other transactions if Indiana provides differing Apostille documents."
WHAT? Those that know me well know that I don't respond favorably when I am told 'no' to something that I need. I honestly thought I was going to go postal!
Needless to say, I replied to this person with some strong language, and promised that I would get what I need out of her office! It just infuriates me to think that after all this, the reason we wouldn't be able to get a court date is because of something as simple as this! To top this off, the way they are providing the apostille is NOT within international standard. In my reply - I even included a mocked up version of what the document should look like - really, they could take what I did and just use that for our documents.
I cc'ed a friend who happens to work for the state - and whose office is right down the hall from the Secretary of State. She offered to talk to some friends she has - and long story short - we are going to be able to get done what we need done. I am sure my over-emotional emails only made me sound like a crazy person - I am so grateful to have friends (who know I am not a lunatic) with sound reason and logic - who are willing to help us.
The situation in Florida isn't as frustrating. They're just incompetent. They sent us the correct form; however they didn't send us the document. DUH!
TRAVEL PLANS
If I didn't tell you - we did schedule our trip to Irkutsk. Aug 30 - Sept 9 is when we'll be gone.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Adoption Newsletter July 21, 2007
THIS WEEK'S UPDATE
Things have been so busy around here; I almost forgot to send out an update!
TRIP TO RUSSIA
We have the trip planned. We're leaving Aug 30th and returning on September 9th. The trip ended up costing us more money than we wanted it to - but God is good! We had to purchase the Moscow - Irkutsk leg of our trip. Initially, we thought this was going to be at least $1,000 (not including the fees etc. for the South Bend - Moscow leg). When all was said and done - the grand total was only $1,000!
Also, typically it costs about $200 to get an invitation and Visa. I've been doing some research, and asking around, and was able to get both invitations and Visas for a total of $90. YA-HOO!
it gets better
Got a call from the Department of Homeland Security the other day. Let me just tell you -when you pick up the phone, and the person on the other end says 'hello Mrs. Friend, this is XXX from the INS" - you sit down-take a deep breath - and hope for the best!
Well, our INS pal was calling to tell us that she was refunding $140 to us for our fingerprints - and issuing a new fingerprint approval form to us for free. It's a long story why - but who cares - GOD IS GOOD!
PAPERWORK
Little by little, we're getting it done. We have been able to get the state of Florida to issue a special apostille to meet the requirements of the judge in Irkutsk. We're still working on the people down in Indianapolis. If need be, we'll take a trip down to Indy and meet with the powers that be in person, but (of course) it all needs to happen fast!
Things have been so busy around here; I almost forgot to send out an update!
TRIP TO RUSSIA
We have the trip planned. We're leaving Aug 30th and returning on September 9th. The trip ended up costing us more money than we wanted it to - but God is good! We had to purchase the Moscow - Irkutsk leg of our trip. Initially, we thought this was going to be at least $1,000 (not including the fees etc. for the South Bend - Moscow leg). When all was said and done - the grand total was only $1,000!
Also, typically it costs about $200 to get an invitation and Visa. I've been doing some research, and asking around, and was able to get both invitations and Visas for a total of $90. YA-HOO!
it gets better
Got a call from the Department of Homeland Security the other day. Let me just tell you -when you pick up the phone, and the person on the other end says 'hello Mrs. Friend, this is XXX from the INS" - you sit down-take a deep breath - and hope for the best!
Well, our INS pal was calling to tell us that she was refunding $140 to us for our fingerprints - and issuing a new fingerprint approval form to us for free. It's a long story why - but who cares - GOD IS GOOD!
PAPERWORK
Little by little, we're getting it done. We have been able to get the state of Florida to issue a special apostille to meet the requirements of the judge in Irkutsk. We're still working on the people down in Indianapolis. If need be, we'll take a trip down to Indy and meet with the powers that be in person, but (of course) it all needs to happen fast!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Yard Sale
STAY TUNED! FOR INFO ON OUR YARD SALE!
Got stuff to sell? We're planning a yard Sale the first weekend of August.
If you have some things to sell, we invite you to set up a table in our yard and make some money!
Got some stuff someone might want to buy, but you don't want to man a table? We will gladly accept your donations 'to the cause'!
Got stuff to sell? We're planning a yard Sale the first weekend of August.
If you have some things to sell, we invite you to set up a table in our yard and make some money!
Got some stuff someone might want to buy, but you don't want to man a table? We will gladly accept your donations 'to the cause'!
ONLY A FEW MILES TO GO!
ONLY A FEW MILES TO GO!
We booked flights from South Bend to Moscow on August 20. - September 9th.
We have flights HELD from Moscow - Irkutsk - but don't have enough miles for that last leg of the trip. We only need about 38,000 more!
We found a VERY easy, fast, and inexpensive way to apply American Express miles to our Delta frequent flyer accounts. The cost is only about $4 per 20,000 miles.
If you have some AmEx points to spare, please email me and I will tell you how to transfer them to my account. Time is critical (again) we only have the Moscow - Irkutsk portion of our trip held through Monday.
THANK YOU!
We booked flights from South Bend to Moscow on August 20. - September 9th.
We have flights HELD from Moscow - Irkutsk - but don't have enough miles for that last leg of the trip. We only need about 38,000 more!
We found a VERY easy, fast, and inexpensive way to apply American Express miles to our Delta frequent flyer accounts. The cost is only about $4 per 20,000 miles.
If you have some AmEx points to spare, please email me and I will tell you how to transfer them to my account. Time is critical (again) we only have the Moscow - Irkutsk portion of our trip held through Monday.
THANK YOU!
Adoption Update July 13, 2007
THIS WEEK'S UPDATE
GOOD NEWS!
Our French friend had a successful court hearing last week in Irkutsk. She will gain custody of her son next week. Thank you so much for your prayers in this situation - the prayers were definitely answered!
Accreditation of Agencies in Russia. Thanks to so many of you for your notes and calls on this subject. To avoid boring you to death, I've posted the details of this development on our blog (look a few posts down from this one).
Paperwork - it will be the death of me! We have started getting back some of the documents we had to send away for. We ran into the illustrious Mayor of Elkhart on the 4th of July - and he agreed to help us contact the Secretary of State in order to have them correct the way they are doing apostilles. The good news here is that if they simply put a box around the information on the sheet of paper they currently use - that will satisfy the requirement. Seems simple!
Travel to Russia. We are working on traveling sometime the last week of August or the first week of September. We hope that these dates will allow us to travel on minimum frequent flyer miles.
REFERENCES
Many of you have written references for us in the past. Well, we need everything done again. If you feel so moved to write a reference for us to present to the Judge - please mail it to us...and it will help if the letter is on business letterhead. I know - sounds stupid...but the more official it appears, the better.
GOOD NEWS!
Our French friend had a successful court hearing last week in Irkutsk. She will gain custody of her son next week. Thank you so much for your prayers in this situation - the prayers were definitely answered!
Accreditation of Agencies in Russia. Thanks to so many of you for your notes and calls on this subject. To avoid boring you to death, I've posted the details of this development on our blog (look a few posts down from this one).
Paperwork - it will be the death of me! We have started getting back some of the documents we had to send away for. We ran into the illustrious Mayor of Elkhart on the 4th of July - and he agreed to help us contact the Secretary of State in order to have them correct the way they are doing apostilles. The good news here is that if they simply put a box around the information on the sheet of paper they currently use - that will satisfy the requirement. Seems simple!
Travel to Russia. We are working on traveling sometime the last week of August or the first week of September. We hope that these dates will allow us to travel on minimum frequent flyer miles.
REFERENCES
Many of you have written references for us in the past. Well, we need everything done again. If you feel so moved to write a reference for us to present to the Judge - please mail it to us...and it will help if the letter is on business letterhead. I know - sounds stupid...but the more official it appears, the better.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
it's not my birthday...it's just...
TAMI FROM COLUMBUS, OH - MEG FROM TRAVERS CITY - AND ME
Well, I survived another birthday. Yuck. I was kind of hoping that if I ignored it, it wouldn't happen. This year on my b-day, I was reminded that Marty and I have been together since before I turned 30 - a LONG TIME AGO!
Didn't do anything for my bday...but here is a photo of me and some friends - the day before my bday. We were at a conference, and decided that we were all eternally 28!
Moscow Times piece...
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/07/12/002.html
Thursday, July 12, 2007. Issue 3697. Page 1.
Foreign Adoptions Get the Go-Ahead
By Alexander Osipovich
Staff Writer
Russia is reopening its doors to foreign adoptions, months after they all but ground to a halt due to bureaucratic barriers.
Seven U.S. adoption agencies have recently been reaccredited to work in Russia, Sergei Vitelis, an official at the Education and Science Ministry who deals with children's issues, confirmed Wednesday.
Vitelis said he could not provide further details, and the ministry's press service did not respond to questions sent by e-mail Wednesday afternoon.
But the National Council for Adoption, a U.S. research and advocacy organization, said the reaccreditations came over the past two weeks and more agencies are expected to have their licenses renewed soon.
"This will benefit many thousands of children," Thomas Atwood, the organization's president, said by telephone from Alexandria, Virginia.
Foreign adoption agencies working in Russia have not had much to cheer about in the past few years.
In 2005, after the well-publicized deaths of several Russian children at the hands of their adoptive parents in the United States, influential State Duma deputies called for a moratorium on foreign adoptions.
Child advocates criticized the idea, arguing that the number of deadly abuse cases was minuscule compared with the number of children adopted from Russian orphanages by foreign parents.
Russia at the time was the second most popular country for international adoptions by U.S. parents, after China, according to the U.S. State Department.
The moratorium never happened, but foreign adoption agencies began facing greater bureaucratic hurdles. A law passed in 2006 forced them to reregister as nongovernmental organizations.
Many agencies were left hanging after applying for reaccreditation in January. The last two agencies to have accreditation saw their licenses expire in April.
Officials in the Education and Science Ministry, the main government body that deals with international adoption, blamed the delay on bureaucratic hassles, pointing out that each application needed approval from the Interior and Foreign ministries.
Some child advocates, however, suggested that the authorities might have deliberately thrown a wrench into the works because of hostility toward foreign adoption.
Whatever the case, the impasse seems to have ended.
"We believe this to be a substantial step in the direction of the stability of Russian adoption," reads a statement on the web site of the International Assistance Group, one of the agencies that was reaccredited.
The statement appears along with a copy of the agency's new accreditation document from the Education and Science Ministry, dated June 27.
Atwood, of the National Council for Adoption, said he was happy that the agencies had been reaccredited, but he added that the transition to the new rules could have been smoother for the sake of the children waiting for homes.
The seven U.S. agencies to be reaccredited represent only a small portion of the 89 foreign agencies to have accreditation in 2006 before the new requirements went into place. It was not clear Wednesday whether any foreign agencies from countries other than the United States had been reaccredited.
The director of a Moscow charity that works with mentally disabled children expressed happiness at the news when a reporter told him about it. "The government has taken a great step," said Sergei Andrushin, the director of Diema's Dream. "What you said is simply wonderful."
The National Council for Adoption identified the seven agencies to be reaccredited as The Cradle, based in Evanston, Illinois; Cradle of Hope, based in Silver Spring, Maryland; Family and Children's Agency, based in Norwalk, Connecticut; Frank Adoption Center, based in Raleigh, North Carolina; International Assistance Group, based in Oakmont, Pennsylvania; Children's Home Society & Family Services, based in St. Paul, Minnesota; and Catholic Social Services.
Thursday, July 12, 2007. Issue 3697. Page 1.
Foreign Adoptions Get the Go-Ahead
By Alexander Osipovich
Staff Writer
Russia is reopening its doors to foreign adoptions, months after they all but ground to a halt due to bureaucratic barriers.
Seven U.S. adoption agencies have recently been reaccredited to work in Russia, Sergei Vitelis, an official at the Education and Science Ministry who deals with children's issues, confirmed Wednesday.
Vitelis said he could not provide further details, and the ministry's press service did not respond to questions sent by e-mail Wednesday afternoon.
But the National Council for Adoption, a U.S. research and advocacy organization, said the reaccreditations came over the past two weeks and more agencies are expected to have their licenses renewed soon.
"This will benefit many thousands of children," Thomas Atwood, the organization's president, said by telephone from Alexandria, Virginia.
Foreign adoption agencies working in Russia have not had much to cheer about in the past few years.
In 2005, after the well-publicized deaths of several Russian children at the hands of their adoptive parents in the United States, influential State Duma deputies called for a moratorium on foreign adoptions.
Child advocates criticized the idea, arguing that the number of deadly abuse cases was minuscule compared with the number of children adopted from Russian orphanages by foreign parents.
Russia at the time was the second most popular country for international adoptions by U.S. parents, after China, according to the U.S. State Department.
The moratorium never happened, but foreign adoption agencies began facing greater bureaucratic hurdles. A law passed in 2006 forced them to reregister as nongovernmental organizations.
Many agencies were left hanging after applying for reaccreditation in January. The last two agencies to have accreditation saw their licenses expire in April.
Officials in the Education and Science Ministry, the main government body that deals with international adoption, blamed the delay on bureaucratic hassles, pointing out that each application needed approval from the Interior and Foreign ministries.
Some child advocates, however, suggested that the authorities might have deliberately thrown a wrench into the works because of hostility toward foreign adoption.
Whatever the case, the impasse seems to have ended.
"We believe this to be a substantial step in the direction of the stability of Russian adoption," reads a statement on the web site of the International Assistance Group, one of the agencies that was reaccredited.
The statement appears along with a copy of the agency's new accreditation document from the Education and Science Ministry, dated June 27.
Atwood, of the National Council for Adoption, said he was happy that the agencies had been reaccredited, but he added that the transition to the new rules could have been smoother for the sake of the children waiting for homes.
The seven U.S. agencies to be reaccredited represent only a small portion of the 89 foreign agencies to have accreditation in 2006 before the new requirements went into place. It was not clear Wednesday whether any foreign agencies from countries other than the United States had been reaccredited.
The director of a Moscow charity that works with mentally disabled children expressed happiness at the news when a reporter told him about it. "The government has taken a great step," said Sergei Andrushin, the director of Diema's Dream. "What you said is simply wonderful."
The National Council for Adoption identified the seven agencies to be reaccredited as The Cradle, based in Evanston, Illinois; Cradle of Hope, based in Silver Spring, Maryland; Family and Children's Agency, based in Norwalk, Connecticut; Frank Adoption Center, based in Raleigh, North Carolina; International Assistance Group, based in Oakmont, Pennsylvania; Children's Home Society & Family Services, based in St. Paul, Minnesota; and Catholic Social Services.
new accrediation news out of RUssia
I've received a lot of email and phone calls from friends with the news of the agencies who have received accreditation in Russia.
First, the facts: According to the Ministry of Education website (the Russian department that oversees orphanages and adoptions)...each agency was given permission to operate in a separate ministerial order. The orders were all issued the same day (June 27, 2007), with identical text except for the name of the agency. They were issued in sequential order, as is normal practice for the MoE's official orders. Since they were all issued the same day, sequentially, it is fair to say that all of these agencies were given permission to operate simultaneously. However, for those among us who love to pick at details, I will list them in the sequential order that the MoE granted them:
Order Number / Agency Name
No. 183 - L'Agence Francaise d'Adoption (French Adoption Agency)
No. 184 - Children's Home Society and Family Services
No. 185 - Frank Adoption Center, North Carolina
No. 186 - Cradle of Hope Adoption Center, Inc.
No. 187 - Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 188 - International Assistance Group (IAG)
No. 189 - Cradle Society
No. 190 - Family and Children's Agency, Inc.
Now - to answer some questions:
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US? Nothing really. None of these agencies work in Irkutsk. There are VERY FEW that do. The agency names we would be more excited about are: Nightlight or Crossroads. Bethany works in Irkutsk too - but they are partnered with Nightlight (I think). ARC (Adoption Resource Center) also used to work in Irkutsk, but (if I remember right) they were the agency who was involved with the Hilt murder - so I doubt they will get accreditation back (even if they do, I wouldn't want to be partnered with them).
WHEN ARE MORE AGENCIES GOING TO BE ACCREDITED? From what I have seen, the best guess I can say is that another group will be announced sometime early Fall (maybe late September).
HAVE WE CONTACTED THESE OR ANY OTHER AGENCY TO HELP US? Of course. We contacted MANY agencies in the past 2 years. Most told us what we already knew - they don't work in Irkutsk. One that does work in Irkutsk told us that when they get accreditation back, that we should contact them at that time - and they could possibly help us. What this would mean is that we would (again) start over - we would have to pay the initial fees to this new agency, go to the back of their line etc. Not something we are real interested in doing.
DO WE HAVE AN AGENCY? No. The agency we were working with was the agency who represented the Hilt adoption - and we all know how that ended up. Because of the black mark against this agency, we can not have any affiliation with them or anyone who has (or is) working with them - if we ever want to complete the adoption. This advice came straight from Irkutsk. Thankfully, they did not do our home study - I know of other families who had their home study rejected by courts in other parts of Russia because of the agency.
I hope this answers all of the questions. If not - feel free to post them here!
First, the facts: According to the Ministry of Education website (the Russian department that oversees orphanages and adoptions)...each agency was given permission to operate in a separate ministerial order. The orders were all issued the same day (June 27, 2007), with identical text except for the name of the agency. They were issued in sequential order, as is normal practice for the MoE's official orders. Since they were all issued the same day, sequentially, it is fair to say that all of these agencies were given permission to operate simultaneously. However, for those among us who love to pick at details, I will list them in the sequential order that the MoE granted them:
Order Number / Agency Name
No. 183 - L'Agence Francaise d'Adoption (French Adoption Agency)
No. 184 - Children's Home Society and Family Services
No. 185 - Frank Adoption Center, North Carolina
No. 186 - Cradle of Hope Adoption Center, Inc.
No. 187 - Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 188 - International Assistance Group (IAG)
No. 189 - Cradle Society
No. 190 - Family and Children's Agency, Inc.
Now - to answer some questions:
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US? Nothing really. None of these agencies work in Irkutsk. There are VERY FEW that do. The agency names we would be more excited about are: Nightlight or Crossroads. Bethany works in Irkutsk too - but they are partnered with Nightlight (I think). ARC (Adoption Resource Center) also used to work in Irkutsk, but (if I remember right) they were the agency who was involved with the Hilt murder - so I doubt they will get accreditation back (even if they do, I wouldn't want to be partnered with them).
WHEN ARE MORE AGENCIES GOING TO BE ACCREDITED? From what I have seen, the best guess I can say is that another group will be announced sometime early Fall (maybe late September).
HAVE WE CONTACTED THESE OR ANY OTHER AGENCY TO HELP US? Of course. We contacted MANY agencies in the past 2 years. Most told us what we already knew - they don't work in Irkutsk. One that does work in Irkutsk told us that when they get accreditation back, that we should contact them at that time - and they could possibly help us. What this would mean is that we would (again) start over - we would have to pay the initial fees to this new agency, go to the back of their line etc. Not something we are real interested in doing.
DO WE HAVE AN AGENCY? No. The agency we were working with was the agency who represented the Hilt adoption - and we all know how that ended up. Because of the black mark against this agency, we can not have any affiliation with them or anyone who has (or is) working with them - if we ever want to complete the adoption. This advice came straight from Irkutsk. Thankfully, they did not do our home study - I know of other families who had their home study rejected by courts in other parts of Russia because of the agency.
I hope this answers all of the questions. If not - feel free to post them here!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
fun website
This is a fun website - kind of a spoof on all things Russian. Be sure to click on the icons at the bottom of the page.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Adoption Update July 2, 2007
THIS WEEK'S UPDATE
We have started redoing all of our documents. In the process of gathering all the information to get this done, we found out that the way our state apostilles and certifies documents is not in accordance with the specifications outlined in the Hague Convention. Basically, what this means, is that we need to get the Secretary of State to agree to change the way they've been apostilling documents. I am sure this is not going to be an easy change. The change required is simple - the size of the piece of paper. But any change in procedure with a government office I know will be fought with opposition.
The task of redoing all the paperwork is daunting (to say the least). We are trying to find one local lawyer to help us consolidate all the legal paperwork we have to update. Currently, we have documents from 4 different lawyers.
Our friend who lives in Irkutsk has agreed to help us when we visit. We hope that she will be available to serve as our interpreter. She is the one who visited Anya monthly when she was in Baby Home #2.
Pray for Court Hearing This Week
The French family that I've written about before has a court date in Irkutsk on Friday at 10am. That is 9pm Thursday night our time. This is the family who went about getting a court date in a unique way-the same means we're going to try. Please join with us in praying at 9pm Thursday night for a successful court hearing for Jeannine.
We have started redoing all of our documents. In the process of gathering all the information to get this done, we found out that the way our state apostilles and certifies documents is not in accordance with the specifications outlined in the Hague Convention. Basically, what this means, is that we need to get the Secretary of State to agree to change the way they've been apostilling documents. I am sure this is not going to be an easy change. The change required is simple - the size of the piece of paper. But any change in procedure with a government office I know will be fought with opposition.
The task of redoing all the paperwork is daunting (to say the least). We are trying to find one local lawyer to help us consolidate all the legal paperwork we have to update. Currently, we have documents from 4 different lawyers.
Our friend who lives in Irkutsk has agreed to help us when we visit. We hope that she will be available to serve as our interpreter. She is the one who visited Anya monthly when she was in Baby Home #2.
Pray for Court Hearing This Week
The French family that I've written about before has a court date in Irkutsk on Friday at 10am. That is 9pm Thursday night our time. This is the family who went about getting a court date in a unique way-the same means we're going to try. Please join with us in praying at 9pm Thursday night for a successful court hearing for Jeannine.
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