*A Hiccup?

The question is, is this a hiccup, a huge obstacle, or a deadend?

There is negative news on the Vietnam adoption front this week. On Friday our agency sent out a letter detailing a meeting that had occurred that day with the State Dept, USCIS, government officials, and US adoption agencies. Our agency prepared us for the announcement that came out today for prospective adoptive families from Vietnam. In the announcement, the Dept of State warns that adoptions between the US and Vietnam may end in September when the MOU expires. Here is some of the announcement:

“The Department of State warns potential adoptive parents and adoption service providers of the risk of initiating new adoptions from Vietnam at this time. The 2005 Memorandum of Agreement, required by Vietnamese law to authorize adoptions between the United States and Vietnam, expires on September 1, 2008. The United States is strongly committed to continuing intercountry adoptions from Vietnam if possible. Our primary concern is to ensure that the children and families involved in the adoption process are protected from exploitation. The Government of Vietnam shares this concern. Both countries acknowledge that more needs to be done.”

Apparently Vietnam hasn’t met the requirement from the 2005 MOU that is currently in effect. They haven’t provided a fee schedule, and there is not enough regulation of individual provinces in the adoption process. They say that they are working hard to sign another MOU (which is required by the Vietnamese Government, not ours), but they can’t guarantee that it will happen.

So, the immediate question in our minds is what happens to us and others like us who have their paperwork into Vietnam far before the expiration, but do not yet have referrals or haven’t yet completed the process and picked up their children? Will we have to wait years as people have done when the country was closed in 2004 and 2005? Or, will they complete the adoptions of all whose Dossiers are in before the expiration in September?

The adoption buzz guy, who I consider knowledgeable and trustworthy as far as I know, is optimistic that the Vietnamese government would finish out such adoptions. But, nobody is giving us PAPs (prospective adoptive parents) the promise and assurance we want. I am glad they are being truthful and not just telling us what we want to hear.

This is interesting though, because this news comes just as I was questioning our adoption. I do feel like I am in a long line to adopt a healthy infant girl from Vietnam (because I am), and that if we weren’t in the line, someone else would be. We aren’t adopting a child that won’t be adopted if we weren’t there (did you follow that?:) I do feel called to adopt orphans that need me. But, maybe the issue is not that our daughter would have a parent regardless, but that she is our daughter. We just need guidance and assurance that Vietnam is where our daughter is.

Lord, please protect the Vietnam adoption process. Help the US and Vietnamese officials come to an agreement that is most beneficial to the children of Vietnam. And please guide us to our child. Use us to love those you love. Complete our family and give us peace and patience in the process. Thank you for being in control and a Father to the Fatherless. Amen