*Bummer

I was feeling more hopeful, thinking that negotiations were underway as of yesterday, but discovered today, that they have been postponed. Here is what JCICS posted yesterday:

On October 13^th Joint Council announced its understanding that formal negotiations between the Governments of Vietnam and the United States regarding an interim Memorandum of Understanding were scheduled in the coming weeks. It is now our understanding that these scheduled formal negotiations have been postponed.

While Joint Council does not have information as to a new date, we do believe that this is a postponement and not a cancellation of talks.

I'm going to watch more of The Office to escape reality now.

*Home Study Update

The condo was almost as spotless as it gets, and our social worker only spent time in the dining room. He was in and out in about a half hour. It really is quite simple to do a home study update, thankfully.

Negotiations were to start today. Please pray for progress and open doors. Thanks!

BTW: Check out my google ads: two potty training entries, and now it's advertised here. :)

*An Update With Little News

My heart started to pitter-patter today when I saw an update from our agency, hoping there was good news. I opened it and found very little new info. The news is that our dossiers have been returned by the government, but will stay at our agency's office in Hanoi. And, negotiations will start on October 27th - that's next Monday. This wasn't welcome news, as I thought they had already started. Oh well - at least now I know a for sure date.

Also next Monday, we will meet with our home study social worker to begin working on our update. Our Immigration Approval expires March 6th, and we need to file a new I-171H form by December 6th to keep it active. This requires a home study update, that costs and entails more than we realized. Are we just wasting time and money?

Oh Lord, please open the gates to Vietnam adoptions again, and soon. Let negotiations be fruitful and effective at cleaning up any unethical practices. Also Lord, please open all the orphanages of Vietnam to international adoptions in this process. Provide those children with loving families. Guide us to Liv. Thank you for your faithfulness. Amen.

*JCICS Update

Our agency sent out an update today that included posting from JCICS. It sounds like negotiations between the US and Vietnam regarding adoptions are happening this month. Here's a quotation:

"Joint Council continues to view the suspension of intercountry adoption between the United States and Vietnam as a tragedy for children and for the families willing to provide a loving home for them. We remain confident that an interim MOA is achievable. Joint Council reiterates that considerable steps have been taken by both the Vietnamese and the United States governments toward this end. "

I am still much more antsy during this stage of the wait than I have been before. My heart is longing to hold my next child, and it is hard to not know when I will. But, I am thankful that some progress is being made in the negotiations, and I still hold hope that we will adopt from Vietnam.

*One Step

Our agency sent out an update this week stating that Vietnam has named a head neogtiator - a first step in signing a new MOU. Vietnam has also requested that both governments now begin negotiations toward a the end of establishing a new MOU. So, that's progress, and good news to us.

Last week in Hanoi there was a meeting between the Ministry of Justice, DIA, Provincial Justice officials, MOLISA and directors of the orphanages that are approved to participate in inter-country adoption to discuss possible changes to international adoption procedures in the nation. The following changes were proposed:
The following list is a direct quotation from our agency's email:

1. The DIA would act as a functional central adoption authority.
2. That licensed adoption agencies would not have direct contact with orphanage directors for placement of children.
3. Allocation or referrals of children would be handled by an “adoption committee” which would consist of team members from MOJ, MOLISA, Foreign Affairs or other governmental agencies. This would be done within the central adoption authority.
4. That charitable donations for the care of children in the orphanages would be strictly handled by a committee within the central adoption authority. All funds would be deposited with the central adoption authority and they would disperse the funds to the MOLISA office responsible for the orphanage receiving the donations. The orphanage will be required to file a detailed description of how the funds were allocated.
5. There will be a reduction in the number of adoption agencies licensed in Vietnam. The exact number has not been determined but is reasonably believed to be reduced from 43 to 15.
6. That Vietnam will initiate legislation to implement the Hague Treaty.

It all sounds good to me, except number 5. Does that mean if our agency is not one of the 15, we are out of luck? Another something to pray about.

There has been no decision by the DIA (of Vietnam) yet as to weather or not our dossiers will be returned or stay on file in country.

*Some Hope to Cling To

I talked with our agency today, just clarifying more about the closure, and our options. I was pretty discouraged reading blogs of others and finding that most have dropped out of the Vietnam program, and that their agencies haven't been as positive as ours.

Our agency is encouraging families to start concurrent adoptions if they would like, but are not recommending dropping Vietnam. Only one family out of over 30 waiting families has dropped out. They do remain hopeful that adoptions will reopen soon, as Vietnam has taken significant steps and negotiations have begun. Our agency believes that as long as there are no unpredictable issues that arise, adoptions would likely begin again by the end of the year, or early 2009.

I can do that. I can wait an extra 6 months or so. One day at a time.

Some of our other options through our agency are going with China special needs (which we would be interested in), or Nepal. Nepal has been closed for some time and should reopen this month, but there are already many families waiting. If we were to do a concurrent adoption, we would not have to pay our agency fees again, but would need to pay any country specific fees. We would also need to do the paper chase again and submit a whole new dossier, with an updated home study. It would likely take several months to compile and then we would join a waiting list again, and be on two waiting lists at once. Since we want to adopt more than one down the road, this may be a good option for us, but we're not ready to make any decisions yet.

At the same time, our interest in Africa is growing. Our agency, however, does not have any programs in Africa, so we would be starting at ground zero and loose the money we've put into Vietnam (if it remains closed).

Lots of "ifs." We will keep praying.

Koen was a terror this evening, so it's hard to imagine having more than one tonight. But, maybe he's a terror because he needs a sibling to learn he's not the center of the universe.