The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the U.S. and Vietnam allows U.S. citizens to adopt from Vietnam. There are provisions in the agreement that each country was required to meet, and unfortunately, not all have been met. This agreement is set to expire September 1, 2008, and the U.S. Department of State has indicated that they will not renew the agreement because of the commitments that were not met. However, they are still willing to work with Vietnam to negotiate a new agreement.
What does this mean for parents waiting to adopt from Vietnam? No one knows yet. Those who already have a referral and are waiting to travel should be fine. Those who should be receiving referrals soon may also be ok if they can travel and complete the adoption before September 1. For those of us who are waiting for a referral that will come later, especially after September 1 (like us), the future is very murky. The Dept. of State is advising that no one begin the process to adopt from Vietnam at this time. Many believe that this is just to be open and honest about the fact that there is a chance that adoptions will be halted when the current MOA expires.
As I see it, there are many things that can happen now:
- The U.S. can change their mind and renew the current agreement.
- The U.S. and Vietnam can negotiate a new agreement in time to keep adoptions going without interuption, or with an interuption (who knows how long that could be).
- The two countries could fail to come to any agreement and all adoptions not completed by September 1, 2008 will not happen.
- They could fail to agree, but Vietnam could allow anyone with a referral as of Sept. 1 to complete the adoption.
- They could fail to agree, but Vietnam could allow anyone currently in process to complete their adoptions.
There are probably a few other options in there that I just don't know enough about it all to think of. For now, we are just hoping for the best.
You can read the statement from the Department of State here:
http://www.travel.state.gov/family/adoption/intercountry/intercountry_3939.html
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Huge Month for FTIA Vietnam!
Two more referrals were made last week, which means SEVEN families have received referrals in the month of January! I can't hardly believe it, after how slow (and non-existent for awhile) referrals were last year. February will likely be slower due to Tet celebrations (Feb. 6-11), but the coordinators expect referrals to continue to be steady in the coming months.
Additional news from FTIA is that the age of infants coming home from Vietnam will be older than in the past. Vietnam has put more procedures in place to allow family members or other Vietnamese families to adopt the children before they become eligible for international adoption. In addition, USCIS has changed the Procedure for filing the I-600, the determination of a child's orphan status. You used to file it at the U.S. embassy in Hanoi while you were there completing your adoption. Now, they require you to file this before you travel, which has cut in-country time by about a week, but increased the wait to travel after referral to 3-5 months. These are important safeguards -- and I support anything that makes international adoption more transparent and ethical -- it just means that the youngest children coming from Vietnam will be 9-12 months old.
I've been "nesting" lately. Maybe it's because we finally have a room that will be hers. I've bought some cute clothes (size 2T so it doesn't matter when her birthday is -- I don't have to worry about buying long sleeves that will end up fitting her in summer, she'll have a year to wear 2T), downloaded a bunch of patterns for cute boutique-style little girl clothes (now I just have to find that inner bobbin for my sewing machine...), and bought the wall coverings to decorate her room. I bought a product called Tatouage, a dry rub transfer, that you just rub onto the wall. I got a ton of stuff to make a garden scene on 2 walls, including a picket fence and gate, lots of flowers, a shade tree that will go from floor to ceiling, birds, butterflies, and lots of fairies to play among the flowers. I can't wait to do it, but I need to prime and paint first. I'm hoping to talk John into painting fluffy clouds in a blue sky like he did for J's nursery.
We sent in our application to a new home study agency and received word today that they will be working with us. I talked to the director there last week and really liked her. The agency is based in Keene, NH, but they have a couple social workers who live in our area, so we won't need to travel over an hour to work with them. I'm certain our experience with this agency will be a million times better than our last experience! It would be hard to get worse (though I'm sure there are worse stories out there!).
As I mentioned, Tet is coming up. This is the Vietnamese New Year. I thought I'd share some information I learned today while reading my Chao Ban newsletter (an excellent newsletter for families of children adopted from Vietnam that is put out 4 times per year by a couple who've adopted). This year is the year of the Rat, which is the beginning of the twelve year cycle of the Asian Zodiac calendar. The Rat symbolizes acquisition, industry, and prosperity -- just think of the hard work these animals do to hoard their food. So this is a year for hard work and abundance, but also one to practice being humble about one's achievements.
One difference between the Vietnamese and Chinese calendars is that the Chinese includes an Ox and a Rabbit, and in place of these the Vietnamese calendar has a Water Buffalo and a Cat.
More on Tet later!
Additional news from FTIA is that the age of infants coming home from Vietnam will be older than in the past. Vietnam has put more procedures in place to allow family members or other Vietnamese families to adopt the children before they become eligible for international adoption. In addition, USCIS has changed the Procedure for filing the I-600, the determination of a child's orphan status. You used to file it at the U.S. embassy in Hanoi while you were there completing your adoption. Now, they require you to file this before you travel, which has cut in-country time by about a week, but increased the wait to travel after referral to 3-5 months. These are important safeguards -- and I support anything that makes international adoption more transparent and ethical -- it just means that the youngest children coming from Vietnam will be 9-12 months old.
I've been "nesting" lately. Maybe it's because we finally have a room that will be hers. I've bought some cute clothes (size 2T so it doesn't matter when her birthday is -- I don't have to worry about buying long sleeves that will end up fitting her in summer, she'll have a year to wear 2T), downloaded a bunch of patterns for cute boutique-style little girl clothes (now I just have to find that inner bobbin for my sewing machine...), and bought the wall coverings to decorate her room. I bought a product called Tatouage, a dry rub transfer, that you just rub onto the wall. I got a ton of stuff to make a garden scene on 2 walls, including a picket fence and gate, lots of flowers, a shade tree that will go from floor to ceiling, birds, butterflies, and lots of fairies to play among the flowers. I can't wait to do it, but I need to prime and paint first. I'm hoping to talk John into painting fluffy clouds in a blue sky like he did for J's nursery.
We sent in our application to a new home study agency and received word today that they will be working with us. I talked to the director there last week and really liked her. The agency is based in Keene, NH, but they have a couple social workers who live in our area, so we won't need to travel over an hour to work with them. I'm certain our experience with this agency will be a million times better than our last experience! It would be hard to get worse (though I'm sure there are worse stories out there!).
As I mentioned, Tet is coming up. This is the Vietnamese New Year. I thought I'd share some information I learned today while reading my Chao Ban newsletter (an excellent newsletter for families of children adopted from Vietnam that is put out 4 times per year by a couple who've adopted). This year is the year of the Rat, which is the beginning of the twelve year cycle of the Asian Zodiac calendar. The Rat symbolizes acquisition, industry, and prosperity -- just think of the hard work these animals do to hoard their food. So this is a year for hard work and abundance, but also one to practice being humble about one's achievements.
One difference between the Vietnamese and Chinese calendars is that the Chinese includes an Ox and a Rabbit, and in place of these the Vietnamese calendar has a Water Buffalo and a Cat.
More on Tet later!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Soooooooooo Cute!
First, I've got some referral news. On January 2 FTIA Vietnam referred FOUR babies! Three boys and one girl! What a great start to the new year!
Now, to the cute part: one of my fellow FTIA PAPs (Prospective Adoptive Parent) posted a link to a website with THE CUTEST little handmade dresses at unbelievable prices! I believe this is a fund raiser done by another adoptive parent, and she has such adorable styles, as well as awesome fabrics. I wish I knew where she found such great prints. I'm tempted to order a whole closet full (and at those prices I probably could!). The link is: http://redthreadstitches.blogspot.com/2007/12/product-selection.html I'll also add it to my list of links on the right.
Just had to share this. Oh, and speaking of cute -- I woke up this morning when J grabbed my face with both hands and announced, "Hi! My name is J!" Lest I forget... LOL
Now, to the cute part: one of my fellow FTIA PAPs (Prospective Adoptive Parent) posted a link to a website with THE CUTEST little handmade dresses at unbelievable prices! I believe this is a fund raiser done by another adoptive parent, and she has such adorable styles, as well as awesome fabrics. I wish I knew where she found such great prints. I'm tempted to order a whole closet full (and at those prices I probably could!). The link is: http://redthreadstitches.blogspot.com/2007/12/product-selection.html I'll also add it to my list of links on the right.
Just had to share this. Oh, and speaking of cute -- I woke up this morning when J grabbed my face with both hands and announced, "Hi! My name is J!" Lest I forget... LOL
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Referrals!
Hi all,
Just a quick update. Another referral was made this week... a baby boy. According to our agency's weekly email, 7 families have received referrals and 10 more are waiting for the official referral notice from Vietnam. Things are finally moving! Due to some changes in the way paperwork is being processed by USCIS, the wait from referral to travel is longer now, but it should shorten the in-country stay by at least a week. So instead of being there for 3 weeks, it should now only be 10-14 days.
Of course, this could always change again before we get our referral. :)
Just a quick update. Another referral was made this week... a baby boy. According to our agency's weekly email, 7 families have received referrals and 10 more are waiting for the official referral notice from Vietnam. Things are finally moving! Due to some changes in the way paperwork is being processed by USCIS, the wait from referral to travel is longer now, but it should shorten the in-country stay by at least a week. So instead of being there for 3 weeks, it should now only be 10-14 days.
Of course, this could always change again before we get our referral. :)
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Our New Home
Wow! I can't believe it's been over 2 months since I posted. It's been such a whirlwind. We've been living in a Residence Inn hotel for the past 7 weeks. Not exactly ideal when you have two wee ones. A case in point: E overflowed the two toilets 5 times in a 12 hour period that began around 11:30 p.m. early in our stay. John finally used rope left over from their Halloween cowboy costumes to tie the door handle of their bathroom to a towel bar across the room so they couldn't open the door anymore (no locks on the bathroom doors, sigh).
BUT, tomorrow we finally move into our new home! It really hasn't sunk in yet... Probably won't until I see my bed all set up in my new bedroom. I can't tell you how very much I miss my own bed!
On the adoption front: FTIA referred a baby boy a few weeks ago, and today they referred a beautiful baby girl! The soon-to-be parents of the boy aren't on the message board, but the girl's family is, and they posted their referral pictures. She's 6 months old, and looks happy and healthy and well-taken-care-of. They turned their dossier in to FTIA exactly 18 months ago (to the day), so their wait falls in line with what we've been told. And there should be more referrals coming soon. It is so exciting to hear of these and see the pictures the families share. The FTIA message board has been a real blessing. It is a very supportive, friendly, and fun community to be a part of.
Anyway, it's getting late and I have to get up early to meet the movers at our storage unit in the morning (yippee!!!!). Just wanted to pass on the good news of two more referrals and our move-in (finally!). :)
BUT, tomorrow we finally move into our new home! It really hasn't sunk in yet... Probably won't until I see my bed all set up in my new bedroom. I can't tell you how very much I miss my own bed!
On the adoption front: FTIA referred a baby boy a few weeks ago, and today they referred a beautiful baby girl! The soon-to-be parents of the boy aren't on the message board, but the girl's family is, and they posted their referral pictures. She's 6 months old, and looks happy and healthy and well-taken-care-of. They turned their dossier in to FTIA exactly 18 months ago (to the day), so their wait falls in line with what we've been told. And there should be more referrals coming soon. It is so exciting to hear of these and see the pictures the families share. The FTIA message board has been a real blessing. It is a very supportive, friendly, and fun community to be a part of.
Anyway, it's getting late and I have to get up early to meet the movers at our storage unit in the morning (yippee!!!!). Just wanted to pass on the good news of two more referrals and our move-in (finally!). :)
Saturday, September 22, 2007
News!
Big happenings here in the Mikkola household! John accepted a new job today at Brookstone. He'll be working two more weeks at Sears Holdings, then have one week off, then he'll work for one week in a local Brookstone store before finally starting his new job at the Brookstone headquarters in Merrimack, New Hampshire. Yep, that's right! We're moving to New Hampshire! This all seemed to happen so fast. Six weeks ago John got a call from a headhunter and things just snowballed from there. We are both so excited. It's a great career opportunity for John, and sounds like the kind of company that will be great to work for. And from what we've heard about NH and what John saw on his two trips out there, it sounds like exactly the kind of place we would LOVE to live. Very forrested, very hilly, lots of small towns. It's one hour from the ocean, one hour from Boston, and one hour from the mountains. There will be lots of snow, which we both miss. If you're going to have cold winters, you should at least have enough snow to play in! :) Actually, that area averages about half the annual snowfall that John's hometown does, so it won't seem too bad to him -- and it's probably pretty comparable to my hometown. And, the area also has a significant Vietnamese population (for New Hampshire, anyway). That was very important to us.
Now I just need to focus on getting this house ready to go on the market -- i.e. declutter big time. We're firm believers in "staging" a house to sell it, which means a lot of things will need to go into storage and all that yardwork I've been putting off will have to be done finally. I've already found a great resource for helping with the decluttering: Freecycle. There are groups in communities all across the country. If you have things around the house that you don't really want or need anymore, but don't really want to throw away because they're still useful, you post a message on a message board and people who could use it contact you to come pick it up. People also post for things they're looking for. Everything is a free give away, hence Freecycle. It's awesome! Check it out at http://freecycle.org/
Ok, second bit of big news: our agency had a referral this week! Hooray!!! After quite a few months with no referrals, things are starting to roll again. They have several prospective referrals in various stages of processing right now, so they believe that they will be coming at a steady rate for at least a few months, hopefully for much longer. I emailed with our coordinator today, and she said that we are now between #55-60 on the wait list, so we've moved up from the #70 spot we were at when we got on. I know that some families chose to leave FTIA during the referral drought, so I'm guessing that's how we moved up. She also estimated that our referral should come in late 2008, and we would travel in early 2009, which is right where I was thinking we were. So that's all good news.
I was so excited for Matt and Elaine and their family when I heard about their referral this past week. I actually teared up quite a bit. It's really good news for all of us waiting with FTIA.
So, lots going on here! I'll try to keep you all posted. :)
Now I just need to focus on getting this house ready to go on the market -- i.e. declutter big time. We're firm believers in "staging" a house to sell it, which means a lot of things will need to go into storage and all that yardwork I've been putting off will have to be done finally. I've already found a great resource for helping with the decluttering: Freecycle. There are groups in communities all across the country. If you have things around the house that you don't really want or need anymore, but don't really want to throw away because they're still useful, you post a message on a message board and people who could use it contact you to come pick it up. People also post for things they're looking for. Everything is a free give away, hence Freecycle. It's awesome! Check it out at http://freecycle.org/
Ok, second bit of big news: our agency had a referral this week! Hooray!!! After quite a few months with no referrals, things are starting to roll again. They have several prospective referrals in various stages of processing right now, so they believe that they will be coming at a steady rate for at least a few months, hopefully for much longer. I emailed with our coordinator today, and she said that we are now between #55-60 on the wait list, so we've moved up from the #70 spot we were at when we got on. I know that some families chose to leave FTIA during the referral drought, so I'm guessing that's how we moved up. She also estimated that our referral should come in late 2008, and we would travel in early 2009, which is right where I was thinking we were. So that's all good news.
I was so excited for Matt and Elaine and their family when I heard about their referral this past week. I actually teared up quite a bit. It's really good news for all of us waiting with FTIA.
So, lots going on here! I'll try to keep you all posted. :)
Tag, I'm It... Twice!
Oh, I'm so bad. Kathryn tagged me about 6 weeks ago, and Andrea almost 3 weeks ago. I just haven't been on, but I'll do my Blogger Duty now. :)
I've just been tagged by Kathryn!
5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Unbeknownst to me, I was getting ready to meet my husband (John and I met on Nov. 8, 1997).
2. I was working for a classic car insurance company.
3. I had just moved into a townhouse I couldn't afford with one roommate and was looking for another.
4. I had just worn one of the three worst bridesmaid dresses in the history of mankind. (Imagine lavendar Marshmallow Fluff and you're almost there...)
5.
5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Popcorn
2. Ice cream
3. nuts (especially cashews and pistachios)
4. Triscuits
5. Chocolate brownies and chocolate chip cookies
5 songs I know all the lyrics to:
1. Hush Little Baby
2. All the songs on the Laurie Berkner DVD in our car
3. Mercedes Benz by Janis Joplin
4. I, too, am all over the 80's music, Kathryn and Sue
5. The Beatles White Album (and many others)
5 things I would do if I were a Millionaire
1. Put money away for the kids to go to college
2, 3, 4, 5. There's no money left after the kids go to college... :)
5 bad habits:
1. procrastinate
2. Spend too much time online
3. I could definitely be a better housekeeper
4. eat very late at night
5. watch too much TV
5 things I like to do:
1. spend time with my family
2. travel
3. try new foods/eat good food
4. read and write
5. scrapbook and design jewelry
5 things I would never wear again:
1. that lavender Marshmallow Fluff bridesmaid dress
2. jeans that are too short (flood pants -- adolescence was a VERY fashionable time for me... NOT)
3. pink or purple eyeshadow
4. spandex
5. anything neon
5 favorite toys:
1. computer
2. camera
3. My scrapbooking stuff
4.
5.
I've just been tagged by Andrea!
I am officially a part of the "Blog World". They have invited me to play their "Reindeer Games". I have been tagged by E. The details are, you have to post these rules before you give the facts. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged & to read your blog!
K - Kids -- I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a mommy to Jack and Ethan, and can't wait to add more through adoption
A - Adventurous and Adrenalin -- I've traveled to foreign countries by myself, jumped out of airplanes, taken a bellydance
class -- I'm an adrenalin junkie
Y - Yesteryear -- I love cultural history -- old black and white movies, biographies, documentaries, etc.
Ok, so now I'm suppose to tag people, but I only know three people who have blogs, and two are the ones who tagged me! So, I'll have to wait until I make a few more contacts to pass it on.
I've just been tagged by Kathryn!
5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Unbeknownst to me, I was getting ready to meet my husband (John and I met on Nov. 8, 1997).
2. I was working for a classic car insurance company.
3. I had just moved into a townhouse I couldn't afford with one roommate and was looking for another.
4. I had just worn one of the three worst bridesmaid dresses in the history of mankind. (Imagine lavendar Marshmallow Fluff and you're almost there...)
5.
5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Popcorn
2. Ice cream
3. nuts (especially cashews and pistachios)
4. Triscuits
5. Chocolate brownies and chocolate chip cookies
5 songs I know all the lyrics to:
1. Hush Little Baby
2. All the songs on the Laurie Berkner DVD in our car
3. Mercedes Benz by Janis Joplin
4. I, too, am all over the 80's music, Kathryn and Sue
5. The Beatles White Album (and many others)
5 things I would do if I were a Millionaire
1. Put money away for the kids to go to college
2, 3, 4, 5. There's no money left after the kids go to college... :)
5 bad habits:
1. procrastinate
2. Spend too much time online
3. I could definitely be a better housekeeper
4. eat very late at night
5. watch too much TV
5 things I like to do:
1. spend time with my family
2. travel
3. try new foods/eat good food
4. read and write
5. scrapbook and design jewelry
5 things I would never wear again:
1. that lavender Marshmallow Fluff bridesmaid dress
2. jeans that are too short (flood pants -- adolescence was a VERY fashionable time for me... NOT)
3. pink or purple eyeshadow
4. spandex
5. anything neon
5 favorite toys:
1. computer
2. camera
3. My scrapbooking stuff
4.
5.
I've just been tagged by Andrea!
I am officially a part of the "Blog World". They have invited me to play their "Reindeer Games". I have been tagged by E. The details are, you have to post these rules before you give the facts. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged & to read your blog!
K - Kids -- I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a mommy to Jack and Ethan, and can't wait to add more through adoption
A - Adventurous and Adrenalin -- I've traveled to foreign countries by myself, jumped out of airplanes, taken a bellydance
class -- I'm an adrenalin junkie
Y - Yesteryear -- I love cultural history -- old black and white movies, biographies, documentaries, etc.
Ok, so now I'm suppose to tag people, but I only know three people who have blogs, and two are the ones who tagged me! So, I'll have to wait until I make a few more contacts to pass it on.
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