Advocacy

This post has 4 links. If you click on the bold word it will take you to the link.

The past month in adoption world has been very busy.  The community of parents adopting from our same country have been coming together seeking to find a solution. Side note: This will be the one post where you will see the name of the country we are adopting from.  We have been advised by our agency not to mention baby K's birth country. That anything put online can be found and seen by officials and taken offensively.  We do not want to do anything jeopardize baby K's safety.  However, it has now been 6 months since our country has issued a suspension on exit letters. The very last thing you need to bring your child home. Many families had everything they needed and were already in country or about to travel when the suspension was first issued.  Those families have been waiting for 6 extra months after they had already been in process for 1 1/2 - 2 years. And there is still no end in sight.  We are not to the point to need an exit letter yet, but this has significantly slowed down all parts of the adoption process. Although we do hope to receive our adoption decree soon stating that baby K is now legally a part of our family!

So, a few weeks ago, many families started coming together to seek a solution.  Both Ends Burning is an advocacy group who is offering their services to all the 'pipeline' families.  Which is families with referrals anywhere in process. It started out as simply gathering information trying to figure out how many families this is effecting.  It turns out there are almost 500 families who have received referrals and waiting for their adoptions to be completed.  Close to 100 of those families are ready with visas for their adopted children simply waiting for the suspension to be lifted.  Some are in foster care being properly fed and receiving medical attention.  Many are not.  Once it was determined how many families were being effected, BEB decided to make a very specific action plan to get as much attention as possible from our Congress to get things moving.  The first step was the petition which received over 100,000 signatures in just a few days.  That started raising awareness.  Next many families started contacting local news stations to raise awareness.  Some of my friends were given the opportunity to interview with channel 4.  I got to be a part of that.  Although, much to Caden's disappointment, I opted to 'keep quiet.' Adding to the numbers, being a part of the segment, without saying anything to hinder our court process.

Channel 4 news interview

There were two trips planned where delegations of officials were going to come to the U.S. to discuss the concerns and reasons for the suspension.  And the delegation was also supposed to meet with many American families who have adopted from C and already have their children home. They were supposed to fly out yesterday. And instead they were cancelled. C denied the delegation exit letters and told the U.S. Department of State they would not be traveling as planned. This was very hard news to hear.  Our agency had really hoped this trip would make a big difference and was expecting to see the suspension lifted very soon after.  Yesterday was a hard day.

The congressional letter.  Over the past few weeks everyone was calling, emailing, having friends/family calling emailing to get our congressmen/ women to agree to sign this letter that would be sent directly to the president and prime minister of C. It is so amazing that we were able to get 171 signatures!! Different house of representatives and senators representing states all over the country.  The letter was sent today!  (amazingly even with the timing of the canceled delegation trip) Please pray the Lord would move this mountain.  That he would soften the hearts of the president, prime minister, and other officials in C.  Pray that the Dep. of State would want to work hard for all the families.  That they will advocate in a way that shows respect for C and shows them these families love their children and want to bring them home.

Letter from U.S. Congress to C