Awfully, Unproductive Day

This has been a terribly unproductive day. I really wanted to get a lot of work done, but I just can't focus on it and my mind keeps wandering to the situation with Vietnam adoptions. I got an e-mail, actually two from my agency's adoption caseworker and it hasn't really put my mind at rest. It's just that no one knows what effect any of this will have and it may be sometime before anything is really known. We need to have another home visit in another month or so, since the homestudy is only good for a month or so. And she suggests we can discuss our options then in more detail. I don't know how I can wait that long, but at the same time no one knows anything right now and any decision at the moment would be purely based on emotion. I'm grateful though to know that our agency is not working in any of the affected areas, so if those provinces close even temporarily, we won't be affected.

The filing of the I-600 at the time of your referral, instead of when you get to the country should prevent future families from being stuck in the country with their adopted child, but being unable to bring him or her to the U.S. by having any investigation done early on in the process. (Most times no investigation is needed after filing the I-600, because there are usually no red flags. Right now, these red flags that resulted in investigations were with only a few agencies that were in a couple of provinces.)

Hopefully, these families pleas in their blogs for people to write letters to the USCIS or embassy (I forget which they asked people to write too) will not cause these organizations to bend to the pressure and end their investigations and let the families return to the U.S. Although it is not these families fault, it is their agencies fault or the facilitator who got them these referrals. If the children were not legally available because of either kidnapping or lying to their birthparents, these children then would have birth families who love them and never wanted them to be given up for adoption. Although it would be terribly painful to the adoptive parents, these children should be returned to their rightful birthparents. Hopefully, if it is proven these agencies were involved in unethical means in acquiring these children, they will have their licenses yanked away and be kicked out of ever working in Vietnam again. Then hopefully, they will allow those ethical agencies to continue working in Vietnam and finding families for the real orphans. Well, I think I better get back to work. I had my say and think I can focus on things that I should be focusing on now. Please keep the future of Vietnam adoptions in prayer for us and all other families, as well as the children who are or will be affected.