The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!!!!

Sorry it has been so long since we have posted. The past few weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions and news out of Vietnam.

First the Good: We are now #171 on the list. We have moved 80 spots in the past 7 and a half months. Some of that has been referrals and some of that has been people changing countries. We are happy about the referrals and sad that people are changing.

Also Good: Vietnam has make comments about joining the Hague Convention on International Adoption. This would be a very good thing. Their national assembly (like our Congress) has decided to put the matter to a vote by the end of the year. Most of the members are in favor of this as well as the United States, France and Italy. I do believe that this will happen and be a good thing for every country involved.

Also Good: Vietnam has been working very hard to catch people doing illegal adoption paperwork and have made many arrests.

The Bad: CHI was denied their Hague accreditation and will have to reapply. This was a blow to all of us, both PAPs and CHI. CHI is working on correcting their paperwork and reapplying to the Hague Convention but they may have to wait a year to submit their new paperwork. They are making plans for Vietnam families to move to another agency if they have to wait a year and Vietnam opens up again in that time. As of right now, if that happens we will be working with Holt International (a very good adoption agency) to complete our adoption of Baby Jacob.

The Ugly: Sept. 1 is right around the corner and with that date comes the suspension of adoptions from Vietnam until a new MOU is signed or they become a Hague nation. Everyone pray that this suspension is short and that adoptions will open back up as soon as possible.

So, there you have the good, the bad, and the ugly. Alonzo and I had seriously looked at moving to the Russian program, going so far as to talk to CHI and have them look over our paperwork and get a tentative approval to switch countries. We then made a list of the pros and cons about both countries and even with the suspension coming up decided to stay with Vietnam. We both feel that everything will work out and that Baby Jacob will come home to us from Vietnam. It may just take longer then we planned but we feel that this is the right choice for us now.