Danger Ahead?

Yesterday I posted on a yahoo group for prospective and adoptive parents of children from Vietnam. I was actually responding to someone's post about being torn by two countries. While I wasn't torn by two countries, I felt strongly that I was supposed to have a son and a daughter. The whole time I was working on the dossier for baby girl I would regret that she might be an only child. I thought my son would come from China, as my daughter will, but God has a way of changing things when you don't expect it. For the last few weeks there has been a shake-up in the VN adoption community because some parents are being issued NOIDS by USCIS (NOIDS are notice of intent to deny adoption and USCIS is US Homeland Security). VN is saying that the child is now in the custody of the parents, the US is concerned that a lot more babies have been abandoned since the program reopended. Coincidence? Who knows, but the US is being cautious. I don't blame them. When people responded to my post it seemed as if they were trying to discourage me from adopting from VN for fear the program could be shut down again. Is this a possibility? Yes, but I would answer that of any country and of any adoption anywhere in the world. There are no sure things when you are adopting. It doesn't matter if you are adopting domestic or international, the rules are subject to change without notice.

This adoption is a gamble, I agree. But what if I hadn't listened to my inner voice and decided not to proceed? What if the program isn't shut down, but for some other reason down the road I am unable to adopt from VN? I guess I would rather take this gamble than gamble on not ever bringing Haven home. I just know that if God hadn't moved my heart when he did, I would never have made the cut and gotten into a China adoption program. I have learned to listen even when it seemed like foolishness.

On the adoption front: I had called my doctor in October to set up a physical for my home study update. The next available was February. I took it because it was better than nothing, but now that I am pursuing this adoption, I just want to get this done. I called again today to inquire about moving my appointment up and again was told February was the next available. I finally pulled out the guilt card and said, "Normally I'm not one to complain or insist on special treatment, but here is the situation. I am in the process of adopting a child and if I don't get my physical completed in December I will get the boot from the program. So what I need to know is if you have availability with any of your physicians, and if you don't, please refer me to another doctor." Well, wasn't that something. She transferred me to my doctor's personal scheduler and my new appointment is the day after Christmas. Ok, I'll take it. So, I hope to get everything else going pretty quick. Now I am not competing against time, I'm just competing against myself. Well, me and the fact that my documents can't be older than 6 months by the time they reach VN. I think going through the China dossier process has actually helped me because this one is a breeze in comparison. I don't need as many documents and as far as I know, I don't need my 171H to be stamped, authenticated, blah blah blah before I send my dossier.

A couple of weeks ago I called my personal notary (yes, I have a personal notary--in exchange for some time out together she notarizes my documents). Her notary reign ends in February so I asked if she could renew it. Mind you, I wasn't seriously entertaining this adoption at the time, but I thought it would be good for her to renew it. Not only is she going to renew it, but the company I work for (she also works there) is going to pay for it! They may not have official adoption benefits, but this one is going a long way with me!