On Thursday, S. and I were having a rough day at work. We had been really good about not spending extra money so I told him to wrap up his work around 6p and that I wanted to take him out for a date night.
On our way to get some amazing Indian food, I checked facebook where a friend reminded me of their anniversary. It was then I realized that this day 9 years ago, was the day I had met S. at our friend's wedding. 9 years ago! What an even better reason to enjoy an evening together.
We were treated to a couple bottles of wine and we had the best dinner and conversation.
On Friday we went back to the USCIS Application Support Center to get re-fingerprinted for our I-600A.
Thank you all for your continued love and support.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Japan Program Update
I believe I blogged about this earlier, since I'm striving to get my bearings in order, I'll just start from the beginning as a nice re-cap.
As we were celebrating New Years with friends, we awoke to an update from our agency that the US Embassy had enacted a rule that birth mothers were to report to the Embassy in Tokyo for an interview as part of the process. They want to make sure the mothers know their rights, that they aren't being coerced to give up their baby, etc., however the whole process is scaring and invasive and not culturally sensitive.
We were continually urged by our agency to write members of congress to bring this to their attention. We have been fighting each month and in May, there seemed to be a break. They now allow our representative in Japan to be present in the meetings, but it's still not enough.
Here's my earlier blog as a refresher as to why it's still not enough: http://thrivingforbaby.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html
Even though the earthquake and the tsunami have had a small impact on the adoption process, it is this rule that is severely hurting all of the waiting families. Our agency sent out an update for July and it outlined good news and bad news:
Good news
1.) The US Embassy has taken notice of all of our letters and has agreed to a phone call with our agency. They have agreed to perform interviews on a case by case basis versus an all out rule. They have also allowed a support person, of the birth mother's choosing, to be with them.
Bad news
2.) No new waiting families have been selected since May. Most are still uneasy about the US policy and opt to place with a Japanese or a Canadian family.
As for our dossier, we are now in the renew stage. We have our fingerprint appointment to renew in a couple days, we begin the home study renewal next month, and then we ask to renew our I-600A after that.
We ask for continued prayers for our program, for all the waiting families, and that we can soon be united with Baby G.
As we were celebrating New Years with friends, we awoke to an update from our agency that the US Embassy had enacted a rule that birth mothers were to report to the Embassy in Tokyo for an interview as part of the process. They want to make sure the mothers know their rights, that they aren't being coerced to give up their baby, etc., however the whole process is scaring and invasive and not culturally sensitive.
We were continually urged by our agency to write members of congress to bring this to their attention. We have been fighting each month and in May, there seemed to be a break. They now allow our representative in Japan to be present in the meetings, but it's still not enough.
Here's my earlier blog as a refresher as to why it's still not enough: http://thrivingforbaby.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html
Even though the earthquake and the tsunami have had a small impact on the adoption process, it is this rule that is severely hurting all of the waiting families. Our agency sent out an update for July and it outlined good news and bad news:
Good news
1.) The US Embassy has taken notice of all of our letters and has agreed to a phone call with our agency. They have agreed to perform interviews on a case by case basis versus an all out rule. They have also allowed a support person, of the birth mother's choosing, to be with them.
Bad news
2.) No new waiting families have been selected since May. Most are still uneasy about the US policy and opt to place with a Japanese or a Canadian family.
As for our dossier, we are now in the renew stage. We have our fingerprint appointment to renew in a couple days, we begin the home study renewal next month, and then we ask to renew our I-600A after that.
We ask for continued prayers for our program, for all the waiting families, and that we can soon be united with Baby G.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
This sh*@ is hard.
Waiting. waiting. waiting. waiting.
I thought I was being supportive, I thought I was okay, I thought I was understanding, I thought we were happy and it all crumbled beneath me.
Right now I feel like 'Bastian in The Neverending Story after the nothing consumed Fantasia and I'm just siting here with one little light spec left.
From infertility to the painfully long adoption wait, S. and I never really faced our anger, our frustrations, our sadness, our emptiness and swallowed it and continued until we almost broke.
We hated when those feelings surfaced and so we began to think we didn't want kids. We loved our life, we loved our freedom, we loved traveling, being selfish - it was awesome, right? Wrong. Not when you're telling yourself this just so you don't have to feel the pain anymore.
Our individual health crumbled, our relationship began to crack and we felt like we were on a one way course to hell. For months this was our life. We let the noise take over and drown everything - including our walk with God.
It wasn't until the beginning of July that we were pushed to visit a new church that the noise became muted and we realized what was happening. I don't think we are anywhere near "100%" but it does feel good to have quiet and peace to allow us to focus on our issues and move forward.
I know many are wondering what is happening with our adoption and I will be posting updates the rest of the week.
I thought I was being supportive, I thought I was okay, I thought I was understanding, I thought we were happy and it all crumbled beneath me.
Right now I feel like 'Bastian in The Neverending Story after the nothing consumed Fantasia and I'm just siting here with one little light spec left.
From infertility to the painfully long adoption wait, S. and I never really faced our anger, our frustrations, our sadness, our emptiness and swallowed it and continued until we almost broke.
We hated when those feelings surfaced and so we began to think we didn't want kids. We loved our life, we loved our freedom, we loved traveling, being selfish - it was awesome, right? Wrong. Not when you're telling yourself this just so you don't have to feel the pain anymore.
Our individual health crumbled, our relationship began to crack and we felt like we were on a one way course to hell. For months this was our life. We let the noise take over and drown everything - including our walk with God.
It wasn't until the beginning of July that we were pushed to visit a new church that the noise became muted and we realized what was happening. I don't think we are anywhere near "100%" but it does feel good to have quiet and peace to allow us to focus on our issues and move forward.
I know many are wondering what is happening with our adoption and I will be posting updates the rest of the week.
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