We got a couple of emails from our adoption agency in the past two days with some potentially good news and some not so good news. First, the good news is that a baby girl has just arrived in the orphanage that our agency works with. Since we’re first in line with our agency for a girl, this new arrival could potentially be Alyssa, if everything works out. Obviously, a series of checks need to be done before we will know anything for sure, the most important being medical tests. The provincial authorities in Vietnam will also have to “match” our dossier to this baby in order for a referral to be made. From what our adoption agency tells us, that means the authorities will check to see if the baby meets the criteria specified in our home study, which is a healthy baby girl as young as possible. Our agency was in Vietnam last week, met with the provincial authorities, talked to them about the waiting families and their desires. So, we are in a good position, assuming this little girl meets the criteria.
The not so good news is that the timing of when we may be able to get Alyssa is still very uncertain. We had hoped that after their Vietnam visit our adoption agency could provide more specific info on when we might be able to travel to Vietnam and get Alyssa. About all they could say, however, is that the process will take around four months, once a baby is identified. Everytime we think about waiting another four months, we get pretty down, but that is the way international adoptions are - one great big roller coaster ride full of ups and downs. Hopefully, the next update will be the one that says Alyssa has been found!!
We received an email from Cathy and Linda from the Adoption Center of Washington last Friday. They said that they will be going to Vietnam today (March 13) to handcarry our dossier documents and to meet with other agencies and officials from the Vietnamese International Adoption Center. It’s a little hard to tell whether this is good news or bad news regarding the timing of Alyssa’s arrival. We’ll obviously know more once Cathy and Linda return from their trip.
I guess this kind of thing is to be expected when a country restarts a stopped international adoption program. We’re waiting as patiently as we can until we can bring Alyssa to her new home and into our family.
Jessie came home from school with the note that is shown below. Obviously, we’re all getting anxious to have Alyssa join our family. We are all waiting with great anticipation, but have no further would on when she’ll be making her way to Ankara.
Jessie came home from school with the note that is shown below. Obviously, we’re all getting anxious to have Alyssa join our family. We are all waiting with great anticipation, but have no further would on when she’ll be making her way to Ankara.