We all awoke refreshed and ready to make the journey back to see Alyssa at the orphanage. The question on everyone’s mind was when would we be able to have the Giving & Receiving (G&R) Ceremony, which would officially complete the adoption and allow us bring our babies back to the hotel to be with us.

Just a quick note to help all understand. After the G&R, we need to get a Vietnamese passport for Alyssa, process her US immigrant visa with the US authorities and also work with the Turkish embassy to obtain an visa for her to return to Turkey with us. But, the G&R signifies the completion of the adoption and after the G&R, Alyssa is officially our daughter under international law and will be with us from that day.

Thao explained the process that was unfolding and her best estimate of when the G&R could happen. Based on her explanation, it seemed that the G&R was many days away, perhaps up to a week. We all started trying to figure out a way to get the babies earlier, knowing that our fate was clearly in the hands of Vietnamese government officials. Thao helped us understand each obstacle that had to be negotiated and then suggested we meet with the person responsible for orphanages in the province, Mrs Hai. We brainstormed how best to get Mrs Hai on our side and how to ask her to help us get our babies sooner rather than later.

We met Mrs Hai at the orphanage and much to our surprise she was very understanding and said she would do everything possible to help us get our babies quickly. We found out later that Mrs Hai, who was 53 years old, had an adopted son who was three, which explains why she was so sympathetic to our pleas to get our babies as soon as we could.

The second day at the orphanage was different from the first. We were already feeling much more familiar with Alyssa and that caused us to want her to be with us even more. There wasn’t much to do at the orphanage, but hold Alyssa. Since there was no place to sit down, we all just sat on the tile floor and took turns holding and playing with Alyssa. After about an hour, it was evident that she was getting tired and her caregiver put her in her crib, where she promptly fell asleep.

Then we all got back in the van to make the hour long journey back to the hotel. All day long Thao had been giving us updates on when the G&R might be held and the hurdles that stood in our way. It boiled down to getting approval from the provincial People’s Committee. Mrs Hai had made several phone calls on our behalf, which had opened the way for the Justice Department to be ready to conduct the G&R at a moment’s notice, once the People’s Committee gave its approval. Thao told us that the People’s Committee chairman had signed the approval papers, but that the approval still had to pass over several more administrator’s desks and that it was uncertain when that might happen.

So, we arrived back at the hotel, pleased that Mrs Hai was helping us, but frustrated because it wasn’t clear how long the People’s Committe might hold up the process.

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